


Sugar Sun School For Wayward Teens

by Nanners (nanjcsy)



Series: Breaking Ground [5]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bad Parenting, Blood and Gore, Bullies, Bullying, Corporal Punishment, Cults, Dark Comedy, Dysfunctional Family, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Family Secrets, Fat Shaming, Feral Behavior, Gregor is his own warning, Grooming, Human Trafficking, Humiliation, Medical Experimentation, Multi, Nannerverse, Not Canon Compliant, Prostitution, Psychotropic Drugs, Ramsay is his own warning, Reform School, Revenge, Secret Organizations, Sexual Abuse, Slut Shaming, Teenage Killers, Teenage Rebellion, Thramsay - Freeform, Torture, Unreliable Narrator, bad teachers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-02-17 18:05:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 186
Words: 526,611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13082346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanjcsy/pseuds/Nanners
Summary: A reform school run by the rich, charismatic and powerful Kevan Lannister.With an amazing supportive staff to help care for the misguided youth.Too bad for Ramsay, Theon, Loras, Sansa, Arya and Joff...they are the new misguided youth...





	1. Impact

**Author's Note:**

> Check out Nanners (@NannersVerse):  
> https://twitter.com/NannersVerse?s=07

Loras staggered past the glittering glass and peered at the twisted, smoking metal of the car. "Oh fuck...oh fuck....no..NO! HELP, PLEASE! HELP!" He stared in horror at his boyfriend Renly, laying half upon the hood. Screaming, he noted that inside the car was his sister, her face was just out of the windshield. The rest of her was still inside the car, between the driver and passenger seats. Loras wanted it to just be the mix of cheap wine and expensive drugs, just a bad trip. 

He tottered on legs that didn't want to support him and yanked at his hair. That lovely face, it was part of the glass, it was as if the car was jealous and ripped that face off Margery itself. Seeing her long hair and some scalp waving in the harsh breeze made Loras keep screaming, he didn't think he'd ever stop. Her body looked like a discarded toy in the backseat with a red meat flesh mask for a face. Those eyes were still brilliant if empty in the ruined mess. Loras screamed louder as he started to stagger back towards Renly. He waved his arms as if wanting to make a spell to fix his lover and sister.  

Ramsay moaned and blinked rapidly, everything hurt. Tilting his head slightly, he saw the whore he was kidnapping to hunt was no longer pleading with him to slow down, to let her out. No, her eyes were glazed and too close to his feet, which made no sense. It took him some time before he was able to crawl out of his upside down van. He moaned and crawled towards the sounds of sobbing and screaming. He looked at the huge accident and wondered how the fuck this even happened.

Arya kept slapping at Sansa as if it were early morning and she needed to wake her. "Hey, Sansa, hey, I need you. Please, sis, wake up. Please?" Sansa groaned and tried to open her eyes. Bursting into relieved tears, Arya said, "We are in so much fucking trouble. So much. You have your license on you, huh? Can we pretend it was you driving? I...I think we are not hurt too bad but...I think we might have some dead people here....oh god, what do we do?" "We go help and think of others first."

Theon sat without moving. Even when someone tapped on the glass of his window. He heard the door wrenched open. "Uh, dude? Are you okay? Hey, uh, not sure if you know this...but you are sitting in a wreck. Like, right in the smack center of it. With a really bad looking head wound and a dead person real close by you." Swallowing hard, Theon managed to mutter, "My sister, Yara. We...are running away from our dad. We...need to get going." Theon was pulled away from his dream.

Joff roared in rage as he dragged himself out of his new car. "Who is fucking responsible for this? You will all pay, all of you! For my car, for my injuries! I want a cell phone immediately!" The bodies of his father and siblings meant nothing to him, the fact that he was even drunker than his father had been means nothing to him. What matters is who shall fix his car and his messed up leg. He looked around at the disaster and then his eyes pinned upon some kid pulling another person from a truck. Screaming curses, Joff kicks at the car and mutters about others always ruining his damned fun. 

Damon lifted the dazed kid from the truck just as Ramsay staggered over. "Had a fucking heart attack when I remembered you were in the van. I checked the back and you were gone, I thought you were thrown, asshole!" Damon grinned. "Thanks for caring. Got bounced around is all and came to help the others. What the fuck happened? Shit, this guy just is bleeding everywhere, in total fucking shock. Anyone call for an ambulance yet? Holy shit! How many died here?"

Ramsay shrugged. "I don't know. At least three dead that I can see so far. That Stark girl over there, she had a cell phone and called already. The two sisters are trying to help get the fancy boys to calm down. Looks like the Tyrell Twins and SuperFairy are broken up for good. Golden boy is all set for raging to mommy too." Ramsay giggled then grunted when Damon shoved him while walking past with the boy. "What? What did I say? Hey, who do you have in your arms anyway?" "Some runaway."

 

Tywin sat sternly upon the wooden high backed chair and neatly folded his hands upon the polished desk. He glared sternly at Roose Bolton, Cersei Lannister, Olenna Tyrell, Ned and Cat Stark and Balon Greyjoy. Then his gaze shifted to pin his harsh gaze upon the teenagers all standing uneasily in a row.

"I want each of you children to understand how very fortunate it is for each of you that my brother has a place for you to all go. That he is allowing all of you to go, regardless of payment." His eyes narrowed upon Damon and Theon as he cleared his throat. Balon turned red and made fists as if wishing to put them through the arrogant man as well as his son.

"You are all equally guilty in the deaths caused. All of you were drunk or on drugs. All of you. That includes you, Ms. Stark." Tywin's gaze settled icily upon Arya who stared back in a way that made her parents groan softly. "You were inebriated and driving without a license." Arya shot back, "I had one joint and I have a permit." As if Arya had not spoken at all, Tywin looked at Sansa. "You had a license but no permission to use your brother's car and you were also inebriated."

"All of you were speeding, all of you were inebriated and all of you will bear the fault. Be very grateful you are not all going to an adult prison or a youth detention center. Be grateful that I was able to secure spots for you all at the reform school. I do hope you all learn something during your time there."

 

A bus showed up, glaring white with gold lettering on the side. Sugar Sun School For Wayward Teens was scripted across the bus.

Ramsay drawled out, "You have got to be shitting me with a name like that." Joff yawned and shifted his feet impatiently. "That's my fucking crazy ass uncle for you. What a stupid fucking name." All words stopped when the bus door opened and King Kong squeezed out. Loras tittered after a moment and whispered to Theon, "A circus is missing it's strong man."

Arya grinned and leaned past her sister to respond to Loras. "Will there be enough room for us and him on the bus? Or maybe he just tucks the bus under his arm and jogs it there." The kids all gave a mild laugh but the giant gave the largest smile. His small eyes pinned upon each of them in turn, lingering the longest on Arya.

"My name is Gregor Clegane. I will be your guide into the hallowed halls of Sugar Sun. All of you get on the fucking bus and shut your mouths. Wave bye bye sadly to your families through the bus windows so I have something good to jack off to on our way back. Move your asses! We don't keep Kevan Lannister waiting for a bunch of spoiled little shitheads! Wave bye bye to cushy happy designer lives, children! I am your new nanny now and I most certainly do not use time outs. I firmly believe in bribes and brutality. I am sure you will all have your fair share of both to offer me. Oh dear, I see some tears already. Poor things, don't you worry, there will be plenty of time to cry into your pillows later on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music Inspiration for chapter  
> Car Crash Teens: Fuck Off by The Lonely Island (Popstar bonus track)


	2. A Sunny Greeting

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey! Girls and boy, it is wake up time!"

"Whore! Wake up! Wake up!" Polliver banged upon Myranda's door with his baton before giving Jeyne's door the same treatment. "Up! Feral, wake up!" He slammed his baton upon Hot Pie's door. "Piggy, rise and shine, asshole!" Just as he started to walk away, he heard the boy muttering something from behind his door. Polliver gave a wolfish grin and banged on the door harder. "Did you say something, Piggy?"

Nothing further was said behind the door but Myranda spoke as she came out of her room. "He said he is weighed every week and has lost enough to lose that fucking nickname by now." Polliver nodded then gave two cheerful hard smacks with his baton against Myranda's narrow ass as she shrieked at him angrily. "Thanks whore, but I wasn't asking you, was I? Get against the fucking wall and shut up. Don't need your mouth on my cock right now so you don't need your mouth open."

With a poisonous sweetness, Myranda smiled and leaned her back against the wall. "Yes, Counselor Polliver." Jeyne came out next and pressed her back against the wall. One eye came out of the long tousled black hair and Polliver leaned down closely. "Hello there, Eyeball. How is every little fucking thing in your island of hair?" Polliver waited while tapping his foot while the girl snarled soundlessly and pushed her hair out of her face.

Hot Pie staggered out of his room and before he could line up with the girls, Polliver administered a few hearty whacks upon the boy's buttocks. "You may not be a porker anymore, but you still have a big fucking mouth and attitude, don't you?" The boy yelped and gave a swift apology. Polliver twirled the baton then sauntered forward, leading his ducklings to breakfast. Usually these students didn't need escorting, they have been here long enough to have their own permanent rooms and chores.

"I took time out of my busy morning to come get you personally. So I expect you assholes to pay attention to me. I know you are sad that you have had this whole place to yourselves after the last graduates left. But as much as we love giving you our full attention, it's time to bring some new blood in. We have new students coming on the bus today. All of them fucking spoiled rich assholes that deserve your warmest welcome. Kevan will be wanting his rituals and we shall be giving it our best, won't we? You will all eat then shower and dress. I want no slut changes to your uniform, Whore. I want your hair pulled neatly back, Feral. And Piggy, so help me, keep your mouth shut today."

 

Stannis and Tyrion frowned as they concentrated on the chess board. With a snort, Tyrion sipped his wine and muttered, "I can't think this early. It's too early for me to play, Sir. You shall have to wait until our usual time this evening, I think. Besides, it's almost time for the Kevan Lannister show." With a sigh, Stannis leaned back in his chair then stared hard at his fellow teacher. "It is too early for chess and thinking. But it's not too early for wine?"

Tyrion stood up and stretched. "My dear professor, it is NEVER too early or late for wine. That is the very point of it. I am certain on this. In order to put up with Kevan, with the new students and the ones currently here...I need the wine." Stannis stood and fixed his suit and tie before joining Tyrion in heading out into the brilliant early morning sunshine. They squinted as they headed into the front yard and watched as the full time school nurse and therapist came gliding forward.

"Mr. Handsome! Nice of you to grace us with your presence at such an unnecessary hour of the morning." Raff gave only the briefest sneer towards Tyrion before he grinned, seeing Polliver heading his way. "The ducklings are on their way out. All brushed and shined up like the nicest bunch of skanks you'd ever want to meet." Stannis gave the younger man a very censuring look. "Don't speak that way about them. You are to see to their well being and counsel them, not make things worse."

An argument as old as time was about to begin if it weren't for the sight of Unella marching towards them. "Oh shit, here comes the hammer. Everyone brace yourselves." They all gave a laugh at Stannis's muttering but all did straighten up as the woman came closer. "Gentlemen, I am glad you are all on time but I do not see the students. Were they not informed of the importance of being on time? Keven will be out here in a moment and if those children aren't lined up..."

Polliver gave Unella a small nod then gestured towards the doors leading to the dormitory. "Here they are now, Unella. Look, all lined up and ready for viewing." Unella gave a small sigh of relief as she then stood in front of the students. She straightened Hot Pie's collar, buttoned Myranda's sweater to the collar bone while staring her down with disapproval. Unella clucked with impatience as Jeyne's ponytail fell apart in front of her. With quick efficiency, Unella put Jeyne's hair into a ponytail so tightly held back that tears sprung into the girl's eyes.   

A moment later they were all blinded and blinking away tears of irritation. Kevan Lannister wore a white formal suit, white pointed toe shoes, a white wide brimmed hat and his white hair was styled to curl lightly against his perfect collar. His white tie lay perfectly against his well pressed shirt and even his silver cane gleamed, the small crystal on the top glittered playfully in the morning light.

The two men flanking him wore mirrored sunglasses, similar styled suits in pastel colors as if afraid to overshadow the gleaming white styling of their employer. Harold wore a light blue suit with blue suede shoes and his hair was a tidy, close clipped mess of black curls. Bob wore a light purple suit with matching dyed leather dress shoes, sandy hair that was in a very traditional close cut.

 

The staff and students alike all stood at attention, giving their full focus to Kevan. He stood before the group of them and gave a pleasant smile, his eyes excited. Everyone knows that Kevan loves receiving new students and remolding them. The only thing he loved more than new students was a reason for lectures or performances. Spreading his arms wide as if to envelope all of them, Kevan began to speak in his dramatic, overly enthusiastic tone.

"Ladies and gentlemen, good morning! Is this not a gorgeous day? I appreciate that all of you joined me this morning to welcome our new students to our wonderful community!" Kevan turned his bleached bright smile onto the three students. "What a great opportunity is here for the three of you! A chance to be the best examples of what these new students could be. I expect you to help our new wayward children in learning their way here. Ah, here comes the bus now! Excellent!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School Staff: High School Never Ends by Bowling For Soup


	3. Home Sweet Hell

The bus was hot, it was stuffy and it rattled continually. Driven by a large scarred man who scowled but never spoke, monitored by the even larger bald man. Gregor sat up front and kept giving the children a grin of such happiness that it made them all nervous. He sat directly in front of Joff, who had his own seat. Right behind Joff, sat Arya and Sansa.

Both girls unwillingly hearing Joff's snipes about his warped great uncle, about his sad, drunk dwarf uncle and how both will favor him, release him early. This annoyed the girls and made Gregor grin so wide that Arya wondered out loud if the top of his head might fall off.

Gregor only winked at her and whispered, "All in good time, my dearling. Soon we shall see just how merry your Nanny Gregor can be." This made Sansa shudder and she smacked Arya. "Shut up. Don't cause trouble. We aren't even there yet. The last thing we need is you causing more trouble for us." Arya rolled her eyes and glared out the window.

"Still blaming it all on me, sis? Figures, after all, who would believe the perfect Sansa would ever have been just as guilty. No, you just were sent along as company and guidance for your little sister, right? Bitch." Sansa pinched Arya's arm hard and hissed, "I never said it was only your fault. Don't call me a bitch."

The other side of the bus had Loras and Theon sitting together. Directly behind them sat Damon and Ramsay, who were keeping themselves busy. They kept playing in Theon and Loras's hair, whispering into their ears until Theon exploded. Turning around to face the bullies, Theon snarled out, "Fuck off! Don't fucking touch us or talk to us. Fucking gaybashing nazi cunt rapists or something!"

Loras burst into laughter at the stunned looks. "Maybe they got confused and thought we were all sentenced to a male prison ward. They want to try and scope out their bitches ahead of time or something."

Damon turned red and his eyes narrowed but Ramsay only gave steel ice eyes and a smirk that scared the boys a bit. "What a wonderful idea. Thanks. Or is it an invitation to try? A challenge, maybe. I always loved dare games. So does Damon." Loras gave a nervous titter and Theon snorted. "I wouldn't fuck either of you two with a ten foot pole. Don't think Loras is interested either. Guess you'll have to take turns practicing the scenes from Deliverance upon each other. Now please just leave us the hell alone."

This request was denied as the threats flew from Damon and Ramsay. Loras and Theon continued to retort and it made the time almost fly by.

 

All of the children stopped squabbling as the bus drove into the gates of the school. The bus rattled past the garden, past the crops and field then parked in the enormous driveway leading to a main white building.

"Uncle Kevan has gone crazier than ever. He looks like a Southern plantation owner ready to sell us peanuts or fried chicken." Joff stated then gave a bitter laugh.

Gregor boomed for all the students to stand and file off the bus. He waited until they each reached him and the bus door then he tossed them off into the dirt. Each of them picked themselves up and dusted off. Joff and Arya were the only ones complaining out loud of their rude treatment.

 

"Welcome to Sugar Sun School for Wayward Teens! And look at you, a group of teens that have all lost your way. I am so thrilled that we will be able to take you all in and help guide you back towards a useful, healthful and meaningful life!"

 The new students stared at Kevan and his two minions, trying not to laugh but all smirking. This was not unusual and Kevan took no offense. He smiled broadly and lightly tapped his cane upon the ground at his feet.

"Introductions must come first. My name is Kevan Lannister. I am the proud owner, director and creator of this lovely school. These two men are my closest associates and trusted friends, Harold and Bob. They help me do whatever is needed to keep our school well in hand and running smoothly at any and all costs."

None of the students wanted to question that last uneasy statement but all took it as a threat. Kevan strolled to stand in front of his staff and pointed his cane at each staff member as they came forward.

 

"This is Doctor Unella Septa. She will asses each of you, prescribe any medications needed, physicals, referrals and more. All the planning of your meals, activities and therapy will come from her orders. A small note, we do have a well stocked clinic here and an on call surgeon if it's ever warranted. Of course, we always strive to keep you all at your best health! Nurse Raff Sweetling will see to your everyday health and will offer health classes that will only enhance you in life. He is also going to be a large part of your therapy needs. Along with Doctor Unella, the two of them shall make your every single day, a new one full of only the best options and treatments for you."

"This is Professor Stannis Baratheon. He will be in charge of your math and science studies. The good professor also offers other unique school activities and is always available for those who need extra help or academic guidance. And please meet Professor Tyrion Lannister. He shall guide you in your english and history studies. As well as offer other classes and activities that you might enjoy. The professor will also serve as guidance counselor for any prospects of college, training programs or career possibilities."

"Counselor Polliver plays many roles here for you. Escort, disciplinarian and chaperon of any non-academic setting. Of course, you have already met Gregor and his brother Sandor. Sandor is the quiet one driving your bus. He is our driver, handyman and general management of the properties. You shall all know him better as you learn responsibility of your new home. Sandor shall help you all learn some basic home improvements. Gregor is your gym teacher, he is also responsible for your outdoor chores and activities. He shall teach you gardening, woodwork, auto work and more. He is also support and counseling along with Polliver."

 

Kevan walked past the staff and over to the three students standing still and silent. With his cane he lightly touched each student which made that student leap forward.

The first girl was thin, her large eyes offering false promise and honest sadism. Even with her hair smooth down her back, her conservative shirt and sweater buttoned to the collar and a skirt that went straight to the knees, she somehow still screamed of sexual things. Her eyes challenged and lured the new students.

"This is Myranda. She has been here for a year now. Picked up on her sixteenth birthday for what was her fourth prostitution offense, second assault offense and while in police custody, the girl attempted to rob two officers. After a good support system and the right lifestyle, our Myranda is on her way to learning how to be a good lawful citizen."

The boy stood red faced but looking only at the ground when it was his turn for introductions as Kevan smiled down upon him like a blessing.

"Hot Pie is one of my greatest success stories still left here at our school. You would never guess by looking at this young man that only a mere seven months ago he was disgustingly heavyset. Full of junk food and fat, he was selling drugs to support his gaming habit. Thanks to our help, Hot Pie has gained muscle, lost weight, shed a drug problem and a gaming addiction. He is an excellent cook and creates most of our meals now."

With clear relief, the boy stepped back and gave a nudge to a thin, incredibly short and pixie looking girl. Inching forward a bit, the girl's hands seemed to be trying to pull her hair forward without actually touching the harsh pulled back locks. Her large violet eyes looked at them each quickly then away.

"Jeyne is our miracle work in progress. She was brought to us with the unusual classification as a human feral. Raised by a group of crack addicts, kept in a cage for most of her younger years, released upon a police raid when she was ten. Since then I am afraid our poor child was lost in the cracks of society. She ran from her first foster home and spent time on the streets. Jeyne was living in woods, behind city dumpsters, wherever she could and stole, fought and even killed to survive. It was only amazing providence for her that Unella saw her case before she was tried and sent to a prison for life. We were able to secure her a lifetime placement with us. This is her second year with us and Jeyne's improvement is fast and stunning. A great example of how helpful we can be when you give yourself over to our program."

 

Kevan stepped away from the girl and stood directly in front of the new students.

"Of course, these three miracles of ours did not have your advantages. They had no rich parents to pay us, they have nothing to look forward to in their future except for the tools we give them. And now, you have put yourselves in the same situation. No amount of money will matter here for you. Whether your parents are rich, famous, connected, none of that matters in here. You have only us and your own selves to rely on. That means, young Joff, that even though you have relations to myself and your professors, you will not receive any favors or recognition for it. Equal footing for all here, children. And right now, considering you have destroyed your own lives and severed other lives, all seven of you are on very uneasy footing indeed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New Students: Another One Rides The Bus by Wierd Al Yankovic


	4. Processed Meat

Intake was its own special hell of boredom, discomfort and disbelief. If there are ever any doubts upon whether a teenager was sent to this place by accident, it was found out right here.

The boredom alone of the tight gray walls of the waiting area just before the health clinic, it's overly bright lighting, the floors polished enough to slide if a person ran. No chairs to sit upon, the floor or pressed against the wall. No cell phones, no music, no games, no books, not even a television screen. Just stand or sit in the hall in between the damned back and forth of the medical rooms.

By the time a student is called into the doctor or nurse's office, they are ready to start shit or talk eagerly just to get done and leave. Sometimes they will explode when they are in the hallway. All of it is fine by Polliver, Raff and Unella. No behavior surprises or shocks them anymore. All of them enjoy the challenge in their own way. At first they all just bothered each other or stewed in silence while Polliver watched all of them with an amused smirk.

 

Raff called each of them one by one into his office, starting with Sansa. He took vitals, he did a quick physical on each of them, as well as cavity searches for drugs. When Sansa asked for a female to be present, Raff laughed and asked Polliver to leave the door wide open. "Now, you don't have to worry about being violated, everyone can watch and make sure I don't molest you."

The door was left open for all of them during the cavity search after that and all glared at Sansa for it.

He asked questions of each of them concerning family health issues, concerning their own health history. All read off a long chart that Raff checked off as he went down the list. That is when the teenagers began to test him back.

"Are you sexually active? Are you on birth control?"

Arya snapped, "None of your fucking business."

Raff smiled at her with full charm then smoothly responded, "If you are unable to let me know if you have been sexually active, that might mean you have been sexually assaulted and afraid to speak of it. Perhaps I should do a full gynecology exam? With the door open so everyone can be aware that I am not molesting you, of course."

Arya muttered that she wasn't sexually active and didn't interrupt the questions again.

Ramsay and Damon each tried to be sarcastic and received extra blood tests that Raff had "meant" to do. He had a terrible time trying to find veins in spite of his having no trouble before. While each teen grimaced, Raff continued to poke at them until he finally chose the most painful spots on the boys to draw blood from.

After that no one bothered to fight with Raff anymore. He continued his examinations and questioning then sent them out with an infuriating order.

"I will see you again after you are done with the doctor. Go back to the waiting area."

Leaving each of the students in the paper dress they were each told to wear upon entering his office, Raff would send them back into the hallway.

 

Joff tried to demand that Polliver make things move faster. He also demanded to be allowed the dignity of clothing. Polliver laughed and shoved the baton end into the boy's stomach, pressing him into the wall with it.

"Golden baby with a silver spoon, I'm sorry, awfully fucking sorry to tell you this but...." Polliver looked all around dramatically before leaning into Joff to loudly whisper, "Mommy isn't here to suck my cock to make me be nicer to her lil Boopie. Shut the fuck up and stay against the wall or I'll flip up your paper smock. Let the girls see the tiny cock that makes you so cranky and nervous in your paper dress."

Arya gasped and muttered that they can't be allowed to act this way. Sansa tried to hush her sister but it was already too late. Polliver gave one last poke to Joff's stomach then left the wheezing boy to stand over Arya. "Are you his social justice warrior? Let me be very clear to you, little girl. You have no rights here. No privileges unless earned. You are in a legal no man's land and you are in Kevan Lannister's world now. You'll get used to it."

He winked at her as he tapped his baton gently upon her forehead to watch the girl squirm and gnash her teeth while all the boys laughed. Sansa was glaring at Polliver but keeping her mouth shut.

 

While Raff seemed to be entering their information into his computer and Polliver half dozed, Unella began to call names. 

She did a full physical exam and neurological exam upon each of them. More questions concerning health and history then tests for cognitive function. Unella then gave them each a quick assessment test on their mental health. She wrote things down on paper, she added things to her computer report but gave no answers or opinions. Only after the woman was finished with her tests did she actually look at the teenage faces and speak directly.

"You may wait in the hall until the nurse can see you. I will send him any medications, therapeutic suggestions and your starter schedule. We will meet in one on one sessions as well as group therapy. As you progress, we will continue to change and asses your options here."

Raff called them each in as he received Unella's reports and added to them. The second visit to the nurse was shorter than the first. They were each handed a folder with papers in it.

"Times that medications are given are listed here. If you miss your medication time, you will be given a warning. If it becomes a problem, you will be disciplined for it. Meal times are also listed, if you are seen not eating, you will be immediately brought to the clinic for eating disorder assessment. We are used to disorders like that, we are also used to little brats that starve themselves in hopes of getting out of here. We use feeding tubes for those issues. I have also listed the times you will have therapy with myself and your appointments with the doctor. As well as all our scheduled therapy groups. Unless you are ill or have a written excuse, if you miss any of these sessions, you will be disciplined. Suggested classes and activities are going to be sent to your teachers and counselors."

 

To their horror, Polliver waited only until each student was clutching their folders before opening the door into the bright sunshine. "But..we aren't dressed!" Grinning at Sansa's outraged face, Polliver shrugged. "The prison jumpsuits have already been taken away. We are in a medical clinic, not a clothing boutique. Guess you'll all be walking to the dormitory in your smocks. Hold tight to the hems in the breeze, girls and boys. Let's go or I'll start taking smocks away to make you run instead."

Polliver led his embarrassed ducks past the several smaller white buildings until he reached one near the backyards.  He opened the blue colored door and waved them in. "New recruits share rooms. Piggy, Feral and Whore are the only ones allowed their own rooms. A privilege you can all work towards, your very own private room." He kicked open three different doors.

Using the baton, Polliver gestured to the girls to enter a room. He swept Theon and Loras into another room, Damon and Ramsay into the third room. He stared at Joff then at all the kids. "Joff bunks with one of the rooms. I don't care which one but he needs to have one. If you all haven't decided what room by the time Sandor shows to move the extra bed...all of you will be disciplined for it."

Ignoring the gasps and mutterings, Polliver bellowed out, "Rules, children! Our rooms are to be kept clean. No drugs, alcohol, weapons, electronics or any other contraband listed on your papers. I toss the rooms to check and please, I love it when you leave me something to find. I really do. There is a curfew, follow it. There is a lights out and a wake up time. Follow it. Read your rules, learn them like the gospel."

He gestured towards the dresser and closet in each room.

"Clothing is provided. If something is not in your size, please let me know. I might do something or not about it. Each of you have been provided with an outfit for every occasion needed here. You are responsible for your own clothing, for it's cleanliness and good repair. All of you will change into the jump suits then take a little time to read your rules. I will be back to hear where Joff is staying and then it will be time for supper. When I call you out of your rooms later, I expect everyone to quietly line up against the wall and wait for my orders."

 

Arya and Sansa stared at Joff then went into their room and slammed the door shut. Leaving the teenage boys to all start arguing about who had to take Joff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Students and Staff: Infected by Eyes Set To Kill


	5. Placements Are Important

"This bed is fucking heavy, Polly. Can we just go and toss the bed randomly? I'll leave you to kill the flock unless you somehow need my help with the whiny bitches?" Polliver sighed heavily and gave Sandor a disappointed look.

"How do you have no sense of humor or joy in your life? Who hurt you? Oh, wait. That would be your brother that hurt you. I don't mean about the half melted face, I mean, Gregor has no true sense of humor either. If he's laughing, it's because someone is hurting, going to hurt or thinks they are about to be done hurting. But you don't even enjoy that. Do you enjoy anything?"

Sandor stared deadpan at Polliver and grumbled out, "Yes. I enjoy putting down heavy things that I am carrying. So if you want me to enjoy myself you'd let me put down this fucking bed." Polliver shook his head. "Not a fucking bit of humor. Man. Fine, let's go stop the squabbling ducklings."

They could hear Damon and Ramsay threatening Loras and Theon with bodily harm. They could hear Theon and Loras screaming right back at them that no amount of torture could make them take Joff. As for the little unwanted prick himself, he was banging on the girls door. They could hear Arya hollering curses back that made even Polliver and Sandor impressed.

Polliver bellowed to be heard over them all and swung the baton wide enough to force the boys apart.

"HELLO, ASSHOLES! EVERYONE AGAINST THE WALL OR THE BATON GOES AGAINST YOU! GIRLS, THAT MEANS EVERYONE! YOU HEAR ME, YOU OPEN EVERY DOOR AND YOU HIT THE WALL OR I HIT YOU! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"

Sandor stood impatiently, waiting while Polliver hollered until everyone was pressed to the wall, staring at him. Polliver walked slowly past each of them, twirling the baton and giving them all a pitying look.

"Did my little ducklings have some trouble while the big duck was away? Are you all that fucking stupid that you FOUGHT instead of finding a solution to the problem? And girls, avoidance never solves problems, locking yourselves in the room didn't save you. Remember, I said that everyone would be disciplined if Joff wasn't found a room. Do you recall that?"

Sansa and Arya both glared this time and both had an instant outburst. "That isn't fair! We are girls, he can't bunk with us so why are we at fault?" "Why blame us, we wouldn't take the fucker if we could anyway!" Sandor sighed loudly as Polliver got a large grin on his face.

"Because, by not helping solve an issue in your tight knit little duckling world....it can make it worse for everyone in a heartbeat. Because the only choices here for you is to learn the easy way or the hard way. You want the hard way? Let's have it the hard way then, ladies. I concede that it wasn't truly equal. After all...if Joff wasn't an option for your room because he was male...not very equal of me, is it?"

Polliver nodded towards Sandor then a room. After the large man tossed the extra bed in the room, Polliver grabbed kids and started his own tossing. Sandor inched past until he could burst out free into the night and towards his own supper.

Grabbing Joff's neck with one hand and Arya's with another, Polliver threw them into one of the bedrooms and slammed the door shut. He then yanked Sansa into another room and then whacked Damon's side with his baton. "In the room, big boy, now." Damon stammered but moved as the baton poked the bruise. Ignoring the screeching of Sansa, Polliver slammed the door shut.

He then smiled at Ramsay, Theon and Loras. "Looks like you win the boys club room. Waddle on inward, ducklings." Unhappy, but not willing to risk feeling the baton, the three entered their new room. Polliver shut that door too, then strolled in front of the three doors. He bellowed so all would hear him clearly.

"WE WILL ALL LEARN TO GET ALONG. WE WILL ALL LEARN TO ABIDE BY THE RULES AND ORDERS WE ARE GIVEN. I WANT EVERYONE TO PACK UP ANOTHER PERSON'S SHIT THEN MOVE IT INTO THE HALLWAY. AFTER ALL BELONGINGS ARE EXCHANGED AND EVERYONE'S SHIT IS NICELY PUT AWAY WE SHALL GO TO YOUR SUPPER. IF YOUR SUPPER IS DELAYED, MINE IS DELAYED. IF MY NIGHT IS INCONVENIENCED, YOURS WILL BE TOO. SO I SUGGEST SHUTTING YOUR MOUTHS AND MOVING YOUR WINGS AND FLIPPERS INSTEAD, DUCKLINGS!"

 

Tyrion and Stannis checked each other one final time before the maid took them into the fancy dining room. "No amount of good grooming is going to hide that you are half drunk already." Tyrion chuckled at Stannis's stern expression and waved away the concerns airily.

"My dearest uncle expects nothing less of me, good Sir. He expects more of me than say, my father or sister do, but not by that much. Uncle Kevan expects me to obey orders, be loyal to the bone, to dress nicely and be prompt for public functions, meetings and fancy tiresome dinners when he is around. He does not expect me to be sober as a church mouse, thank all the gods. That would be the one line I am not sure I could cross for him."

Now Stannis had a tiny glimmer of a smile upon his stoic features and his grave voice had the slightest trace of humor to it. "So...if your uncle asked you to murder a student or quit drinking?" Tyrion gave a sad face and rolled his eyes to look up at Stannis as his voice was a mere whisper of regret. "That poor student...I would try to make it a quick and merciful death. Right after I took a bracing drink."  

The dry laughter carried them into the pretentious dining room. Kevan and his minions were not present yet, of course not. Guests were always left to squirm until the whitest, purest of Kevan's best suit entered. A crystal chandelier full of too many bright lights made a gracious invite to a migraine. Stannis squinted and complained quietly to Tyrion.

"They should use that chandelier for concert halls or for a lighthouse in dark waters." Tyrion nodded. "It bounces off the crystal glasses, glares from the golden dishes and imbues the white silk tablecloth, walls and curtains with a holy light that feels very unholy to my eyeballs." 

"I know the food here is fancier and certainly a better grade of meat. But I would rather have warm milk and cold casserole while listening to Gregor and Unella bicker rather than be here. That grumpy cook we have will come around sooner or later. Thank goodness that your uncle doesn't require us to dine with him every night he is home."

Stannis and Tyrion sat down next to each other at the table, the maid quietly serving them each a cup of coffee. Tyrion added a little liquid from a silver flask to his steaming coffee as Stannis watched then spoke grimly. "Had I known that my brother marrying that golden slut would lead me down this path...this is yet another thing I want to lay at my brother's doorstep. Too bad he is dead. I'd really like one last chance to argue with him about his poor choices."

"Really? I thought Robert made some very poor choices as did Cersei. But your path wasn't Robert's fault at all, Stannis. I would say the fault is yours. You took up with a priestess of some cult, your wife killed herself over it. Then the priestess burned your daughter alive because you broke up with her. Pain, guilt and scandal is what brought you here, Professor."

As Stannis looked down, simmering with suppressed emotion, Tyrion glared up at the stunning white suit flanked by two pastel suits.

"Leave it to you to enter a room with such a lovely way to add into a conversation, Uncle. No need to delve into why I am here. I am a dwarf, I am a smartass and a drunk that has no real use to my father. You are the only one who has ever seen my potential and can tolerate my height and drinking problem. Can we please have supper now? I am ravished."

Kevan gave a gracious smile and he sat down. Bob sat to his right and Harold to his left. With a slight pout, Kevan looked at Tyrion and Stannis. 

"That won't do, gentlemen. One of you sit on the other side next to Bob, please. I can't abide things being so unbalanced at my table. There. Better, thank you."

He led their meal off by saying a long prayer of thanks that made the maid despair of serving anything from the side table while it was still hot. Tyrion was nearly in tears of hunger and boredom as Kevan decided to name and offer thanks to all seven of the gods. He nearly lifted the bowl of soup and drank it when it was finally served. It wasn't until after the soup, salad and halfway through the main course, that Kevan brought up the new students.

"These are not the usual fare of students we receive here. They are spoiled, used to being pampered and coddled. It will not be easy for them. It will be very hard for Joff and he will try to find a way for his connections to us and to the outside world to make things easier for him. We shall not accommodate him, he must learn to obey us, to seek a better life for himself and our family. I am sure you both understand that all of these children are important to us. Their families are connected to ours if even in minor ways. If we work well with these children, these families will become even better connected. And these children will prove their worth to them and to us."

Stannis slowly put his fork down and looked over at Kevan. "Please tell me this isn't like that last time. I want to teach, not spy or trick a child into giving me secrets. You are well aware how I feel about those things. I asked you not to make me do that again."

Bob and Harold both frowned at Stannis with clear disapproval but Kevan simply smiled with kindness and empathy at Stannis.

"We spoke and I told you that I would expect you to bring me anything you've seen or heard. But I did say that you did not have to strive to learn things about the students for me unless it was an emergency. I stand by my promises to you as I always have. We shall let the other staff work upon our new children first. For now I just expect you to help these students learn and to become better human beings. If that changes, we will speak of it and get your conscience clear before anything else." 

Stannis said nothing but Tyrion gave a tiny drunken shiver at the veiled threat to his friend.


	6. Culinary Concerns

Just as Unella locked her office door, Raff spoke to her for the first time all day except for work purposes.

"I'm telling you, Doctor, maybe lose the gray matron dress, add a little make up and stop slicking that blond thick hair back. You'd be a near model, well, except for your age. I don't think models work after they hit thirty. How old are you again, ma'am?" Raff gave her a mocking smile as he sauntered forward.

In the most indifferent voice Raff has ever heard, the woman responded as the nurse locked his room and the pharmacy.

"Young man, looks and fashion are fleeting and useless in the end. I mean, aren't you a perfect example of that? Handsome and young but here you are, stuck as a school nurse and therapist. You could have been a model or a fashion designer, married a rich woman or even just cruised along with a sugar mama?" Unella smirked as Raff turned red and stormed out into the warm night air. She followed him out, locking the door behind her.

Unella headed towards the cafeteria and kitchen which were housed next to the small school.

 

All staff ate meals there for free, same as the students. Before Hot Pie showed up, it was the duty of all the students to take turns cooking the meals. That meant the staff had suffered several nearly inedible meals and they ended up with three or four food poisoning epidemics. Two of them so bad it brought the entire school to its knees. Only Kevan and his men were left standing that last time since a private chef was installed at the main house. 

The last big food poisoning also caused the death of two students. Luckily, both of them were the cooks so they didn't feel too bad about having to bury them in secret. When Hot Pie finally was fully detoxed, he was able to fully begin his student chores. It was immediately discovered Hot Pie could cook and the staff damned near wept in joy behind their screen. Stannis had smiled, actually formed a full smile over the taste of chicken pot pie.

Polliver had looked up, his eyes glistening, full of hope for life. "That boy never leaves here. Ever. I will chain him to the kitchen and we will tell Kevan that the boy ran away." Sandor and Raff agreed eagerly, helping to form the plans to kidnap the student for their greedy culinary needs. For the first and perhaps only time ever in recorded history, according to Tyrion at least, Gregor and Unella shared a glance of agreement, full of goodwill formed by eased taste buds and tummies.

"I believe that for the boy to truly understand how to lose weight but eat well, he should take over as the full time chef. Gregor, do you think we can find an easier exercise program that allows Hot Pie to use a kitchen as a way to physically get fit?" 

"Unella, I do think we can find an easier program for the boy. The kitchen is a great place for sweating and lots of bending, lifting and movement shall be involved in it."

 

Never one to miss an opportunity, Kevan was the one to officially appoint Hot Pie as the new school chef. The boy was brought shaking into Kevan's actual house by Polliver, who was silently laughing. He did not bother to tell the kid why he was being asked for by their exalted leader. Kid probably thought he was leaving in a body bag, judging by his expression. 

Kevan had been shining and pleasant, offering the boy a seat on a couch meant for two. The gesture was not lost at all on the heavyset boy and he had turned red, nearly in tears. This brought Kevan to his side with a gentle pat on the shoulder and reassuring words.

"Ah, boy, do not fret so! My goal was not to only humiliate you but to guide you, my true and honest goal is to give you the tough love that no one has ever offered you. I am the only father figure you have and by all the gods, I intend to live up to that honor bestowed upon us both. Soon you will be so fit and healthy, it will be as if your fat will have been only a terrible dream. But that is not why I invited you here, my boy. No, don't look scared, I intend nothing bad at all! Not a single tiny itty bitty thing is wrong for you today, except that fat which we agree will melt off like a bad dream. So! Oh...dear me, uh, Bob? Would you happen to have an extra handkerchief upon you? The boy is in need...thank you, my fine man."   

Once the boy was composed, Kevan continued. "It has been discovered, Hot Pie. The true talent that lies within you, the thing that will become your passion and life's work is known! The meals you have cooked during your shifts have the staff and students all pleading for more. For now on, you are the sole school chef and that means all other chores you had will be given to others. You will be responsible for the staff and students meals, plus the coffee hour goodies. In exchange, since we know this is your skill set, I will pay for your cooking college after you have graduated our school. Then we shall find you the best of jobs as a personal chef. Isn't that wonderful, young man?"

 

Most days Hot Pie didn't feel lucky to be the school and staff cook. Even with others doing the serving, dish-washing, general cleaning and taking out of the trash, it was still quite a lot of work. His schedule had been created by both Unella and Gregor so his weight would be worked off even as he did nothing but kitchen duties and school.  That meant he carried in all his own deliveries, did all his own prep work, gathered his own herbs that he personally tended in the garden. It meant that all the burden of the meals were upon Hot Pie.

He woke before all the other students and went to bed later than all of them as well. Finally, it started to all go wrong and his schedule had to be adjusted. The boy couldn't stay awake in any of his classes due to his strenuous hours and work. Tyrion and Stannis passed him with glowing marks anyway for their selfish needs. They even stopped giving the boy homework in an effort to ease the stress. Then the worst thing of all, the food started to suffer. This was cause for an immediate emergency meeting for the staff. The children were given a half day free so the meeting wouldn't have to wait.

It was decided that Hot Pie needed to only attend math and language arts. All other classes were not needed and extra activities would be as limited as the boy wished. Hot Pie need only do gardening and his kitchen work to appease any and all needs for gym or creative arts. Begrudgingly, Unella said that the boy did need some time off or else he will become stale in his cooking ideas. Tyrion looked at the doctor in desperation. "Perhaps we could offer another incentive instead? I mean, can we pay the boy, perhaps? I know my uncle won't spare a cent for it, but we could all pool a little together each payday?"

Ideas continued to bounce, Polliver reintroduced his idea of chaining the boy to the kitchen and reporting him as missing. Suddenly, as if summoned by the mere mention of money spent, Kevan entered the staff meeting room. There was no choice but to explain why he saw children running about during school hours. Kevan pondered the situation for a moment then gestured to Harold and Bob. They all walked to a corner and quietly seemed to discuss the problem. Both men were nodding and Kevan seemed decided upon that. 

"Hot Pie will be given two days a week without any classes of any kind, no therapy sessions during those free days. He will be allowed to receive a reward ticket for a trip to town once a month. It will include a meal at any restaurant of his choice and a movie. He may choose a guest to go with him and Polliver will attend them, of course. I will tell him personally of the good news, of course!"

 

When the last batch of students graduated and it was only the staff plus Jeyne and Myranda, it got easier for the boy.

Hearing another six students were attending the school did not put Hot Pie in a good mood. It was more to cook for and he was letting his frustrations out within the meals. For two weeks, all have suffered foods at the wrong temperature, overly salted or unseasoned. All uninspired meals and the staff had been trying everything from bribes to threats to sweeten the boy's mood. Finally, the day the students have arrived, Hot Pie cooks with a better flare.

He does it only out of his own pride and ego, letting these new kids find out how good his food is. That way when they piss him off or try to bully him, they will know the loss of his good cooking. This idea was firmly planted in his head by Myranda and Jeyne, who also missed his good cooking. Myranda was already boasting of how she will fuck and rob each of those boys. Jeyne expresses her wishes to be left alone by the new kids by announcing that she will bite the first one that gets too close.

Myranda finished up adding ceramic dishes and real silverware to the staff table while Jeyne put out plastic trays, dishes and fork-spoons on the student table. They both put on their gloves and aprons as Unella and Sandor appeared. Unella had taken off her white lab coat but still wore the same gray dress that was a trademark of hers. She gave an icy stare to the girls and snapped out, "Hairnets, ladies. We have discussed this and the health hazard you pose to our meals. Please put on your hairnets. We shall wait."

While they waited, Sandor noticed the food. "It smells like the boy's regular macaroni and cheese, yes, I even see the bread crumbs and bacon bits are back on top again. I mean, the hot dogs are just hot dogs but the buns are toasted lightly...he made a broccoli pie too! Corn on the cob with a butter glaze. And is that...are those homemade tater tots? I don't know what miracle caused this, but Unella, I think we have real food again. Oh gods, I think that is a strawberry shortcake I see Hot Pie carrying."

Unella nearly salivated and raised her voice. "Let's go, girls! Hurry up and get those serving spoons moving!" Gregor and Raff nearly steamrolled their way up to the counter when they smelled the macaroni and cheese. The doctor and Sandor barely got out of the way with their full trays in time. It was almost a race to see who could get to the table and taste the food first.

 

They heard Polliver enter next, with a group of sullen teenagers in their new white jumpsuits.

"Hear me well, children. Everyone lines up, gets a tray, gets food served by the girls. Take it to the table, sit and eat. Finish and throw out your leftovers, stack the trays on the counter. As of tomorrow, you will each be assigned chores that will include being a worker for the kitchen, so I advise you to treat the kitchen as you wish to clean it. No yelling, no fighting, no fucking around. Get your ass in a line, grab a tray, that's it. Good, now-"

Suddenly the scents hit Polliver's nose and he ran over to the food to scan it. Then he yelled back to Hot Pie, "Good boy, Piggy! Thank you for coming to your senses before I had to chain you to the kitchen! Tonight after dinner, you come see me and I'll give you a reward for going back to good behavior!" Glancing at the students, Polliver shoved past them and got his own food.

"Okay, kids, now you can get your food and I swear to the gods, if you cause any disturbance to my meal, you'll regret it very deeply!"


	7. Bad Manners

As soon as all the staff and students had their meals, the kitchen workers got their own dishes and headed to the table full of cranky teenagers. The three of them simply listened as they ate while the new kids all complained and bickered.

"I will demand to speak to my uncle and great uncle that this situation is fixed right after supper! There is no way that they can allow this rooming bullshit to happen! I'm not sharing a bedroom with this fucking little punk ass bitch. I want my own room and an apology from that bastard with the baton!" Joff banged his fist on the table but was ignored by all.

"This is entirely going too far. I will speak to that doctor. A female will understand why we cannot share bedrooms like this. Don't worry, little sister, you won't have to kill the spoiled brat, he is right on one thing. Even Kevan Lannister can't let girls and boys sleep in the same room! After we eat, Joff will go see his relatives and we shall go speak with that doctor." Sansa patted Arya's arm as the girl fantasized about murdering the bitching Lannister boy.

"Yeah, Sansa might be pretty and all...but I want my room with Ramsay back. I want to be with my best buddy. You miss me, Ramsay, don't you?" Damon grinned at Ramsay but the sadistic teen only smirked back.

"Are you kidding? You and Joff each get a piece of tail behind closed doors and you both complain? I get two pansies that bitch just like women, they flutter about and only do any of the chores if I make them. I want you back, Damon, of course I do. But I think as long as we have to suffer this arrangement we should at least try to make it worth our while." 

Loras and Theon muttered that they wanted a new arrangement too.

Ramsay had produced a blade from who knows where while in the bedroom and had threatened to flay both of them. They were informed by Ramsay that they would be doing all their chores and his too unless they wished to be skinned alive. Both were fairly certain they could deliver a beat down to the sociopath, but not while he had a knife. Nor could they be sure that Ramsay wouldn't get revenge upon them with true violence that might cause maiming or death.

Hot Pie and Myranda shared a grin and Jeyne gave a small jagged giggle as she dug into her macaroni and cheese. This made the group turn to look at the three strange kids. Sansa raised her eyebrow but Joff grimaced and demanded, "What is so funny, cunt? Maybe I'll ask my great uncle for your private bedroom. You can bunk down with the junior cunt."

Jeyne snorted and ignored the boy to continue her meal as Hot Pie leaned forward to respond for her.

"Didn't you hear Kevan earlier when you first got here? No special treatments and if you ask for favors from the staff, you'd better have a really good bribe or skill for them to help you out. Being connected or rich doesn't count here, at least to the staff."

Myranda smiled and fluttered her lashes at the new boys.

"Of course, we three have no problem helping for favors that involve gaining power, connections, pampering or cash. For example, I do all of Hot Pie's laundry and Jeyne makes sure his room sparkles. We do this because he not only cooks us delicious food but he receives tickets for restaurants and movies once a month and will take one of us with him every time. I get to skip therapy sessions and my own chores on occasion because I know how to please Polliver and Raff."

Sansa, Arya and Loras looked at Myranda's suggestive pouting lips with revulsion but the other boys leered.

"Do you just blow them or actually fuck them? Ow! That hurt, you bitch!" Joff glared at Arya who had slugged his shoulder hard with her small fist, finding his question disgusting. But Myranda simply chuckled. "I usually use only my hands and mouth on Polliver. But Raff is not only really handsome but a great fuck."

 

Even though the return of good food has sweetened the staff's mood, the arguments still flowed forth.

"Polliver, I understand what goal you were trying to achieve. But you simply cannot let that rooming arrangement continue. The girls must share a room free of males. It's detrimental to their health, it is also dangerous for those girls."

Gregor gave a sneer to Unella even as Polliver pouted over her order.

"I disagree. I think that those girls can hold their own, they did on the bus today. Most little girls hear my booming voice, see me and start to faint or cry. Hell, that fancy little boy Loras was crying before the redhead finally shed some tears. Her little sister was too busy arguing with her sister and the golden boy to be sad or scared. These are not kids that are used to hearing no, used to following orders because they are told to. They are used to pampering and coddling. This is their first taste of the harsh real world. Let them experience it. Polliver warned them and he could have simply beaten them all or cost them their supper. Instead he was creative, let's see where his creativeness leads."

Unella slammed down her coffee mug and glared at Gregor.

"It leads to trouble! The girls are sexual assault cases waiting to happen with this so called creativity! As for the three boys in one room, that must be changed as well. Ramsay and Damon are both dangerous predators, they have had several dropped charges in the past. They like to hunt, rape and possibly mutilate and kill females. Joff has actually managed to maim two prostitutes that were known to favor his father. Theon has an anger management issue that could cause the more dangerous boys to go after him. Loras is the weakest and an easy target but he also has a record for reckless behavior. As for the young ladies, Arya has an extreme problem with impulse control and is in need of anger management. Joff has a matching problem with the addition of being a vengeful sadist. Sansa is clever in a way that could be classified as dangerous. I believe from what I can see so far, she is a manipulator. It might not sound so bad that the girl might seduce Damon into doing her bidding, but he is a large boy that has learned to assault females from his best friend. Sansa is not a half of Damon's size if he gets aggressive with her. Can you imagine the damage he could do to her?"

Gregor made a sound of frustration as he leaned forward, meeting the woman's ice cold blue eyes from across the table.

"Woman, why do you always have to argue with everything? Why must you allow your diagnosis and your worst case scenario fantasies to get in the way of a good solution? I read these students with as good of an eye as you do, but without the fancy diploma. Doesn't mean we don't know what the fuck we are doing. I say we let this stand for at least a few days and see how they react. Gives us a good opportunity to see how they will learn to obey the rules and if they can control their worst impulses."

Raff, Polliver and Sandor enjoyed their meal while watching the two go nose to nose, snarling. It was a usual scene but always fun to watch. A free dinner show and anything that was free was always good to them.

 

Joff stared at the mostly silent girl sitting next to him and grinned meanly. "So, do you put out for favors too? Or maybe suck cock for a fast food dollar menu burger and a chance to see a meme on my cellphone?" Jeyne did not even turn to look at Joff but her soft monotone voice caught everyone's immediate attention.

"I would put out your eye with a toothbrush before I would let you fuck me. I have had a cock in my mouth before though. I thought it tasted rubbery and too tough to chew properly." Ramsay looked quite impressed, the girls smiled and the rest of the boys looked horrified.

It was made worse by every female taking a large bite of their hot dogs while grinning at the males.

Jeyne had removed her hairnet right after serving but her hair was still in the ruthless clutches of Unella's ponytail. Now she releases her hair from the confinement and allows the long black locks to cover her face, shoulders and middle back. Joff narrowed his eyes and his mouth twisted.

"That is disgusting. I mean, you have been sweating in the kitchen. And we are eating, my plate is next to you, dammit. If I find a single hair in my meal because of you, you'll regret it. All snarled and sweaty and why the hell is it in your face? You really are a feral, aren't you?" Jeyne remained quiet and intent on eating in spite of the hair covering her. Hot Pie looked over at her with some concern then he gave Joff a warning look.

"Leave Jeyne alone if you know what's good for you. When she suddenly pulls her hair in front of her face like that, it means she is getting overwhelmed. It means she wants to be left in peace before she explodes. Trust me, you do not want her to explode on you. Don't trigger her, okay? I want to finish supper and not have a huge disaster to clean up."

Giggling in a nasty high pitched way, Joff asked, "What, does she turn into the Incredible Hulk or something? No, she is a feral, right? Does she turn into a were-bitch or something? Maybe gets on all fours and starts to bark, piss on the furniture or goes swinging through the trees like a monkey?"

Sansa gave an uneasy look at the stiffening tiny hair covered girl and softly advised Joff to leave her alone. Loras echoed the sentiment and Joff ignored both of them. Ramsay, Damon, Arya and Theon all watched with wary amusement but backed up slightly from the table.

Myranda had enough time to say, "Uh oh, bad move, buddy."

Joff had reached forward and tried to move the hair out of Jeyne's face. "I'm talking to you, bitch, do you-AHHHH!"

 

As chaos sounded from the student table, Polliver slammed his fork down and snarled. "Dammit! I told them not to disturb my supper!" Gregor and Unella stopped arguing just as the screaming grew louder and crashing ensued. The dreaded words of Hot Pie brought all of them running, Polliver in the lead.

"JEYNE IS TRIGGERED!" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just to let you all have a good laugh, I wanted to inform you of this. My daughter and husband are dragging me kicking and screeching into this age of technology and media. I will be starting a twitter account soon as my daughter sets it up for me. If this is something any of you are interested in following, I can let you know when it will be up.


	8. Teeth Gnashing

The kids all sat in shock at first, except for Hot Pie and Myranda. Those two stood up and flew to stand out of the way against a wall and Hot Pie bellowed that Jeyne was triggered. Joff screeched high pitched as he yanked his hand back, minus a portion of his finger. Blood was everywhere and that is when Sansa yanked Arya up from the table. Throwing her little sister behind her, Sansa grabbed a napkin and went to put pressure on Joff's finger.

She found herself on the ground, Joff on top of her and Jeyne ready with a chair high above her head. Damon came from behind the attacking feral and that was a big mistake. Sansa watched as the girl spun so fast it was a blur and that chair smashed the large teenager into the table. The chair broke over Damon's back and Ramsay's mouth was opened in a large O of amazement. He had stood up and pulled Loras and Theon with him as the girl began to attack Damon. 

Damon lay half on the table, groaning and the girl turned back to her original target, her bloody teeth gnashing. Sansa had just gotten out from under Joff and now he squealed and yanked her in front of him as a human shield. Arya hollered and grabbed her sister to pull her from the feral girl's path. For an absurd moment, Joff and Arya yanked Sansa back and forth like a tug toy. Jeyne tracked the redhead's movements with her darting, dilated pupils then launched.

Lucky for Sansa, Jeyne just tossed her into her sister and landed on Joff, teeth trying to bite into his face. Arya and Sansa staggered over towards Damon, who was just sitting on the table now. Bruised and stunned, Damon grabbed the girls and lifted them onto the table, out of harms way. Ramsay, Theon and Loras leaped onto the table to sit with Arya, Sansa and Damon before they got run down by sudden thundering staff.

"NO TEETH! JEYNE, NO TEETH!"

Gregor's roar got through just as Jeyne was about to make a snack out of the boy's nose. Jeyne settled for a quick chomp into Joff's cheek before crawling under the dinner table, growling. She was on all fours, snarling and pacing, watching the staff carefully but her eyes were wild still. Polliver glared at the students on the table and slammed his baton against the wall.

"Assholes! Do not disturb my supper was the order. Couldn't even follow something that fucking simple. And when shit goes down...that YOU caused...you what, dance on the fucking table? GET THE FUCK IN LINE AGAINST THE WALL! SEE PIGGY? SEE WHORE? DO WHAT THEY DO. HOW FUCKING HARD IS THAT? MOVE BEFORE FERAL DECIDES FOR ANOTHER MEAL AND I FUCKING LET HER!"

 

Unella grabbed Joff and quickly dragged him out towards the clinic, grumbling that he should stop sobbing, he just needed a little patching up.

Usually Jeyne did way more damage and the boy should be grateful he was saved in time. Joff switched to screaming for his uncle or great uncle to bring justice down upon the feral's head. As the doctor unlocked the clinic doors, the two professors came by after an intolerable supper with Kevan and his minions.

Joff ran away from Unella over to Tyrion, shoving his bloody finger in the man's face. Uncaring of the blood splattering from both his cheek and finger stump, the boy screamed with malice, spraying his drunk uncle with blood and saliva.

"Look! Look at my finger, my face! That feral CUNT was allowed to bite me, to eat my finger! They put me in a room with that Stark brat bitch and I DEMAND THAT YOU-"

The resounding slap made Stannis wince slightly but Tyrion simply smiled lovingly at the face print on Joff's face. When the boy started to yell at Tyrion again, he slapped his nephew even harder. Then as the boy stood there shocked, Tyrion spoke softly, reasonably and with a drunk pleasantness that just barely covered the simmering acidic anger.

"If you were unfairly treated by staff or bitten by Jeyne, I suggest you look at your own attitude and behavior to figure out why. My dearest nephew, you are as cruel, sadistic and bitchy as your own dearest mother. I am sure she felt that killing your fat cheating father qualified you for a medal but what of my other niece and nephew? They were innocent and you don't even care that they died. Even your mother had tears for her dead children but not you. I remember every time you filled my shoes with your shit or piss as a child when your father had to come crawling to my father for a place to live. I recall how you drowned your little sister's kittens just to watch her cry. When your parents were dumb enough to give your brother a puppy, you skinned it alive. Nailed it to a damned tree, the same tree you tied your crying brother to. I was surprised you weren't even a little sad at their deaths, I mean your favorite targets were gone. So are all the whores your father fucked. Not as much prey here for you, Joff. No sympathy or favors, either. Go with the doctor and get stitched up, then get back to your dorm. School comes early. Say another word to me that isn't carefully thought out and I will slap you again."

Joff choked on his blood and indignation as the professors kept walking and Unella grabbed his ear. "Inside the clinic, young man."

Out of mercy to herself, not the boy, Unella sedated Joff before working on him. She hoped that Raff and Gregor didn't have any trouble controlling Jeyne. The girl has come so far in the two years that they have worked upon her. Unella hates setbacks and she is furious at this little brat that set off one of her best cases.

She has been studying and working on this female feral, hoping to write a book on her as a miracle cure. This could finally be the thing that launches her back into the world. Away from this place, far from Kevan's clutches and Gregor's battlefield. Unella hurried through Joff's medical care, wanting to see Jeyne for herself. She should have sent Raff with Joff and dealt with Jeyne on her own.

 

Sandor ran into the hallway to a locked cabinet and opened it fast with his keys. He retrieved the emergency restraints and ran to toss them to Gregor. Sandor walked to block the exit he had used, hoping the girl didn't try to run through him. That happened only once. The first year Jeyne first showed up she caused chaos and physical injuries to students and staff alike. Sandor didn't even know he had a clavicle to break until Jeyne had cracked it with her head.

The feral is one of the most dangerous students to ever walk this forsaken hell home and Sandor didn't like to tangle with her. He generally tried not to deal directly with the students but in crisis there was no choice, everyone must help if possible. Bracing himself, he waited, fingering the taser he carried with him.

Every staff member kept some form of weapon of defense upon them at all times. They have had students do everything from try to escape, to attempting to rob the medication clinic. And some of their students have also attempted to attack or kill staff members.

Gregor was the only one that rarely carried anything but a beating stick or a thick strap. He had given Sandor the taser gun for his birthday with a sarcastic grin that made the younger brother pissed in a way he cannot truly express. Belonging to Kevan and his world was tolerable but being stuck under Gregor's boot was intolerable. But Sandor had taken the weapon and given a very gruff and brief thanks to his brother for it.

Sandor prayed the girl didn't run at him, he felt bad for the feral, just a project for Unella and a charitable curiosity for Kevan. He didn't want to add to her pain by having to use the taser on her.

 

Polliver had each kid pressed against the wall, crammed shoulder to shoulder near the kitchen door. The furthest from the girl he could safely move them. He shut and locked the kitchen door so Jeyne cannot get in there. Then he readied his baton and stood in front of the students, ready to defend his retarded ducklings. Jeyne hasn't had a bad episode in two months. She had small skirmishes with the students but no real injuries involved.

But he remembered that Jeyne used to be a fucking nightmare to control. He had to keep her in a muzzle around the other students for her first few weeks, hands cuffed even during class hours. Unella fed her through a tube that went up the girl's nose if Jeyne couldn't contain herself during meal times. Jeyne was constantly switching between hiding and attacking that first year.

She nearly castrated one boy with her teeth that tried to rape her after hours one night. Another time some female students were picking on her. Jeyne seemed to ignore it then one day while the class was assisting Sandor in building a shed, she took the nail gun to the girls. Other times she would hide in the woods or the roof or dumpsters and it would take the entire staff to search her out.

The girl has managed at one point or another to injure almost every staff member. Even Gregor had suffered a few bites and bruises from the girl in the earlier days. Right now, Jeyne looks as if she has regressed and Polliver moaned internally. This would be an awful time for the girl to revert, while Polliver needs to keep a close eye upon their new recruits. He watched as Raff crouched down next to the long table that Jeyne was under. Polliver sent up a silent prayer that Jeyne will respond to Raff.

 

With a soothing smile and a silky smooth soft reassuring voice, Raff spoke to the panicked feral girl. He crouched low next to the table, one hand curled around his own defense weapon. A syringe full of a fast acting sedative that will knock a person out for about fifteen minutes. Jeyne has been in therapy and under Raff's medical care long enough for the man to know to keep his distance. He has calmed her in the past, enough to sedate her and as time went on the girl would respond to Raff's verbal cues to calm down.

Raff sees her eyes are blown, she isn't really in control right now, her panic and feral nature have taken over. He keeps out of reach, looks at her with eyes of calm authority and speak softly with a tinge of affection. This voice works on Jeyne most of the time but when she is upset like this, it is a hit or miss.

"Hey there, Jeyne. What happened, sweetie? Did that boy scare you? It's alright. He's gone. Unella took him away and everyone is quiet, calm. See? I need you to slow your breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth. Good girl."  The girl seemed to be listening, her breathing changed and Raff began to relax slightly. "Why don't you come here to me, Jeyne? Come here, sweetheart, come see me. We can go for a walk and talk about it, or just look at the moon, okay?"

Jeyne started to inch forward and Raff smiled, extending his empty hand to her. His other hand was ready with the syringe, once she took his hand and went to stand with him, that is when he can sedate her fast. Just then, incredibly, one of the new students did the exact opposite of what they were told to do. They were told to stay silent and still. When Jeyne is in feral mode and tracks, startles, just like an animal. 

Just as Jeyne almost reached Raff and took his hand, there was a scuffle and a sharp voice from the line of students.

Polliver instantly reacted and the student was silenced but it was too late. Jeyne hissed and darted away from Raff. She flew from under the table and Gregor cursed as she managed to slip just past him. Gregor and Raff kept a distance but circled the girl as she tried to desperately find an escape route.

Jeyne has herself trapped in the center of the room and is eying a window as if to crash through it. Raff's voice was still calm but there was a slight bit of concern and wariness to his tone now.

"Jeyne, don't do it. Remember the last time you jumped out of a window that wasn't opened? How much glass we had to pull out of you? It hurt very bad, you cried and screamed. Stay away from the window, honey. Come on, sweetie, you don't want the students to see this, do you? It's time for you to calm down, let me help you. Just come here, just like you were going to. Jeyne? Want to take my hand and we will leave together? Hmmm?"

The hair covered girl kept moving, keeping them both at arms length and she snarled at the nurse. 

"Liar. Pants on fire! Lie, you lie! You have a needle, no walk, a lie and a needle! Trickster! You are such a pretty liar!" Raff grinned at the compliment, aware the girl had a crush on him until she figured out Myranda was fucking him for favors.

"Such a clever girl. Yes, I have to sedate you, Jeyne, you are not in control of yourself. You already know that, honey. Now, I am the easier way, just come here and a quick pinch. Let the pretty liar hold you and stroke your hair while the sedative works. It's better than the hard way. Gregor is the only other choice, Jeyne. You know how he feels about when you act too feral, sweetie. Better to come to me, Jeyne."

"Liar! Needles and lies! Pretty face and lying sweet voice, do not touch me!" Sighing, Raff gave an apologetic look to the hissing, angry girl and shrugged. "I tried."

 

Gregor smiled broadly as Jeyne faced him and he spoke with a rich voice as if he were a jolly old Santa.

"Guess that means its my turn! The hard way is sometimes the only way. We both know that, right, little bitey girl? That is alright, Unella and Raff don't understand you as much as I do. The boy set you off and those teeth had to chomp, you had to run on all fours and act like a fucking animal all over again. I told you what would happen the next time you bit off a piece of someone, didn't I? Do you remember what I said I would do, Feral? You remember, don't you? And you know that I don't lie, Nanny Gregor never tells a lie, does he? What does Nanny Gregor do, Jeyne?"

The girl was watching Gregor nervously as he stalked around her and he saw that switch in her eyes from panic and rage to fear. "I am speaking to you, Jeyne. Use your fucking voice unless you are truly an animal! What does Nanny Gregor do, Jeyne?"

Shivering, twitching, the girl's voice was strained, each word blurted out. "Nanny Gregor keeps his promises."

The large bald man nodded. "That's right. I promised you a very bad thing would happen if you bit off anymore pieces. And you bit off a piece of that whiny boy's finger. So what do you think is going to happen now?"

With a gasp of horror, the girl sped towards a wall as if to lean against it and Gregor gave a loud chuckle. "Too late for that, silly girl and you know it. I am going to restrain you and then Raff will give you the sedative. When you wake up, it's going to be time for Nanny Gregor to keep his promise to the bitey feral girl."

Jeyne gave a roar as Gregor came for her and she did manage to get a few feet away before she was caught.

 

The students watched in amazement as the feral tiny girl actually climbed the large man like a mountain and leaped off him. Gregor twisted around fast and grabbed the girl's long hair, wrapping it fast around his wrist. Jeyne nearly scalped herself trying to yank away and then her head was crashed into the wall. Pinned by her head, Jeyne growled and screeched, her legs and arms flailing while Raff carefully inserted the needle into her strained neck.

Gregor stared over at Polliver and the row of ducks while he kept Jeyne in place until the sedative kicked in.

"Polliver, I don't know which of your fucking ducklings decided to be a class clown but we shall be addressing it. Once I get Jeyne ready for her discipline, bring all the kiddies to the show. They can use the example of what happens when you are out of control. I want the ducklings to learn that if Nanny Gregor gives a promise, he keeps it! And then I want to personally see the duckling that thought their attitude was more important than anything going on."

Arya began to hyperventilate a little as Polliver and Gregor glared at her. Well, fuck.


	9. Fence Sitting Till It Hurts

Polliver hurried the ducklings into the clinic to line up at the medication counter.

"Piggy and Whore go first. You two are excused from the show and any discipline since I know you two would never be so fucking stupid as these fuckers. Clean the mess in the cafeteria, fix up the kitchen then take the night off, dears. And Piggy, don't forget, drop by my place tonight for the reward. I am only sorry that all these ducklings decided to turn into assholes on the night you choose to give us good food again. I only got halfway through my first plate."

Myranda and Hot Pie took their medication from Raff, who was handing out tiny cups of pills along with tiny cups of water. Raff's movements and words were automatic, robotic.

"Pills in mouth, water and swallow. Open your mouth. Good. Any questions bring to the doctor during your appointment. Go away."

Any attempt of the ducklings to discuss any medications was met with a cold smirk, bored eyes and a repeat of bringing the problem to the doctor. Sansa tried to push it and Raff sighed. "Okay, anyone with questions that cannot wait may line up on the opposite wall."

Polliver watched with a sigh as almost every kid lined up on the opposite wall. He crossed his arms and shook his head, stupid ducklings have to learn the hard way and waste his time.

Raff smiled and he gave Loras his medication. That was the end of the medications to be doled out. Then he called out, "Anyone lined up to speak with me I will assume is here because they are embarrassed about a severe constipation issue. Therefore, I shall be setting up warm enemas for any student that is lined up to see me."

Both men laughed as every student flew back to the other side of the wall and started inching towards the exit.

  Unella burst out of the office surgery with a nearly limp and foolishly grinning golden idiot. She held tightly to Joff's neck as she dragged the boy over to Polliver. "Here, Polliver. I gave the boy a sedative earlier and now he is on some painkillers."

Unella shoved the boy at Polliver then raced out the door, heading for Gregor. She had heard Raff and Polliver discussing that Gregor told Jeyne he was keeping his promise. That was not good at all and could cause serious regression that might be permanent.

 

Unella showed up just in time to see Gregor restraining a still out cold Jeyne to his punishment chair. It was a high back wooden chair designed to take a thrashing. With arms and built in restraints of the toughest leather straps. They can restrain at the ankles, calves, wrists and forearms on the arms of the chair plus a strap that goes across the entire chest. Gregor had built it himself and it was always a favorite for him.

 "Wait! Wait, what are you doing? I  have clear outlines on what we would do in these situations with the feral!"

Gregor had stormed right past her then spun around to poke a thick finger into Unella's outraged face. He began to back her up slowly as he thundered his words upon her like an angry avalanche.

"NO, YOU HAVE OUTLINES ON WHAT YOU WANT TO DO! YOU TRIED SHOCK THERAPY, YOU STUFFED HER WITH EVERY PILL YOU COULD THINK UP AND GAVE HER SO MUCH THERAPY THAT THE GIRL FEELS LIKE A PROJECT! IF I HAD TO CHOOSE BETWEEN BEING A PROJECT OR A FERAL, I WOULD PICK BEING A FERAL TOO! ITS TIME TO STOP THIS BULLSHIT NOW! I MADE HER A PROMISE, YOU HEARD ME DO IT, THAT LAST TIME WHEN SHE BIT OFF A PENIS, UNELLA! YOU RESPONDED WITH ELECTRIFYING HER BRAIN! FAT LOT OF GOOD YOU'VE DONE THERE, FAIRY FUCKING SHOCKMOTHER! POLLIVER AND RAFF HAD HER IN THAT MUZZLE FOR WEEKS! WHEN I FINALLY TOOK THE DAMNED THING OFF HER EVERY MALE STUDENT TRIED TO RUN AWAY FROM THE SCHOOL!"

The woman tried to leap in front of Gregor to undo the straps. Gregor gave a fierce grin as he lifted the stunned Unella and dropped her behind him.

"No! My turn, woman. I understand about your fucking book but I actually want to turn the stupid feral into a stupid fucking human. Fuck off. Write in your journal that tonight you lost to the Nanny's Promise therapy. I bet my results will be better than yours."

 

Stannis was over Tyrion's small cabin locked in a very intense game of war, played upon a table painted to represent the world.  The windows were open to let in a very nice breeze, Tyrion's lemonade was heavily liquored and Stannis's was heavily sugared, perfectly suited to each. Things were peaceful then they heard the familiar hollering of Gregor and Unella. Tyrion sighed, "Ah, the music of our nights has begun." Stannis shook his head and frowned but continued his concentration upon the game.

The window allowed words to enter upon the breeze and both men froze, eyes wide, staring at each other. Stannis cleared his throat and stammered, "Did I hear that right? Is Gregor keeping his promise to Jeyne for biting? She can't...she won't handle that well, not at all." Pained frustration and shame crossed his face and his fingers tightened on the table. Tyrion gave a sympathetic look to his friend then a guilty look towards the yard as he got up and firmly shut all windows.

"There is nothing we can do, good Sir. I wish it were different. Maybe...maybe it will help. Hell, isn't any worse than what Unella does to her. Actually, it is less painful  than what Unella would do probably. I mean...I know it's extreme considering the poor girl just can't help herself...but miracles do happen. And we both know that we have seen Gregor do some good."

Stannis was not reassured by Tyrion's words. He started to pace, agitated, thinking of his own daughter that he utterly failed to help. Tyrion said nothing, knowing where Stannis's head has gone. It has happened before, many times. Stannis paced and ranted for a moment.

"I have seen all of us do some good...and I have seen us all do incredibly bad things too."

Tyrion drew himself as tall as he could and looked insulted. "I resent that. You do us both wrong, Professor. I would say out of every staff member here we are the kindest, most reasonable and certainly the least abusive! We earnestly wish to assist them in their education as much as we can. We do not torture in any capacity, we do not-"

Stannis slammed his fist on the table, disrupting the entire war game, possibly causing an apocalypse as carved pieces rolled, bounced or slid about.  "WE COMMIT THE GREATER SIN! WE IGNORE, WE LOOK AWAY! ONLY HELP AS MUCH AS WE CARE TO GET INVOLVED! BECAUSE WE DARE NOT!"

The man ignored his friend's incredulous stare at such passion from such a stoic personality. Stannis took a second, sipped then put down his sugared lemonade with a look of dismissal to anything sweet this night. When he spoke again, it was in a calmer but painfully honest tone.

"That poor creature has been wronged by adults all her life...that hasn't really changed. Kevan keeps her like a curious exotic pet and Unella treats her like a lab experiment. Gregor is going to use her as an example for the new students. And what do we do? We sit here and play games then tomorrow we will pretend to teach her something in class. If she is even capable of making it there after tonight. And if she does make it there, we pretend to not notice whatever has been done. Like we do with all of the damned students. Get me a damned drink, Tyrion! One of your lemonades this time, if you please."

Tyrion grinned and hurried to get the drink before Stannis thought to change his mind.

"Well, that is the best idea you've had all day, Sir! And I do beg to differ! Several students have left this school with an excellent education from us, from you! Some learned skills here that help them to this day. Yes, they may be eternally tied to Kevan or whomever they are sold off to, but sometimes it's a very long leash, an expensive one at that!"

Tyrion handed Stannis the drink and offered dubious reassurance. "Think of this at the very least, if it weren't for your classes, dedication and tutoring, Raff would never have been a nurse."

With a terrible shudder, Stannis gulped half the drink in one quick movement. "That is not helpful."

"Perhaps not, but the drink is. Now help me fix this table back to order after you finish that drink. Then I will make you another once this is all set back to rights. Good grief, Sir, what did your fist of misplaced justice do? Korea is now in full control of France and Sweden has engaged Africa in suicidal combat!"  

With strong spirits, a riveting game and an opera turned up loud, they almost didn't hear the heart wrenching screams and almost managed to focus on their game.

 

Hot Pie stormed around the kitchen, crashing things more than cleaning them. Myranda cleaned up the cafeteria and winced at the screams coming through the window. She was not as close to Jeyne as Hot Pie but all three have sort of become used to each other. Myranda did feel bad for Jeyne but not enough for her to feel the need to bother with anger.  

Tears of rage and frustration, his voice choked with empathy for the strange girl who has become his friend, Hot Pie bitterly cursed the staff. He continued his tirade the whole time they cleaned. "I shouldn't have even given them this one night of my good cooking back, they don't deserve it! Why should I slave away for them? Fuckers! It's not Jeyne's fault! She was fucking provoked and they know, THEY KNOW, she could have done way worse! But she didn't she stopped herself in time!"

Shrugging as Myranda put the mop bucket away, she spoke with a bitter sweet singsong tone. "That is why Gregor is keeping the promise. Because she has done it before and might do it again. Recall what our beloved Feral bit off last time, Hot Pie. Men don't take that shit lightly, hell, even you were afraid of her for awhile after that." Hot Pie frowned and shook his head.

"Not for a long time, I got over it. Jeyne never did that again and she rarely bites anymore unless provoked. They don't have to keep tormenting the shit out of her. It doesn't help."

With a small tinkering laugh coming from that poisonous honey tone made Hot Pie think of fairies, pretty and glittery, all playfully tormenting a field mouse to death, Myranda responded. "No, it does help. One way or another. If they don't cure us then they will scare or humiliate or hurt or beat us down until we just surrender. They wear you down, if need be. We should know, right?"

"I will never cook them anything but shit ever again. I will make separate meals for you and Jeyne but those spoiled, provoking kids and our  sadistic, damned staff can eat whatever slop I fucking toss together! I hate this place! I hate all of them!"

When everything was done, Myranda and Hot Pie headed towards the woods, away from the chaos of discipline. She produced a joint and together they shared it, trying not to think of what Nanny Gregor's Promise would mean for poor Jeyne. They could only hope it won't make her any crazier than Unella already has with her treatments.     

 


	10. The Nanny Promise Therapy Cure

Polliver dragged Joff in one hand and twirled his baton in the other.

"Alright, ducklings. See that dirt yard with the lit torches? See that wooden chair, the really uncomfortable chair that Feral is restrained to? I want you to all line up here so you are facing her. Nanny Gregor is kind enough to offer the children a free show before nighty-night time! And kiddies, around here if someone offers anything for free, you best take them up on it. Line up, waddle into place, flap those flippers!" 

He shoved Joff against Arya and stuck his nose in her face. "If he moves, if he falls or is disruptive in any way, both of you will feel my displeasure. You have already earned a special backstage pass to this show, I wouldn't push your luck any further, little recruit." Arya bit her lip but said nothing as Polliver strolled to see if the others were silent and standing straight. "I want silence. I want still, silent children that pay attention. You will watch. I want still, silent children that pay attention and watch."

Raff strolled over, carrying a small medical kit for emergencies as always. Whenever anyone is disciplining a student, Kevan insists on the kit being made immediately available on the mere in case it might ever be needed. As far as Kevan is concerned, it's use has been quite minimal. The nurse gave a smirk to Unella as he strolled past her to stand near Polliver.

The doctor's fists were tightly balled in rage and her face was a frozen snarl. She had no recourse, Unella would never dare interrupt Kevan over such an issue. Gregor had Raff and Polliver always on his side and the professors never got involved. As always, she was on her own and had no choice but to give way. Unella did concede that she won a goodly amount of her battles against these assholes.

That thought allowed her to step back, fold her arms and glare at Gregor with disapproval. "Fine. If she regresses, if this harms her in a permanent way and Kevan is displeased, it is all on you. And I swear, if the girl is injured, I'll-" The giant had turned to restart his fight with Unella when a scream ripped through Unella's words.

 

Jeyne had woken and it only took seconds before she understood. Screeching, thrashing, her black hair flying, whipping through the air, Jeyne was full blown hysteria in action.

Gregor faced the screaming girl with a large merry smile, kindly twinkling eyes and his voice was loud but ever so pleasant. His large hands grabbed the narrow face and forced her still for a moment. "Look at me, Jeyne. Shut up and look at me before I squeeze your face until I break something. Look. At. Me."

When Gregor had grabbed the girl's face, he had pushed the black strands out of her pale features. With a whimper the girl looked slowly up at Gregor, her eyes full of fear and a snarling caged anger the others didn't quite understand. Regardless of the look in her eyes, Gregor gave her a bright smile and spoke like a gentle preschool teacher speaking to a naughty child that finally did something good.

"Now, see that? I say look at me and when you comply, I can see it. It's nice to not have to wonder what goes on under that hairy safety blanket of yours. No matter how many times Unella tries to yank your hair back, you pull it down again. Nice to have a shield, a haven when everything becomes too much. I understand that. But now we are eye to eye, aren't we? Yes, we are. What did Nanny Gregor promise would happen if bad bitey feral girl bit a piece off someone again?"

The girl struggled but Gregor refused to release her head or stop staring, boring into her eyes. Finally, the girl sagged and blurted out a response.

"Nanny Gregor promised to take a piece of me if I bit a piece off someone else."

"That's right. And I always keep my promises, Jeyne. I have picked the piece you are losing and it's a perfect one. You are going to scream,cry, tantrum and thrash all you can. I understand and forgive you the embarrassing spectacle you will become in a moment. Just remember, it is for your own good."

Gregor moved back from the girl, allowing her to yank her face away from his touch. With a huge shit eating grin to Unella, he pulled out his choice weapon of the evening. Unella covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes. This will have such consequences on the girl, she just knew it. The students all gasped as one when they saw the flash of a straight edged razor and Jeyne went back to thrashing and howling into the night.

Gregor smiled benevolently and gestured to Raff. With a cooing soft voice, Raff caught Jeyne's head and restrained her. "Don't make it worse, love. Stay still and breathe."

 

Except it wasn't that easy for the girl and they could all see that. Even with Raff trying to keep her still, Jeyne managed to make her hair fly. Gregor grabbed the chunks of flying hair and then they were in Jeyne's lap. She froze when he threw thick blankety ropes of black hair on her, just stopped moving, screaming, breathing. Raff became a bit concerned when Jeyne turned purple and her eyes began to bulge. 

Unella stepped forward and snapped, "Gregor, enough! Look at her! She isn't breathing, Raff, check her pulse, get her-" Gregor spun around and shoved Unella back with one hand. He glared at Raff who was no longer restraining the girl's head, but checking her pulse. "Uh, Gregor...she really isn't doing good, I think I should-" "Back away, moron!" Gregor hollered but by the time Raff registered the words, the girl he thought might be catatonic already had her teeth in him.

With a laugh, a full Santa Claus seeing a baby reindeer walk in the snow drifts kind of a laugh, Gregor watched Raff try to not lose his ear to Jeyne's rage. Howling, Raff punched Jeyne in the head so he could stagger away holding his bleeding ear. Unella snarled at him for whacking the subject in the head and didn't bother to help the injured nurse. Crossing her arms, Unella watched as Raff staggered over to the medical kit to use it upon himself.

Polliver gave his friend a pitying look and clucked out, "Oh, that is just not right, man. Hey, at least it was only your ear and not your cock? Looks like she almost took your earlobe almost off. That will mess with your looks..." Raff seethed as he tried to stop the bleeding and then he snarled at the smirking children. "What the fuck are you all staring at me for?" That caused Polliver to turn and smack the baton into his hand as he stared down the students.

"Is our injured nurse the free show you were offered? No? Then put your fucking peepers where they belong!"  

 

Gregor gave a thunderingly loud burst of applause to Jeyne as he came closer. His cheer was sounding less like a nanny and more like a super villain who is about to kill the hero for good. With a voice that has now reached an epic manic level of happiness and a smile that nearly ate his whole face, Gregor spoke to the girl.

"Yes! There we are! There is the feral bitch! No more hiding behind your hair, Jeyne! You want to be angry or scared, you'll have to do it without a shitload of fucking hair to hide you! Go ahead, thrash, try to bite me if you want to, girl. Course, you'll pay for it but why do you care about that, right? You are a tough little creature, just a fucking beast, a thing for Kevan to put a leash on and a lab test for Doctor Frankencunt. So go on, let it all out while I finish getting rid of your hair for you. If you insist upon being a feral little freak, then you might as well look like a freak all the way!"

Jeyne screamed and thrashed and Gregor let her. His razor flew and his fists were full of hair as well as skin and blood since the girl wouldn't stay still. "Gregor! Don't scalp her, let me restrain her head, dammit!" Gregor glared Unella away and when he needed to get closer to Jeyne's skin, he grabbed the small jaw hard. Holding the girl as still as he could, Gregor ruthlessly continued his assault upon her head.

Now the girl started to burst into heart-wrenching sobs and howls as blood trickled down her neck and face. Gregor seemed immensely pleased by this and started to hum a lullaby as he worked.

Sansa, Loras and Theon found themselves with tears in their eyes suddenly. The sounds of Jeyne's anguish were so awful and it was clear that Jeyne has been shorn of her one true comfort and defense. It was clear the emotional devastation and it caused even Arya to squirm and wish it would end. Damon, Joff and Ramsay remained silent, but their eyes were filled with something darker and the screams only made them harder in another way.

 

The moment Gregor finished and the girl was left bald and bloody, he released the restraints and stepped back calmly, waiting. Jeyne burst out of the chair among a cloud of black hair. She clutched it all, trying to sweep even the hair up that fell into the dirt, whimpering, sobbing. Gregor walked over to the small fire pit he had going and gestured to Jeyne. Shaking her head wildly, Jeyne tried to dart away clutching the hair like it was a teddy bear.

Gregor moved faster than any student could have thought possible. He had Jeyne by her neck with one hand and dragged her towards the fire pit.

"No, no, we aren't done yet, sweetheart. Throw the hair into the fire, freaks don't need hair. What good has hiding behind all that hair done you so far, Jeyne? Made you think it keeps you safe from something? It didn't though, did it? No, listening to Nanny Gregor about biting might have saved you and the hair...but you didn't listen, did you? Now throw that shit into the fire, right now."

Jeyne roared and clutched the hair to her chest tightly, trying to curl up into a ball. Gregor forced the girl's thin arms forward then held her wrists in a crushing grip. "I will break your wrists, girl. Drop the hair into the fire." With a screech of pain and defeat, Jeyne let the hair go. It stunk as it burned and Jeyne screamed as if she herself were burning alive. Gregor let her go and the girl wrenched away then turned and did the unthinkable in her extreme upset.

The girl raced with great speed as if to leap into the fire and retrieve the hair that was already mostly gone. Gregor grabbed her at the last second just as Unella almost had heart failure. Then she had another near death moment when Gregor held the girl's head over the crackling fire. Not close enough to burn her but enough that the girl would feel the extreme heat, the sparks would burn her in tiny flashes.

"NO! BAD! ARE YOU A FREAK THAT JUMPS INTO FIRE NOW? ARE YOU FIREPROOF, STUPID FERAL IDIOT? DO YOU WANT THIS? TO BE A BURNT AND BALD FERAL FREAK? HUH? WANT THAT, FREAK? ADD A LITTLE EXTRA FLAIR TO YOUR FUCKED UP LOOKS AND BEHAVIOR? IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT, FREAK?"

Then Jeyne shrieked and words finally came of her own violation.

"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I AM NOT A FREAK!"

Gregor dumped Jeyne on the dirt, keeping himself in the way of the fire pit. The girl curled up in the dirt and sobbed, beating the ground with her fists. The large man crouched down and spoke in that preschool teacher tone again.

"Hate me all you want. Build a fucking alter and make a voodoo doll of me. But prove me wrong. Show me you aren't a freak. Some poor fucking charity case, a fucking feral that isn't worth helping. Prove me fucking wrong, Jeyne. Try it as a new therapy. Might save you some dignity and some brain cells before Unella fries them all."

 

With a sigh of mocking sympathy, Gregor patted Jeyne's shorn head, smearing the blood and causing the girl to wail and try to squirm away. "Alright, Jeyne. Are you sorry for not listening to your Nanny Gregor?" A strangled yes, she was sorry came out as Jeyne tried to cover her face with her hands. Gregor smacked her hands away from her face.

"Nope. We didn't go through all that for you to keep your hands in front of your face. If I see you walking around that way, I will cuff your wrists behind your back during day hours. Wear a hood or a hat during very sunny days, otherwise, you will let the world in, Jeyne. Like I said, prove me wrong. Now you may go see the doctor for your cuts."

Unella beckoned to Jeyne but the girl screeched and fled. Gregor shrugged at the doctor and drawled out, "At least she didn't run away on all fours. Already an improvement. Guess she isn't in the mood for your help, Unella." 

Gregor's mocking laughter followed Unella as she stormed off to try and find the girl.

"Now...where are my very bad new children? Where is my provoking little shit and my loud mouthed other shit?"

 


	11. Poor Wayward Souls

With a barely contained mirth, Polliver pointed his baton at Arya and Joff.

"Ducklings, time for your special extra time with Nanny Gregor! Aren't you just the luckiest fucking things, to get a private audience before your first class with the man! Go on, drag the boy if you have to, Pumpkin. There you go, don't you look pale, what's wrong, girl? Get a move on!"

Arya looked nearly green and Joff was starting to clear enough to understand that danger was imminent. She inched towards the large man who stood with his legs apart and his hands behind his back. Joff dragged his feet but Gregor simply stood silently, waiting for the two to come before him and for the others to leave.

Sansa watched nervously, her hands twisting her hair, tears in her eyes. Ramsay and Damon had brilliant glittering eyes, clearly waiting for another great show. Loras and Theon gave Sansa sympathetic pats while shooting dirty looks at the budding sadists. Polliver rolled his eyes and then turned to glare at the ducklings.

"No more free show for the rest of you! Time for us to get you all ready for bedtime! Only two of our ducklings get special Nanny time this evening and if any of you were smart you would be happy about that. I want a nice orderly waddle to your dorm house, move, move and fucking move."

Polliver watched everyone move while staring back to see the two students standing in front of a smiling Gregor. Except Sansa, who just stood there, staring anxiously at her little sister nearly eclipsed by the giant.

 

Polliver stuck his face in Sansa's and tilted his head, his eyes looking confused as if she were a new breed of stupid.

"Sweetling, I am very sorry to disturb your lamenting over your iddy biddy widdle sissy, but we are fucking MOVING! Flap those fucking feathers and get in line now or I will use my baton to help your ass get all the way to the dorms." Sansa gave Polliver a tearful pleading look and burst out, "Arya is only fifteen! You can't just leave her out here to be...to be..."

The counselor groaned and shook his head. "Oh, Sugarbuns, Princess of the Dramatic Pretty Things....go on. Please, tell me what I am leaving the fifteen year old out here to be...what? Raped? Beaten, burnt, mutilated, murdered? Cannibalized? I think you need to shut your mouth. You should worry more about yourself, dear. After all, you weren't sent to our school because you are babysitting your little sister, yeah? Now, since you want to do things the hard way...MOVE!"

Sansa shrieked as the baton hit her ass hard and she leaped into the line. A few more whacks, lighter but still stinging and shocking, kept her from looking back as she nearly ran towards the dorms. For giggling at Sansa's punishment, Polliver added a few choice baton strikes to Damon and Ramsay. They entered the dorm house and all lined against the main hall wall.

"Well, hey, at least you all remember ONE thing today. I hope your minds work faster soon, kiddies. Or else you'll be in special class time too. Now, on a normal night when all are behaving, you would come here on your own...you would be allowed to use your rooms or the main common room here. You could wander the grounds or jerk off in the bathroom until lights out. Raff comes by with your sleep medication fifteen minutes before I call curfew. Nice and peaceful. Tonight won't be like that. Because you all became fucking idiots. So whether you each personally feel innocent or not, I warned you that if anyone was bad today...all would pay for it. Right?"

 

Gregor didn't move while Polliver herded his ducklings towards the dorms. He didn't move while Raff staggered off, bandaged and muttering. Staring hard at the two mere children shivering in front of him, he offered a wonderful smile that could eat them in one bite. As Gregor stayed still, the kids squirmed, they started sweating and looked like they might faint or vomit from anticipation alone.

When five minutes went by Gregor spoke in a booming voice that caused both Arya and Joff to leap into the air. The smile only widened at that as Gregor spread his arms with joyful animation.

"OH MY DISOBEDIENT NEW FAVORITE CHILDREN! TWO LITTLE MOUTHY ENTITLED BRATS THAT NEED A NANNY TO SLAP THEIR HANDS WHEN THEY GET NAUGHTY! A STERN LECTURE, PERHAPS? BUT LUCKY FOR YOU, I AM YOUR NANNY NOW! NANNY GREGOR AND I AM THE DARK SIDE OF NANNY POPPINS!"

Arya and Joff took a step back and the boy was slightly behind the girl, clinging to her back and arm. Gregor chuckled and pretended to dramatically peer over Arya at the cringing boy. "Boy? Are you hiding behind this little girl from the Big Bad Thing?" He gave Joff a kind look and gestured with one hand as if calling to a timid child.

"Come see Nanny Gregor, Joff. Stop hiding behind the mouthy little brat and let me see your boo boo's. I promise that Nanny Gregor doesn't bite like that bitey feral girl. It was scary, wasn't it, little boy? So sorry that happened to you, sweet golden prince."

Joff was trying to stay behind Arya but the girl grimaced and tossed him forward.

 

The boy landed before Gregor and scrambled to his feet. His voice was a whine and it was thready with a mix of fear and arrogance. "I had to get three stitches in my cheek and she bit off some of my finger! That doctor couldn't reattach the fingertip! I am maimed! That isn't my fault!"

Gregor crouched down and seemed to intently study Joff's bandaged cheek, the wrapped, stunted finger. He nodded with complete understanding and sympathy, his voice dripped with it.

"I see that. That will scar something fierce and any douche bag looks you might have had are ruined now. Well, you can try for the bad boy look, maybe. And that finger will always be a little fucked up. Guess it will be harder to give someone the finger now. You will have to use both fingers so you can offer a fuck and a half. Buck up, Sunshine, things will get better. If Jeyne can live as a bald feral freak then you can live with a scar and fucked up finger, can't you?"

Joff sputtered with indignation but cowered under the sheer menace of the giant. Gregor smiled in a friendly way, as if he were a neighbor telling a friendly joke over the suburban lawn fence.

"Say there, don't you worry. You are going to get used to the changes in your world, in fact, it will do you some good. But, in this new world you find yourself in, there are some changes you will find very hard. Like accepting fault and consequences for your own actions. Wow, buddy, that one is gonna rattle and hurt, but Nanny Gregor is going to get you through that. So let us start there."

 

Standing tall as a mountain, Gregor's face changed in the blink of an eye. His face became carved granite that offered no mercy, no empathy and nothing to bargain with. The voice was no longer jolly, this was a deep gravelly demanding avalanche that is preparing to bury it's victim. As he boomed forth, the mountain loomed over the boy, bending him backwards until the boy fell on his ass and remained there, cowering under Gregor.

"WHY DID THE FERAL BITE YOU, WEASELLY LITTLE SHITHEAD? WHAT DID YOU DO TO PROVOKE HER? DO NOT TELL ME THAT THE GIRL JUST CAME AT YOU FOR NO REASON. THAT STAIN WON'T WASH OUT, BOY. I KNOW THAT GIRL AND SHE HAS NEVER BITTEN WITHOUT A DAMNED GOOD TAUNT. AND SHE NEVER TARGETS MORE THAN THE PERSON WHO WAS BEING THE FUCKFACE THAT TRIGGERED HER. SO TELL ME AGAIN, JOFF. WHO IS AT FAULT FOR YOUR FUCKING SAD PATHETIC INJURIES? NOT JEYNE, YOU. YOU PROVOKED THE GIRL. YOU HAD TO OPEN YOUR FUCKING MOUTH AND MAKE FUN OF THE FREAK, RIGHT? THEN YOU TOUCHED HER, LIKE A FUCKING FIVE YEAR OLD TRIES TO TOUCH A ZOO ANIMAL. ARE YOU FIVE, JOFF? DO YOU NEED MOMMY HERE TO HOLD YOUR HAND AND YOUR COCK FOR YOU, SWEET PRINCE? GROW. THE. FUCK. UP."

Joff's face was a mix of horror, indignation, insult, terror and humiliation. Arya tried to hide her smirk under her hand but the mountain shifted and stone eyes sought her out. It was a mere glance before Gregor turned back to the boy but it was enough to wipe her grin away. That look was a "you're next" and Arya shuddered at the reminder. She only hoped that she could maintain way more dignity that Joff has. He looked ready to piss himself and Arya was disgusted.

 

Gregor reached down and pulled the quivering boy to his feet and dusted him off. His look has changed and the jolly malice was back.

"Don't lay cowering in the dirt, honey. The big meanie isn't going to stomp on you. No, sweet prince, we don't want you to have anymore owies. You just stand right here and consider what Nanny Gregor said. What happened to your cheek and finger is your own fault. Because you are a little boy who tried to taunt and touch a wild thing. Mommy coddled her boy and protected him from any consequences. Bet any zoo animal you touched that tried to hurt or scare you, Mommy had shot and killed in seconds. Now that we had to say bye bye to Mommy and all the good wishes and fun times with daddy's whores, skinning kittens....now baby boy has to own up to his own little fucking pussy problems. You taunted the girl. You touched her. You got hurt for it. End of story. For now on, if you fuck up, sweet prince, then you are fucked back. Understand that? So I want you to stand right here and think upon that."

Gregor left the boy with his mouth open, tears streaming, fists balled in rage, face brick red with insult and fear. Arya took a deep breath and tried to stand tall as the mountain came crashing upon her.

 

Polliver walked the row of students and studied each of them carefully, the look on his face worrying all of them.

"I gave a very simple order, didn't I? Do not disturb my supper. Now, you will each think, but wait, I didn't cause the blond fucker to set off the girl. True, that is very true. However, another simple order I gave today was...if something happens that qualifies as an emergency, you go to the wall. You don't get involved in the problem, you don't hang around to watch the fucking problem, you go to a fucking wall. Did any of you do that? No. Nope. I don't think so."

Stopping in front of Damon, Polliver looked the boy up and down, not in the least concerned that the boy was taller, more muscular, like a brick wall.

"Are you here by accident? Should you be in some institute where they make superheros or mutant power masks? Just because you have size doesn't mean you have brains, boy." Polliver tapped the wide chest and then walked over to Sana, pinning her with his eyes.

"Saint Sansa, how is it you are so helpful, passionate and just so peachy keen perfectly willing to be involved for the greater good? Someone needs to stop worrying about others and worry about her own pile of shit."

Polliver stepped back and smiled.

"Saint Sansa and Super Damon will receive three strikes each with the baton for being so helpful and for not going to the wall. The rest of you will receive one blow for not going to the wall and just watching the fucking fuckers fucking fuckery! Everyone face the wall, palms flat, legs spread and ass out. Oh, drop your pants first! Don't worry, Sansa, I only want your bare lily white ass, not any other part of you. And if you are afraid of my accidentally seeing or touching your delicates, Raff just walked in with the night medication. So now you have a nurse as a witness. We do strive to accommodate all your needs and wishes!"

 

Each of them had bright red faces and not a single one managed to stay silent. Damon didn't make sound until the last whack, he let out a strangled cry then. Sansa yelped at each strike and actually gave a small jig of pain, her small fists slamming into the wall. "Don't worry, Princess. The bruises are only on your ass where no one will see them. We wouldn't want to hurt your pretty face, now would we? Shut up and sob all delicately. Sorry, but I have no hanky for you, sweetness."

Loras cried out at Polliver's strike, Theon gave a gasping high pitched sound that seemed to make Ramsay stare at him intently. That made Polliver give Ramsay a particularly hard whack that made the boy holler. "Pull your pants up, naughty ducklings and get in a line for Nurse to give your nighty night medications. Move!"

They moved very fast in pulling up their pants and turning around. No one looked at each other or at the men smirking at them. Sansa and Loras wiped their eyes discreetly and Theon sniffed, hiding his face. Ramsay had a sneer on his face towards Polliver but kept his eyes lowered and he stayed close to Theon. As if to stalk him and Polliver gave a bright smile to the idiot boy.

Each student took their pill without a problem then stepped back, careful not to let their sore buttocks touch the wall. Raff looked at all of them after with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His eyes looked glazed over and the upset over his bandaged ear was causing his usual smooth voice a bit of strain. 

"Those sleeping pills will kick in within an hour. Be laying down by then or you might fall and wake up headfirst in your toilet. I will see everyone in the medication line first thing in the morning. Do not be late or you will be held accountable for it. During the day, I will see each of you in private therapy, do not be late to my office. I will also see you in circle therapy in the afternoon. Be on time. Have a good evening, ducklings. Can't wait to hear your new names. Polliver always finds the perfect one for each of his charges."

Raff left and they all looked questioningly at Polliver.

"Oh, yes, the names. Like Whore, Feral and Piggy, remember them? Yes, you see, here we want to focus on your main issues and help you change them. Don't worry, ducklings, there is always a chance to earn your name back. But tonight isn't for the naming game. No, not yet. We still have to get our ducklings all tucked in nice and tight. You all had a very big day and need your rest. And bad ducklings don't get to stay up and play, they go to bed early and think about their naughtiness. And tonight, each of you are getting a special tuck in!"


	12. The Tickler

Arya felt like her neck would snap off as she stared up at the jolly sadistic giant.

"Now, tell your Nanny Gregor exactly what made you ignore your orders? You were told to be still and silent for a reason. That feral could have done much worse than she did...her therapist almost had her under control. But then some moron had to just flap her flippers and honk her beak, some impulsive little ugly duckling! So...what made you decide to ignore Polliver's orders, darling little rebel? Hmmm?"

Swallowing thickly, Arya's eyes darted around to see Joff smirking at her then a large hand encased her face. She has never been pulled forward by her face before and it was not an experience that Arya ever wanted to repeat. Gregor removed his hand and enjoyed the shock in the girl's eyes when she found him crouched and in her face. His teeth were huge, gleaming and in a smile that reminded Arya of a shark.

"Pay attention to me, not to the little asshole. Since you don't want to talk, since now suddenly you are a fucking deaf mute, I will tell answer the question for you. You were so giddy over seeing the pansy hurt, so invested in whispering to your sister that you lost interest in orders. It must be hard for you, little girl...I mean, what a perfect family you have. But all that goodness and talent just passed you by, didn't it? Sansa is a pretty, clever thing, I bet she is popular with everyone, good grades, prom queen, the whole package, right? Then there was your brother Robb, handsome, strong, your little brother Bran who is so damned smart, already skipping into high school classes at twelve! Such an impressive family...and you. Awkward social misfit, too wild, not pretty, not clever, not popular or good grades, where do you fit in? So you launch yourself into trouble, become the rebel, the loud mouth and throw yourself into being the odd ball. But it doesn't stop there, does it? Driving without a license, stealing family cars, smoking weed and shoplifting. Skipping school, getting into fist fights and now, finally, you helped cause deaths. And here we are. Right? Have I got it all right, Arya?"

Narrowing her eyes, Arya nearly whispered, "How do you know so much about my family?" Gregor went so close his nose touched hers and he whispered back.

"I know everything I need to in order to help my wayward students. Anything I don't know, Unella, Polliver, Raff or someone else will discover. You are caught, you are found out, it's already been accounted for and noted, sweet summer child. You have been measured and found wanting. All faults are going to be revealed and then once you have decided to change your fucking ways, you will see everything so much clearer. You will see what an arrogant little punk you were, you will see the road you were heading down and you will thank Nanny Gregor for all his loving help."

Gregor stood up and spread his arms out to grab onto ears and yank the children to a different part of the yard.

"That's enough of a chat for now, my little troublemakers. Time for some Nanny Gregor style discipline!"

 

Polliver directed his ducklings to put on their nightclothes before their story time. He grinned as the expected objections came as the children all discovered the same humiliating pajamas. They all lined back up, disgruntled and red faced, sneering with disbelief at their silly nightwear.

"Now don't any of you look that way! I will have you know that Bob took the precious time out of his day to lovingly crotchet those pink caps with the adorable fluff ball on the top. Harold worked hard to make those pink bunny slippers, so treat them with care and respect! As for your pink nightgowns, all reminiscent of a long gone era when all wore the same long pink cloth sack, those were ordered and tailored by the order of Kevan himself. Enjoy them, learn to love sleeping in them. Now, all sleepy time ducklings are to go to the living room. Quickly, quickly, I want a circle of ducklings on the floor, sitting without quacking or ruffling feathers. Good. A quick bedtime story for you all then off to night night land. Pay very close attention."

It took a few moments for the students to figure out how to sit in their voluminous and uncomfortable nightgowns. Polliver's pacing boots and twirling baton caught attention soon enough as did his voice.

"Now ducklings, this story is called the curse of sexual assaults here at our school. Urban legends exist everywhere, even here. We have two of them that we are going to hear about tonight, kiddies. The first is...what happens when a sexual crime is committed here. Now, legends and truths often get all mixed up. The two I can tell you are utterly true are about Myranda and Jeyne. Each of them were attacked here...once. The poor idiot who attacked Feral...well, she bit off his penis. The moron who tried to rape Myranda ended up with a fractured skull and one fuck of a case of chlamydia."

With a loving and gentle smile, Polliver sat in the center of the circle and made eye contact with each of them as he continued.

"The ones that no student wants to see if it's urban legend or the truth...are the ones about what the staff can do. If there is a sexual assault, rumors say that the doctor orders medical castration. It has been said that Gregor once castrated a boy like a pig, took one of his nuts off after it withered away. I have heard students whisper in the past about an unfortunate female student that attacked boys. They say that Raff performed genital mutilation on her but I am sure that isn't true at all. I am sure none of the staff horror stories are true. The one I know isn't true is about the boy who raped a student and was brought to Kevan then never was heard of again."

The kids shivered and stared at Polliver in horror as he gave a chuckle and slapped his knee.

"Aren't scary stories before bed fun, children? Now, one last urban legend for us to think upon then it's lights out. I can nearly hear Ramsay and Damon's squirrelly fucked up thoughts from here. But...what if they were to sexually assault someone in the room and make sure it's kept silent, not noticed. Well, that is a thought, right? I mean, we have no cameras in the bedrooms or the adjoined bathrooms. Good point. That leads us directly to our next urban legend. Legend has it that we have a mysterious night worker here. The Tickler. He is a fucking trollish looking monster of a guard that keeps an eye on our student nightlife. Those ducklings that behave will most likely never see him. Bad little ducks that are trying to sexually assault someone or causing other fuckery will see him and wish they'd never had."

Polliver gave a smile that was full of very bad things and he gently spoke of them.

"Rumor has it that The Tickler likes children. A real lot. He likes to hurt them, he likes to scare them...as much as he can get away with. Since The Tickler is only seen by the worst of naughty ducklings doing the worst of things...well, sometimes those kids are not seen for some time. If the crime is bad enough, they might never be seen again. What The Tickler does with the tender young children? Who knows? Just a legend, of course."

He stood up and stretched his back. "Luckily for all of you, the medication will knock you out long before anyone can attempt to prove any urban legends wrong. But soon you won't need medication to sleep, then you'll have to make sure to watch our for that Tickler."

 

Gregor listened to the lovely sounds of anguish, he lovingly tracked every bead of sweat on the girl's face, smiled at the sight of the boy's tears. He was relaxed, the night breeze was just perfect and it was the perfect night for some Nanny Gregor discipline.

Sipping at his iced tea, Gregor watched the bitching, moaning children. Once he had lit the circle of torches for some good ambiance, Gregor had handed each of the children shovels and indicated the soil at their feet.

"Here is the game, darlings. Pay close attention now. Do you both remember the talking stick or some other bullshit in school? Yes? The idea is you can only speak freely as long as you hold that shovel. And you will dig a hole with it while you get all your questions, smart ass comments, swears and threats out. Say what you need to and dig. Begin."

At first the children smirked and began to dig, swearing, saying anything they wished about how they were going to find a way to bring the whole abusive place down. They called him cruel, they said about their parents suing the school, both even screamed insults at each other. Then they started to tire out and that is when the fun really started.

"Oh no...getting tired? Nope, I think you have more to say and more to dig. Keep going." When the children started to lag, Gregor gave them both a water bottle and made them chug it. "Keep digging and now that your throats aren't dry anymore, you surely have more to say."

The children finally dug in sullen, tired and agonizing, aching silence for ten good minutes before Gregor told them to stop. Both dropped their shovels with tired bitterness. Gregor smiled at them kindly.

"Good children. Now, jump into your holes please. Let's see how far your voices have dug yourselves."

When Joff didn't move fast enough, Gregor tossed the boy into the hole. Arya scowled but glared at the giant as she got into the hole. The boy was up to his elbows and the girl was up to her shoulders. To their horror, Gregor began to dig the dirt back into the holes.

Once the kids were firmly packed in, he put the shovels away. Arya gave a sigh and Joff gave a nervous giggle.

"He...he can't really mean to leave us like this, right? I mean...all night? It's not...it's abusive!"

"No shit, fuckface. Haven't you figured out they don't care if it's abusive yet? Shut up, here he comes!"

Gregor yawned and looked up at the moon.

"Well, this has been so much fun, but I am really beat. Watching so many idiots today has really tired me out. Nanny Gregor must have his beauty rest. I will just take a little nap and be back to check on my ducklings! Don't think to try and dig yourselves out and go running off. The Tickler comes out at night and he loves naughty roaming children. I am sure Polliver will tell you the story if the other students don't. Have a nice chat, kiddies."

Both Joff and Arya watched in disbelief as Gregor left and they were alone, buried in dirt.

 

Hot Pie made sure to wait until he saw Polliver leave the dorms before sneaking in. He ran to his room and slipped into the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. A dose of eye drops and new clothing before he felt all evidence of the joint was gone. Following the well lit pathway from the student house over to the staff houses, Hot Pie went to Polliver's. He stared at the small cabin and then climbed the three steps to the tiny porch, knocking on the red door.

The door opened and Polliver stared hard at the boy while drinking his beer. 

"What?"

"Uh...you told me to come see you after hours...for a reward?"

Polliver stared at the Hot Pie in silence until the kid shuffled his feet uneasily. Then he shrugged and waved his hand in a shooing manner. "It's late at night. You should be in bed, not bothering me. Go away, Hot Pie."

With a huff and a bitten off curse at being tricked, Hot Pie turned to stomp down the stairs. Serves them right that he will never cook for them again after-

He stopped dead and turned back to stammer at the smirking Polliver. "What...what did you call me?"

Snorting, Polliver shook his head. "Losing your hearing, Hot Pie? Go to bed. And remember, if you want to keep deserving your real name, you'll keep that cooking up. Soon I'll give a recommendation to Kevan about you having your own cabin, training to be our school chef comes with benefits, boy."  

The man went inside and slammed the door shut. Grinning, Hot Pie headed back towards the dorm, already thinking of a new menu. When the bushes rustled nearby, the boy gave a tiny nervous glance and hurried back to the dorm.


	13. Ducklings With Ruffled Feathers

It was a lovely sunrise. The grass was dewed and sparkling, flowers and vegetables all yearning towards the strong growing sun.

Arya yawned, cold and stiff, yanking her blanket fully over her. The blanket snuggled close and drooled on her ear. Shrieking, Arya sat up, tossing Joff off of her and rubbing the slick off her ear, kicking at the repulsive jerk. Joff kicked back and then they both blinked in the early light wondering why they were laying on the ground. Seeing the holes nearby, Arya recalled that Gregor yanked them out after an eternity. They had been too sore and tired, limbs numb and they just fell asleep where Gregor had tossed them.

A shadow appeared over the two and a stern frown accompanied an even sterner voice.

"Young lady and young man, it is entirely improper to be outside embracing and wrestling at this hour. I would think after last night's punishment you would wish to remain out of trouble. I will see that whichever professor has detention duty today is aware both of you will be joining him."

Joff opened his mouth and Arya slapped a hand over his mouth as Doctor Unella stormed past them, her gray dress flapping with purpose. Narrowing her eyes, Arya hissed, "Shut up. I don't want to be in anymore trouble because you want to open your mouth. I'm going to shower and go to bed before we have to be up." Joff waited until Arya stood up and then he knocked her down. Stepping on her back to launch into a run, Joff hollered, "We share the bathroom! I want the shower first!"

 

The fighting took extra time and both barely finished showering before Polliver was whacking at doors with his baton.

It was clear by Polliver's smile that watching Joff and Arya lean half asleep upon each other amused the shit out of him. The others all leaned tiredly against the wall, those powerful sleep tablets were still not fully out of their system yet.

"Good morning, ducklings! Look at your happy well rested little faces! You all have twenty minutes to finish getting all gussied up, darlings. Quick to the taffeta, bows and prettiest shoes, hurry! We have the medication line and breakfast. If you would like to have some extra time getting ready then start waking earlier, now move, waddle and quack while you move! Clothing appropriate for your higher learning!"

Polliver went to get a cup of coffee, leaving the screeching children to fight over showers and privacy. Whistling, he thought of what their reactions will be to their new names and he made sure he had his black marker on him.

 

Myranda pouted as she slammed trays down on the cafeteria table.

"It's not fair! You get your fucking name back! Feral gets out of morning chores over a bad haircut and what do I get? Nothing! Not a fucking thing for staying out of trouble!" Hot Pie smirked and said, "Uh, you get plenty. I take you out nearly every month for movies and dinner. Raff and Polliver let you get out of almost anything when they can, they get you weed and booze...and you are the ONLY one who gets to leave for weekends at a time!"

Scoffing, Myranda poured ice water into a steel pitcher for the staff table and muttered, "I work hard for those extras from Raff and Polliver. As for the  few weekends, it's work not play, I told you that before. Spa treatments and expensive clothes aren't fun when you have to pretend to enjoy old men. I'm there to please and to listen, to spy and pretend I enjoy being motor-boarded by some old rich fucks. Kevan doesn't even let me wear any jewels or clothes they buy me once I get home. He just wants to hear that I did my job, he wants to hear secrets and then I get chucked right back here with you and Jeyne. Kevan is all full of promises but it never comes true. And if you think Polliver gave you back your name out of the kindness keep in the cockles of his heart, you are sadly misguided. The staff wants you to cook and Kevan won't let Polliver chain you to the kitchens by force."

Hot Pie scowled and told Myranda she was jealous. Just as Myranda went to throw a tray at Hot Pie's head, Polliver walked in.

"Whore, get me coffee. Whatever tray tossing game you are playing can wait. Course, if you happen to hit Hot pie with anything and he is delayed in our meal because of it...I'm taking it out of your thin syphilitic hide." With a venom filled smile, Myranda fixed Polliver's coffee and handed it to him. "It isn't fair, Polliver. Not fucking fair." One eyebrow went up and Polliver sipped at his coffee. "Oh? What isn't fair, cupcake?"

Myranda stabbed a finger towards Hot Pie who was expertly flipping omelets.

"He gets his name back? Because it keeps him cooking. Feral gets out of her morning duties because she got shaved? Because bald heads are impairing or something? I give more and do more than either of those two and I get nothing." Polliver chuckled and pinched the angry girl's cheek.

"Honeybunches of Herpes, I only let you blow me after Raff gives me a full paper of your most recent physical and blood work. Raff only lets you fuck him because even with condoms, he doesn't mind taking chances. If you choose to stop offering the favor of the occasional handy or blow job, I won't be upset. I just won't give you the things you ask for. No harm, no foul. What you offer isn't needed. The boy, he cooks, he gives our bellies peace and without his food, we would all starve. He is needed and if he serves our little happy community well, then rewards do come. Now, as for Feral, she didn't have morning duties because she is dealing with Unella. Would you rather be with the good doctor this morning? I doubt it. So shut up and hurry back to work, Whore."

A quick but gentle tap on Myranda's ass with the baton and the girl reluctantly moved. She remained silent but as soon as Polliver left, Myranda threw a tray as hard as she could into the wall. "Fucking cocksucker! Rat faced bastard! I should take a page from Jeyne's book and bite that bastard's cock off! Have you cook it up like a nice sausage dinner for me, Hot Pie!"

Gagging, Hot Pie stopped frying the breakfast pork links and gave a look of horror to Myranda. "What a fucking horrible menu idea. Fried Polliver Dick. It would be the first time not a single soul would show for supper."

 

Jeyne was sitting in Raff's office fully covered by a voluminous sweatshirt and hood. Raff burst into laughter as Unella stormed out of the clinic. "What did you do to anger the doctor, sweetie? And look at you...where are you under there? It can't look that bad, Jeyne. Come on, let me take a peek?" He stayed leaning against the door, hands in his pockets. The girl shook her head and spoke with a soft mutinous tone. 

"Doctor Cuntella is pissed. Won't speak to her. Gave her the finger so she knew I wasn't in shock. Fuck her. Fuck Gregor." Raff burst into laughter but it trailed off as Jeyne continued. 

"I will get them. I will take a piece of them away too. Not a body piece, a mind piece. A hurt piece. I will."

Raff tilted his head and spoke in a soft voice.

"I can see how angry you are at them, Jeyne. They took away something that was important...but it really was just a defense. Hair grows back, Jeyne. Fingers, penises and throats don't grow back. Do you see a difference there, Jeyne? They are trying to help you, as much as it hurts or scares you. They are trying to build you stronger, make you into a stable person, a safe person. Why get yourself in trouble trying to hurt those that are helping you? Why don't you take a week or two before you try any revenge, okay? See how you feel about it then and we'll discuss it. I'm going to get the medications set up, why don't you get over to the counter and be the first in line today. Now I won't ask you to remove your hood but you can't wear it during meals or class time or therapies."

Silently, Jeyne stood in front of the counter and dutifully took her medication. "Good girl. Now, head to breakfast and I want you to sit between Hot Pie and Myranda. I'll see you at therapy later on. Since I can see the strain you are under, ask the professors for a pass to come see me if things get tense for you. I would rather see you here to talk before things escalate to discipline. Hear me, Jeyne?" With a nod, Jeyne fled and Raff sighed, hoping for at least a full breakfast today. With a group of new students and Jeyne still upset, it was already going to be a busy day.

Raff smiled as he set up each new student's morning medications wondering what lovely new names they will come in with.

 

Polliver watched each student press against the wall and he went down the line, critiquing.

"Sansa had fucking time to braid her hair, isn't that lovely? And you smell delightful. One teensy problem, pretty duckling. This is your one good dress meant for special occasions. I guess Kevan must have lost your invitation to tea today. Goodness me, guess that means you can put on your jeans and white collared shirt like every other fucking common duckling. Go do so, fast. Be careful not to ruin your lovely plumage!"

"Arya, how is it that your sister is all ready for the institution beauty pageant and you couldn't find a brush to run through your hair? Lucky for you, I have my fine toothed steel comb! It is one that Raff uses to check for lice but I am sure this will work just fine. Oh, stop whining, you'd know it if I was really scalping you, girl."

"Joff, no one wants to look at your hairless prepubescent body, finish buttoning that fucking shirt."

"Oh, Loras, don't you look fabulous! Sweet ums, I think you are confused. We aren't attending a model shoot, we are going to breakfast then school. So fix the collar, button up, roll the sleeves down and tuck it in!"

"Theon, if I already told Loras and Joff to button up...and I see that Arya wasn't the only one who lost her hairbrush...these curls are going to be murder in this comb but it can't be helped."

"Now Ramsay...collar straightened perfectly. Buttoned up nice. Regulation perfect, down to the shiny new sneakers. The raging hard on poking out of your jeans does ruin the effect though. Is your soldier saluting me, Ramsay? Are you using both heads today to give me your fullest example of paying attention? Do I excite you, boy? Is it the baton twirling or my dulcet tones? Or is that erection built from the yelping of your fellow classmate? Oh, there it goes, yup, deflating like your dreams of ever getting out of this hellhole before dick pics go out of style."

"Damon. Poor child, are you...are you...special? My poor overly large window licker, can you tell me what happened when you tried to dress yourself like a big boy? I said yesterday that if something didn't fit to see me about it. You look like you are waiting for a flood. You also look pained. I hate to ask this, sweet stupid Damie but...where are your balls and cock? Did you manage to squeeze them up your ass? Have you lost your junk but gained an amazing falsetto? Sing some arena rock for me, my rock star...get your ass back in that room and find whatever pants do fit you! Later on I will bring the right size jeans and a padded fucking helmet with glow in the dark stars on it for you."

 

When the children were fully ready and lined against the wall, Polliver smiled gently at them and held out white tags. Polliver went down the line and slapped one on each chest while asking each child to announce their new names.

Joff sneered. "Princess? Are you fucking for real?" A baton tap to Joff's collarbone made him go silent but he glared, full of indignation. "All your life was a fairy tale, mommy kept you safe and pure and cared for. Protected and she hid your bloody hands rather than smack them. Princess."

Arya cleared her throat, red faced and blurted out hers. "Target." Polliver nodded and gave the girl a smile. "Your need to be a rebel without a pause puts you in danger. Those impulse issues are going to be a big problem in your life, luckily, we are here for you, Target."

Loras sighed. "Goldilocks?" "Just like the little girl who thought it was fun to wander inside a home of bears...you like to leave your high society glitter and go slumming, be a little wild. So you wander where you don't belong, drink, drug and fuck around where you shouldn't instead of using your own good standard life to your advantage. And where did that get you? It got you leading your sister and boyfriend down the wrong lane...they got eaten by the bears, Goldilocks. We will teach you to not try so hard to find danger."

Damon frowned and muttered, "Side Bitch." Polliver patted the broad shoulder and spoke very carefully as if to a slow child. "All your crimes, all your problems were from following someone else. Your daddy was a crooked cop for the Boltons and no matter what your mother said, you wanted to follow in his disgraced footsteps. Robbing stores with your little buddies, being pressured into bullying and douche-baggery by friends like Ramsay. It was fun to use a whip, to hunt screaming girls, right? Ramsay has shown you so much fun. You are his little bitch, doing whatever fucked up thing he wants and look where that got you? I hope for your sake you stop being Side Bitch before your main bitch brings you down too far for anyone to help you."

Ramsay's eyes glittered in rage as he stared at Polliver. "Death Row." Polliver clucked sympathetically and tapped the baton upon Ramsay's cheek lovingly. "Yes, sweet boy. Death Row is your new name because that is what your fate is going to be if this school can't help you. How long can your father hide a rapist killer like you? A fucking mad dog that will eventually get caught and put down. So this might be your last chance to keep yourself from taking that long last walk in prison."

Theon moaned and read his name out loud with great reluctance. "SuperD?" Polliver smiled and caressed the pale cheek.

"D can stand for douchebag, douchenugget, dickhead...so much more. I know that acting out with your fists and mouth seems to make you feel bigger, badder. And I know that being a masochist in an abusive household must have been very fucked up for you. But drugs, drinking, stealing cars with buddies then knocking up half the wharf girls...getting into school fights that got you suspended. Must have gotten worse once you turned your eyes towards bad boys instead of bad girls. Father dearest must have gone ballistic on you. That was probably the third time he put you in the hospital. All that bad behavior and rash acting out. Didn't help you out, did it? Did driving while drunk save your sister from daddy's molesting hands? Did your fighting and fucking stop your mother from going crazy, stop your dad from kicking your ass? SuperD is going to learn how to deal with his issues in a much healthier way."

Sansa stared at Polliver without any expression and her voice was deadpan. "Oscar." Chuckling, Polliver ran his baton over the long red braid. "Oscar, as in the award. It's clear your goal is to win the best acting award. But your mask is slipping, sweet thing. The proof of that is your very placement at this school. What is underneath all that perfection, dear? We shall lay it all bare and examine what really is rotting in you and yank it out like a rotted tooth. I think you have spent years fooling others around you. I think your impulsive little sister is here in part because she made the mistake of falling for your act. I won't, dear Oscar."

 

Polliver waved all the sullen children into the clinic and into a neat line in front of the medication counter. Raff leaned over, smirking. "All your ducklings in a row...do they have their new unique names learned yet, Polliver?"

"Why, Nurse Raff, of course they do! Please meet, Princess, Target, Goldilocks, Side Bitch, Death Row, SuperD and Oscar!"  


	14. The Little Schoolhouse That Tried

"Dear boy! Darling boy! I am giving you an automatic A on any tests this week. In fact, I do believe that you have this week off from all classes with myself and Stannis. Isn't that so, Professor?"

Stannis nodded frantically as he continued to look at his breakfast the way he used to look at his mistress. Blinking away the tears in his eyes, the stoic man was too overcome to speak.

 Tyrion gave Hot Pie another pat on the arm as the boy personally served fresh muffins for the staff only. Each staff member was thrilled to find one of their favorite breakfast items being served. This was also the first time Hot Pie has ever delivered anything to them or made something specifically for the staff without being ordered to.

Raff smiled and said there were no one on one therapy sessions for the boy this week. Hot Pie personally poured coffee and Unella twitched her lips as Gregor glared at her. When she spoke it sounded as if the woman were on fire and the burn would only end if she doused it with words.

"I see no need for you to attend any appointments with the clinic or myself this week. Circle cannot be changed...but you can observe and not participate."

Gregor gave the boy a large grin upon receiving a personal quiche and boomed out, "I see that someone is starting to becoming less a duckling by the day. It doesn't matter which of us is your mentor, boy. But picking one is a great way to learn. I'd say that Polliver has become your greatest motivator and counsel. I am going to recommend to Kevan that you stop taking any damned pills or therapies. Keep your eye on the goal of becoming staff instead of student, Hot Pie."

Hot Pie went to his own breakfast with a huge grin and dreams floating in his head.

 

Raff gave Polliver a small golf clap as the man took a little bow.

"All it took was the right motivations. Turns out chaining the boy to the stove isn't needed, give a name, give a goal to chase and his magic cooking continues. I am going to take that quacking duckling under my wing and turn him into a proper staff member, our permanent chef."

Unella narrowed her eyes at the boasting counselor and snapped at him in between bites of a five cheese omelet. "Be wary of offering things you cannot deliver. It is ultimately up to Kevan who is allowed to become a staff member. That boy shouldn't be off medications or without therapy or a proper diploma!" She glared at Gregor when he snorted.

"That boy never needed any damned pills or in depth fucking lectures or mindfuckings. He needed motivation, he needed to feel a reason to have a better life for himself. The boy was removed from his temptations, he was forced to become fit and to find a talent, a goal. Leave it alone, Unella. Unless you want to stop shoveling good food into your mouth. You are gaining a bit of weight, maybe I should give you some exercises to help you work the food off?"

The muffin hit Gregor right in the shiny dome of his head and Stannis grumbled. "Woman, do not use this glorious repast as a missile for your anger!" Unella snorted and threw her napkin down. "I would advise everyone to be careful today. Jeyne is quite upset and hostile. She refuses to speak or pull down that damned hood. If she shows any signs of stress, please call me right away. Do not attempt to calm the girl if she becomes agitated, signal a counselor or the clinic."

Raff smirked and sipped at his freshly squeezed juice. "Jeyne spoke to me this morning without any prompting. She is very angry with you and Gregor but I think she is fine for today. I already told her to ask for a pass to see me at any point today if things get overwhelming."

Gregor chuckled. "Unella, the girl has always hated you and always will. Pointless for you to keep trying to get her to trust you. Let Raff work with Jeyne, out of all of us, she trusts him the most. Even ferals like a pretty face."

 

The students stood before Tyrion and Stannis in the main hallway of the two story school house.

"Welcome to your new hallowed halls of education, children. I am Professor Tyrion Lannister and this is Professor Stannis Baratheon. You may call us by our first names as long as it's done with respect. In that same respect, we will not use whatever moniker that Polliver has christened you with. Let us give you a quick tour before you check your schedules for your classes. Due to your ages and different learning abilities, each of you will be tested and some of your classes might even be a class of one or two students only. As you can see, the classrooms to your left are a science lab, a math classroom and the computer lab. Consider the downstairs left side of the school as Stannis's territory. Mine is on the right side, we have your language arts room, we have our lovely history classroom and of course our small library. Upstairs we have our offices where we can see you for guidance purposes and a few rooms for activities such as drama, art, photography and of course, our detention room."

 

Joff and Arya stared around the classroom with disbelief. Pointing with a slightly stumped finger, Joff asked, "What the hell is that?" Arya smirked. "Princess Moron. It's a chalkboard. Chalk makes the lines for words and pictures on the blackboard and the eraser makes it go bye bye. Didn't you ever have one as a child?"

"No, Target, I didn't. My parents gave me toys from my own generation. This whole damned schoolhouse belongs in history. I bet the history books go all the way up to the first moon landing." Giggling, Arya leaned her face on her fist and responded. "We will learn about the proper ways of leeching in science and the key guest speaker this year will be that up and coming scientist who wants to animate corpses."

A terrible screeching sound and both teenagers covered their ears and stared in horror at Stannis. After gently clearing his throat, the stern faced teacher spoke gravely. "Another thing chalkboards are good for is scraping nails down them to get the attention of rude little children. Now, let us enter the exciting adventures of math and science."    

The droning of Stannis, the warmth of the room, the heavy boredom and the lack of real sleep in a real bed have done Arya and Joff in. In spite of chalk and erasers thrown at their heads, both kept dozing off. Tyrion was positive that the only reason he was spared any dwarf jokes was because the two mainly slept through his classes. Unlike Stannis, Tyrion didn't bother beyond dropping a few heavy tomes upon their desks to wake them up. He gave up and got himself a cup of coffee, laced it liberally and took a break while the idiots snored.

Both professors despaired of teaching anything to Theon or Ramsay. It wasn't that they didn't possess average intelligence, they did. What they lacked was focus, discipline and any interest in learning what they were supposed to. Their focus was on each other and on causing general disruptions of any sort the idiots could think of. Ramsay spent most of his math class sharpening pencils to try and sail into Theon. Which caused Theon to spend most of history class loudly speculating about the most gruesome and painful forms of executions to murderers throughout time. During science, Ramsay tried to create a concoction in the lab that caused a small flash fire. Theon couldn't make it through quiet reading time until Tyrion put a piece of duct tape on the boy's mouth. Both would be joining Arya and Joff for detention.

Damon made the professors want to cry. Stannis stood over the confused seventeen year old and demanded in desperation, "Primary numbers, boy! Just name me the primary numbers!" Damon looked up at the man with hopeless innocence. "The primary numbers are...important numbers of the alphabet?" Tyrion walked the boy through the library. "Pick any book you can read. Just so I can see where you are comfortable and we'll work from there." "Okay. Uh, where are the ones with the words on one page and the pictures on the other?"

Sansa and Loras were the gold star pupils. A balm to the educated hearts of the professors. Two studious, intelligent children that were polite and obedient. Stannis became so excited that he broke out his best abacus to show them and waxed lyrical about Pythagoras. Tyrion enjoyed a reading of Romeo and Juliet with the two pretty and educated children. They had a rousing debate during history on the Persian war that made Stannis lean into the room to add his own perspective.

Myranda did her usual minimal amount of schoolwork possible and mostly observed the other students. Jeyne remained silent in every class but attended them, sitting as far from any other student possible. She refused to remove her hood and the teachers felt it best not to argue the point.

 

Gregor stopped back at his small cabin before heading towards readying the gym class for the children. He didn't even acknowledge Unella sitting on his couch glaring up at him. Walking past her, Gregor stopped at his fridge to grab a bottle of water then went past her again towards his bedroom. Seething, the woman stood up and stormed after him. "If that girl regresses because of what you did...what if Kevan doesn't like the girl bald and mute and-"

"Cunt, do you ever stop bitching at me?" Gregor put the bottle of water on his dresser then he sneered at Unella. "Hate sex is wonderful but I'm always waiting for the day when your mouth makes me strangle you." Unella made tight fists and slammed them against the large chest without causing Gregor the slightest discomfort. "I do fucking hate you. I truly hate you, Gregor. I think about so many medical ways I can kill you and then I fuck you."

"Hypocrite. Shut the hell up and get your clothes off. I don't have time for the insult foreplay, have new ducklings to pluck feathers from."

They had sex the way honey badgers, otters and certain types of deadly insects mate. Careful to never injure parts of the body that anyone could see, Unella and Gregor fucked like they were fighting a war. To an observer it would have appeared to have been a violent rape with a possible attempted murder but it would be hard to say who was the victim.

 

 

 

 


	15. Furry Things Pinned To The Wall

Tyrion stared at the adorable fuzzy kittens then sadly said, "Farewell, my little furry balls of joy."

Then he ruthlessly flipped the calender page and pinned it back to the wall. Stannis looked approvingly at the hound pups sitting in on a plaid pillow.

"Dogs are better. Hunters are the best, most loyal. I had many hounds once."

Shrugging, Tyrion picked up his wine glass and commented,

"The dogs look depressed. They also look like their skin is sagging off, it's most disconcerting. Why do we have these awful calenders anyway? I mean, I know we have the students make them every year as a project, but come on. Why can't I just go to the store or order some crazy wonderful calender of my own and hang it on the damned wall? Who would notice? The students never come into our private homes, it's not like it would hurt their feelings? Are we that stupid and tenderhearted, Sir? Or are we that loyal to Kevan who also never visits our dwellings, that we are afraid to hang anything he might not approve of? Are we that brainwashed, man?"

Stannis drank from his sugary lemonade and grimaced at Tyrion.

"No. You are too lazy and drunk to bother getting any other calenders. Almost the entire staff has other calenders besides the required school one, my genteel drunken friend. Including myself. I have one in my office that has the most entertaining and sophisticated math jokes ever penned in time. Surely you have seen it hanging behind my desk on the wall?"

Tyrion shuddered. "Ah, yes. I thought it was a form of mental torture for the students as they faced you in your office."

He sat back down at the massive gaming table and gestured for Stannis to enjoy his turn. After a rather large sip of his wine, Tyrion stared at the calender and continued his rambling thoughts.

"I suppose I should be grateful that Kevan allowed that animal shelter to bring animals for the kids to take pictures of last year. At least these aren't some of those intolerable nature pictures of the past. I remember January as one big rock. And June was a large toad that was all blurred and six legged, trying to get away from the damned students!"

With a rare chuckle that was gone just as it started, Stannis moved his submarine closer to Tyrion's barely defended waters and leaned back in his chair.

"Tyrion! Do you recall the year Polliver and Raff graduated our classes? Remember the damned calender? I thought Kevan was going to revoke their staff status and it would have been all that teaching for nothing! But no, the man found it artistic in some way and hung the thing proudly. As did we all. It was hard to look at in any room of the house too! The kitchen was out, it was unsettling in the living room, nightmare inducing in the bedroom and I simply couldn't use the bathroom while facing that glossy horror! I ended up hanging it in my hall closet."

Frowning at the board but now smiling over the past, Tyrion hovered his hands over his territories but started to talk again.

"January was a dissected frog from Raff. I believe April was a rotted possum by Polliver. I don't remember which of our creative artists made the four month old ham sandwich picture but my personal favorite was the month of December. Nothing says seasonal spirit and warmth like a spread out pair of Gregor's boxer shorts with Unella's formidable waffle pattern bra above it. I personally agree with those pioneer artists that it was worth the caning from our giant and the accidental but so utterly on purpose medication mix up that Unella prescribed them. They might have had rashes and the worst case of shakes for a few days but it was worth it. I have saved that picture and bought a plastic frame for it. Okay, full confession...I didn't buy the frame, just stole it from the supply closet at school."

Stannis sniffed as Tyrion set about to destroy the brave men in that submarine. He looked at the calender, soothed by the hounds then a thought struck him.

"Oh no! For some reason...I got used to having three students that had no visitors! We have visitors day this weekend. Even hounds cannot help me now. I hate the parents, Tyrion. They don't....ugh...damn you, man! Don't you know by now when to add a little something to my drink! Do it now! Destroy my brave young men after you get your guest attended to, Sir!"

Tyrion nearly skipped with delight to obey. He had forgotten the once a month ritual always made Stannis drink heavily just before it's arrival. The man is not a social butterfly by any means and parents stress Stannis out. They do not wish to hear a report only. They have questions, challenges to Stannis's teaching methods and concerns for their darlings.

As he liberally laced Stannis's lemonade with the best vodka that Kevan could buy and Tyrion could steal, he waxed on dramatically.

"And good professor, might I remind you, I am the true one with a complaint this year! Not only must I contend with the somber Starks, the creepster Roose Bolton, ancient saucy Olenna Tyrell knows me from childhood on! She will expect that I offer some form of favor to her grandson or at the very least, the woman will try and force some secret out of me. Then there is my own dearest sweet sister, Cersei. She will most certainly expect that I have a duty to coddle and protect her little lamb."

Stannis forced his hand steady as he took a rather rude amount of lemonade into his dry mouth. He swallowed, took another drink and then steadied himself. A sharp nod and he watched as Tyrion sat back down rather with a careless limbless grace.

"You, are drunk. I will win because you are drunk. Ha. Wait just a moment while I take another sip and then I shall destroy you."

Tyrion smirked as Stannis finished the better half of the tall glass. He made no mention of Stannis's swaying or the glazing of the narrowing eyes. Stannis concentrated deeply upon saving his submarine but then found his voice rattling on without informing him of the event.

"I know, it is worse for you, it's family. Family is...complicated and painful, isn't it? But I know that our methods work, that even with some of our more...harsher methods employed here...it truly does work. We cannot express that to these idiot parents. They are concerned about all the wrong things and I have trouble understanding how to tell them that without all the fuss that follows it! At least with Loras and Sansa we can show our best work, we have nothing but excellent reports for Olenna and Ned on that account at least! Joff and Arya are class clowns, they are smart enough to know better and accept the consequences for it. They spend half their afternoons in detention with us or with Gregor nearly everyday! They do just enough to pass and that is only because we are generous! We can get some good results out of Theon and Ramsay if they are interested in the subject matter. It is amazing to me how they manage to pass tests in classes they aren't paying attention to. They are clearly cheating together and I will catch them at it one of these days."

Tyrion nodded and rose unsteadily to refresh their drinks while Stannis clumsily moved a fleet.

"Dearest Professor, let us hope that Balon Greyjoy isn't pressured into appearing for the sake of his son. A drunk of little account! His family ran the fishery near our home for years, now that drunken asshole is sinking it into the ground. The only reason his boy is here was motivation from my father not just to keep things quiet but to force Balon to do his fucking job. He is lucky. If it were left up to Roose or Cersei, chances are Theon would be fished out of the water in a month or so. Probably right next to that poor hulking child. Damon won't be having any visitors, I don't think. Well, Roose will see him along with Ramsay. That poor fucking kid."

Stannis took his drink and his face darkened as he stood up while Tyrion tried to sit down on his doubled chair. The man began to pace and he sharply indicated that it was Tyrion's turn now.

"Damon...that boy is a shameful example of a child lost. His tale is as sad as Jeyne's! I become so outraged on that child's behalf, both of them! That boy...did you hear Unella during our meeting today? I will tell you that as she told us Damon's history in that horrible blank voice of hers, the only thing that kept me from despair was that Hot Pie had served his coffee cakes and strudel for our monthly staff meeting."

Tyrion tried blinking before examining the board, his words slurred as he responded carefully.

"The boy's father was a fucking maniac, a corrupted, racist cop that was owned by Roose Bolton. That man never brought home a dime to his junkie wife or their son. A son who was born addicted to heroin. The parents never came to the hospital to visit the infant so child services got involved. Suddenly Roose waves his wand of bones and Damon is home with mommy and daddy. Mommy leaves Damon home alone and unfed, uncared for while she runs about whoring for drugs. Daddy only comes home to sleep. Oh, and to beat the living shit out of whoring, drugged out mommy and then it's time to knock the crying child out cold or lock him in a shed. I believe Unella said that Damon was two or three when he ended up in the emergency room for a pistol whipping. I mean, he was in the emergency room quite often, for severe dehydration, for broken bones, infections that began to fester. But Roose always helped them keep the child at home."

Now Stannis was sitting down while Tyrion began to unsteadily pace the floor, his wine sloshing in his hand. Tyrion's eyes filled with watery angst and Stannis sighed. Even drunk, he hated it when his friend became too emotional. However, Stannis felt just as terrible about that poor Damon and so he listened and empathized deeply, drunkenly and wiped away a stray tear.

"I mean, good god, Sir! How could the public school system not get involved? Even if Roose had child services in his pocket, he doesn't control the damned teachers! The lunch ladies, the school nurse and the fucking entire janitorial staff could have taken a small peek at Damon! Stannis, my old stern fellow, it is a damned crime! When Damon's father tried to steal from Roose, he was dead and any assistance offered from Roose ended. Even though Ramsay was the poor child's only friend, the boy was left to the rotten care of his mother. Who then put the child in a trailer park and left him to starve and fend for himself! The boy was tested, he is clearly mentally impaired, did you hear the scores on the tests Unella did? So the boy was nearly as feral as Jeyne for a time."

Stannis scoffed. "Well, I am not sure that feral would apply to Damon."

Tyrion launched himself towards the table, his glass tilting in a way that alarmed Stannis slightly.

"When Damon got tired of watching other students eat a lunch he couldn't afford, when he couldn't take seeing a single paper bag more with a sandwich made by a loving parent, he snapped. Damon learned how to bully food and lunch money not out of spite like Ramsay. The boy stole and bullied because he was trying to stay alive! He hung out with Ramsay for whatever affection, attention and possible favors he could get out of it. Ramsay helped see that Damon had a way to achieve food, money and more. When the school started to punish Damon for these infractions there was no defense for him. He gave up on returning to class since he wasn't learning anything anyway. How could Damon have not been put in special needs courses, I don't know! It was clear his aggressive nature was purely defensive and for survival. His other actions, the darker ones were taught by that little killer. Damon follows like a dumb puppy and turns rabid when Ramsay tells him to."

"Sit down, man, before you douse me in your wine and fall into the table! Do not use your clumsiness as an excuse to destroy our game simply because I am winning!"

Tyrion grunted and started to carefully navigate his way around the table towards his chair. Reaching it, the man glowed in victory and sat down, his glass still held out as if in toast of something.

"Now, hear me, Stannis! That poor boy is doomed! If we cannot find ways to teach him, I fear that young giant will become our new janitor someday. If Roose does manage to see to it that Damon graduates and leaves along with Ramsay...I fear for what might happen to that simple boy."

Stannis smiled and found it hard to speak through his rapidly numbing tongue but he gave it a valiant effort.

"We can Damon the help! I have faith in us, best friend! Ish...is...it's Rameon and Thamsay that I...if Roosh knows...I agree with Un..Un...doctor, I agree that ish a bad rela...relash..."

Tyrion laughed heartily at the drunk and frustrated man as he sang out,

"My fine Sir, you are now smashed, shnockered, shitfaced and fucked up! Ha! I am well versed in being drunk and I shall win our game now! Prepare yourself for defeat, ready your men to die for your foolish drunken ways....as for Damon...it's a damned shame and we shall do what we can for the boy. Ramsay and Theon...I keep having the urge to keep a journal and record their adventures. I would publish it around the same time Unella finally publishes her book on Jeyne. And my book will skyrocket to the bestseller list while Unella's book grows dust. The title of my book would be, Fifty Shades of Fucked Up."

Stannis found himself cackling which was quite undignified but there it was. He stopped laughing when Tyrion finally tilted his glass too far. The shock and indignation that swept through him nearly sobered him for a moment.

"Good gods, man! We just lost all the of the holy lands to the Great Wine Flood of Two Thousand Eighteen! Wait, let me help you clean that, still isn't as bad as the savage Nacho Cheese Incident of Russia."


	16. SuperStars

Arya slammed her fist against Sansa's locked door for the fourth time, her knuckles calloused but starting to ache dully.

"Sansa! Come on! Please, would you give your own damned sister just like...oh, I don't know, five minutes out of your busy damn schedule! It's important!"

A voice floated out from behind the door and it was utterly bland and without any emotion, almost robotic in a way.

"What is it, Arya? I am very busy right now. Just tell me through the door."

The next thing that slammed against the door was Arya's forehead and it was deeply and instantly regretted. Her voice ended up coming out as a mockery of Joff's whine and that was regrettable too. 

"Saaansssaaaa! Ah, fuck me, my head, okay, listen! Don't know why you can't open the door when it's you and Side Bitch in there. Death Row and Princess says it's because you two are fucking like jackrabbits. Is this true? I don't really care, I have seen Whore in action. I don't care if you slut it out a little, must be a relief to let your perfection down a little, I get that. But I am still your fucking little sister and I feel like we are in damned scene from that stupid kid musical. I don't want to build a fucking snowman with you, Oscar. But it's almost time for mother and father to come visit us. I think we need to talk about it. It's a big deal, you know? How we are doing might depend on if we get to leave here!"

  Sansa's voice was indeed the voice of an ice queen now as it shot through the door and into Arya's ear.

"Dearest sister. Target. I am not having sex. You have no idea what I do and that is something a sneak like you cannot stand. I am studying, I am creating projects, sometimes I read or sew or write in my journal. Whatever I am doing it is clear it is private and you need to learn to respect that. We don't need to have an emergency discussion about the visit. We will look healthy, well fed and so very respectful. Do you believe that you would be the first student to ever try and tell their parents that it is abusive here? Kevan knows what you will say...he is prepared for it as are the staff. They are well versed in explaining away what they do. It would be useless and pointless. How much do you enjoy those detentions? Can you imagine what Polliver or Gregor would dream up as a punishment for you? Or how about if Kevan himself decided to take issue with you after the visit? Use your head, little sister. Now please go away. I will speak to you during breakfast tomorrow, we can sit together."

"Fine. I want you to know that you are a selfish bitch. I don't know what your game is, but I hate it. I hope it stops before I start to hate you instead of the game."

 

Sansa waited until she heard her annoying sister go away. She breathed a sigh of relief and Damon stared at her with intensity from where he sat on the bed. Smiling at him, she sauntered back over and took her place next to him. Her delicate hands reached into his lap and the boy gave her a senseless grin. His hands joined hers and when Sansa spoke, Damon listened with every yearning piece of him.

"Ready for some more, Superhero?"

Her voice was a slight bit of tease, a soft sound that others cannot hear but it wrapped around Damon easily. Like a security blanket for a hapless third grade boy who has never known tenderness or kindness. Unlike when Polliver or Ramsay would tease him about being a hero sometimes, it was different when Sansa said it. She meant it and Damon never felt such hope before.

"Yes, please. I can't stop now, I'm too close. Please, Sansa, I really want to be a superhero, I want to make you proud."

"Okay, then. Let's be playful this time, you look too stressed. Shut your eyes. Just shut them and trust me, Superhero."

Smiling gently, Sansa's hands moved and Damon's closed over hers, then he himself felt the sandpaper letters. She began to speak, her voice an encouraging lilt, that made Damon's own hands move firmer, faster and he was overwhelmed for a moment. Sweat had beaded on his forehead and Sansa wiped it off.

"I know you feel intense right now, Damon. It's alright, we can go as slow or fast as you need, sweetheart. Let's try one more time and then we can call it a night. You are nearly there, I can feel it and I want this as badly as you do. So let's try together first before you just run your hands anywhere, okay? Good. Take a deep breath first, hon. There you go. Now...ready? Move with me, Superhero, just follow what I do and listen to what I say."

Damon nodded and melted into the voice and touch of sweet promise. He relaxed the best he could and allowed his fingers to trace the sandpaper letters of each card. Sansa's fingers slipped away and Damon carefully traced each letter and said out loud what it was. He finally understood after the fourth time he said each letter correctly that it made a whole word. He laughed and slapped his own knee, blushing a bit.

If the others knew how badly Damon needed his own female roommate to teach him such simple things, the teasing would be relentless. He was grateful that Sansa had come to him, admitted that she knew Damon needed help and had some ideas on it. She was very firm about keeping it secret. Damon was fine with them all assuming that the two of them were having sex. He was bisexual and proud of it.

But Sansa wasn't offering sex and Damon felt queasy just thinking about trying to seduce or force her. She was too important to him as a teacher and something about her just warned him off from such things. Sansa touched him all the time and he enjoyed it but it wasn't sexual. It was the simple joy of hands on his own, rubbing his shoulders in encouragement and soothing his long hair when he cried because the letters became annoying, too hard too try.

Damon couldn't explain it if he tried but instincts told him to let her be the guide. Let Ramsay have all the prey he wants, but if letting him think Sansa is fucking Damon, then he won't go after her. He won't question the long hours locked in the room during free time.

When he finally opened his eyes, it was to see the firm but kind face glowing at him.

"Look how well you did! I told you that I have seen this method work on some readers who have a unique kind of dyslexia. We already have results. I'm so proud of you, Damon. You are on your way to superstar for sure! Soon enough, you will stun Tyrion with asking to read a fifth grade level book! This helps both of us, I truly want to be a teacher and tutoring is going to my ticket into that direction."

Damon gave her a brilliant smile then he wrinkled his brow slightly.

"But..Sansa Stark is a popular name, a rich family, a very powerful one that hires Roose all the time. Me an Ramsay have done jobs for them too. I met...some of your family before. It's like the Lannisters, way too big. They would want you to marry a rich man with a family fortune or something...and they would have you go to a really good uni...uni...college! In your family, you'd have to be like a..scientist or..a politics lady! Or be like your mother...I should shut up my mouth, huh? Ramsay says I talk too much and I won't live long."

Sansa gave Damon a small cold kiss upon his forehead then stood up slowly. Her voice was honey, it was stinging bees, it was a vampire that was barely inches from seduction and death.

"Superhero on his way to Superstar. Sweet Damie, don't you understand this place yet? We don't really get to leave...we stay here until Kevan finds a better use for us, or a use to keep us here. Look at Hot Pie...he will cook here forever. Do you think Jeyne or Myranda will leave here someday?"

"Myranda leaves almost every weekend!"

A twitch of her lips, Sansa knelt down and put her small hands upon Damon's large clasped ones.

"Damie. Superhero. Myranda leaves on Kevan's orders to fuck elderly rich men and brings back anything she can steal or hear. She doesn't choose it. Like Hot Pie with his cooking, like Raff with nursing, like Polliver with counseling, Kevan finds your talent and uses it. Sadly, Myranda's talents are being used in a rotten way. I can't imagine what Kevan thinks to do with Jeyne. Or any of us. But I intend to make sure that I choose my own talent before Kevan chooses it for me. I choose teaching. I will be a professor here if Kevan never lets me go. In some ways, it's a relief, Damon. Better than my family forcing me to marry someone I might hate. And they too would dictate my career, my lifestyle, they always have and I despise it. Kevan might be my ticket to freedom. Just like you are."

 

Damon helped make sure that the reading materials used were well hidden before the door was opened again. He was going to hang out with Ramsay but Sansa gently reminded him that he hadn't flossed that day.

"And since you have to floss, might as well brush your teeth and shower. Once you've done that, then you can see Ramsay but you might want to get some extra sleep. You've worked very hard today and deserve to have extra rest. A superhero deserves his sleep even if Ramsay cannot appreciate that." 

That made sense and Damon puffed his chest as he firmly spoke.

"Ramsay can keep himself busy with Theon anyway. I deserve to take care of myself first. I am going to bed early after I shower."

"And floss."

"Uh, huh. And floss."

"That is a great idea, Damon. I can't believe how quick you are learning and you are gaining your independence back. Ramsay took away your best parts and I am so happy to see this new dedicated to a better life kind of Damon. My superhero. Go on now and I'll be back soon. Just want to meet with Loras briefly about that silly calender project. I can't believe all of you voted to have us do it. When they said pick two students, I thought it would be Arya and Joff picked since they would make a joke of it all. But no, apparently Loras and I aren't liked very much. Simply because we are smart. It's a form of harassment, Damon. I am so glad that you are not really that way." 

Damon's face darkened and he spoke in a very somber, deep tone. Sansa imagined it might have been the voice Ramsay's victims heard when he brought Damon with him and shivered a bit.

"Sansa, if any of them try to hurt you or bully you, I will rip them apart for you. I...don't know good people, Sansa, but you are a nice person. A really good person that helps folks that don't even deserve it. I mean, I can't pay you back for all this help and I can't even let anyone know how much you've helped me! There isn't any good talents in me. But I have bad ones that can be used for good stuff...like hurting or killing anyone that messes with my teacher!"

With a gentle smile, Sansa lay one hand against the big flushed cheek and looked into Damon's thunderous face.

"Thank you, Superhero. I know you would help me and I told you, it's paying me back by letting me teach you. Someday, we will show the teachers and Kevan how far you've come...we will reveal me then, like a magic trick but better! I will become a teacher because of you, I know it. But please, be careful, sweetie. Do not allow the Boltons to have the power of thought over you. You will find wonderful talents, Damie. I know it. Once you've learned things more, you'll be able to find your way. But if you get into fights, cause problems and injuries, that will get you noticed in a bad way. Please, it would make me so sad if anything bad happened to you. I need you, Superhero. Now go floss, Superstar!"

 

Joff sneered as Arya stomped into the common room and slammed onto the couch.

"Dissed by Oscar again, huh? Man, I wish we could get a camera in there, she and Damon must have tricks we could put on the Internet!"

As the students had set into a routine, the night medications stopped or were lowered for the students. Then once all obeyed curfew and the basic house rules, Polliver gave them a television with blessed cable. A sign was posted above it about what hours the television could be used. Abusing it, losing the remote or fighting over the channels and Polliver will take it away permanently.

Which is why Loras was watching Into The Woods and Joff endures the musical rather than punch the pansy and steal the remote. Arya grimaced at the screen and then at Loras.

"Why are you torturing us with this shit? Is nothing else on? Like the nightly fucking news would be better than this. Oscar made me go to the theater for this and we saw the musical live with our family. I hate cultured shit, I hate drama and arts and musicals and I think I hate my sister and I shouldn't hate my own fucking sister. I wish Cuntella would give out some useful drugs for once. Like say...crack or something."

Loras sniffed and looked down his small gold wired spectacles at Arya.

"Dear, this all sounds like a personal issue. If you don't like this musical, I suggest leaving the room until it ends. Or until your sister meets with me to discuss the calender. I will shut this off for an educational meeting with the only other intelligent human in this place. Don't worry, Target. The musical is almost over and then you can watch Adult Swim before curfew."

Theon was coming in along with Ramsay who heard most of the discussion and snorted.

"Oh gods, I have to say, Goldilocks, since we've come here you've truly changed. This place is doing real wonders for you. Whatever will your grandmother say about this new studious good boy that Kevan has molded!"

Ramsay's every word was laced with razors and Theon slightly winced under the cuts. But Loras did not, he simply smiled and responded calmly.

"Considering what I was like before, I think my grandmother will appreciate the changes. It's too bad that no one will be here to speak for SuperD. Because he looks different too, Death Row. But not in a good way, I think."

Ramsay glared at Loras as he pulled Theon closer. Theon whispered something quick into Ramsay's ear and without further words, they went into their bedroom. Arya giggled at Loras's moan of disgust and worry for his increasingly distant friend. Joff snickered and stage whispered, "Loras will watch a thousand musicals tonight rather than go in that freaky bdsm parlor that used to be a bedroom. We should get a camera in there too!"

With a shudder, Loras pulled his hair back, reminding himself mentally to ask for a haircut tomorrow morning.

"Trust me that you do not want to watch or film what goes on with them. I have nearly ripped out my eyes and almost thrust a sharpened pencil through my own eardrums because of them."

Both students leaned forward eagerly, but Loras was finished with speaking. He turned up the musical so he could hear the witch singing instead of the two idiots whining.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arya & Sansa: Last Of The American Girls/She's A Rebel by American Idiot, Green Day Broadway Musical  
> Damon: Here Comes Trouble by Dangerous Toys  
> Ramsay: Jesus Of Suburbia by Green Day  
> Loras & Theon: Headlines by Alice Cooper  
> Joff: Motherfucker of the Year by Motley Crue


	17. Playing With The Food

Jeyne was curled on the small coach in Raff's office and he leaned back in his chair, smiling at her kindly.

Unella has had a bitch of a time getting Jeyne to show up for her appointments. So did Gregor, he has had to send Polliver to drag the girl hissing and kicking to his classes. Polliver had no issue with Jeyne unless he had to make her go to see Gregor or Unella. Raff was the only one that Jeyne willingly would see and speak with. Even her teachers receive nothing more than her work done. No voice used anymore, nothing but blank face and work that is barely correct.

"Jeyne, thank you for always being on time with me. And I appreciate that you speak with me, work hard on your own health. But...we had our big staff meeting yesterday. And you understand that we use those meetings to determine how each student is doing, what needs to be changed, what needs to be reported to Kevan."

With quick movements of her limbs that only a contortionist might be able to perform so naturally, Jeyne was perched on the desk. Hovering, her toes balanced, knees bent but lightly still bouncing, her thin arms resting on her knees, hands clawed but dangling without threat. Her head tilted and for one moment, Raff had a brief flash of terror. He imagined how easily this feral could rip his throat out. Raff worked mightily to make sure Jeyne didn't see that on his face.

"My grades are bad. I don't attend my non school classes unless forced. I refuse to go to my appointments with the doctor. But I do all my homework, tests and projects, I do all my chores. I have not threatened, fought, hidden or even said anything bad to anyone at all. Has to count for something. I do my therapy with you and take my medication on time. Isn't that good enough?"

Raff gave a tiny soft chuckle and pretended a dangerous predator wasn't perched above him, her glittering eyes piercing him.

"Problem is, honey...you won't use your voice with the staff at all. And part of your schooling and therapy is going to the Doctor and Gregor's classes. Those bad grades need to get a little better. You must attend everything on your schedule or Kevan will not forgive another report like the one he received today. Kevan is going to be concerned for any student with a bad report. That is not the kind of attention you want from Kevan."

Jeyne gave a quick baring of her teeth then seemed to ruffle then shake her anger away. It fascinated Raff and his smile grew even more, he couldn't wait to write this all down later. Of course, the hidden camera he is filming her with will also be a huge hit, a documentary and a book. Unella thinks she will make a book out of Jeyne, use her as a way back into the respectable medical community. Raff has also been creating a book about Jeyne himself. Since Jeyne spoke with him, trusted his counsel, Raff has way more information on Jeyne than Unella's dusty reports will show.

Leaning forward a little, careful to not touch the girl and to move slowly, with relaxed body, he continued.

"I am sure you have figured out by now that each student gets a counselor, a mentor of their own naturally. Each student picks their own mentor and I think we both know you chose me for a reason. So listen to me carefully, dear. I do care about you and I don't want anything bad to happen to you. I hated what Unella did, I despised letting Gregor cut off your hair. But I have no choices in any matters that don't concern a nurse or therapist. I can only give my reports and suggestions to the staff and to Kevan and pray. You understand that, don't you? So I can only really defend you by talking with you, warning you and guiding you. But you have to do the work, you have to do what I am telling you."

Jeyne gave a tiny sigh and rubbed her hands across the stubble all over her head, scratching the fuzzy skin.

After the first week of being shaved, Gregor took away all her hooded clothing since she refused to show her head. Since then Jeyne tries to rub her head when she is stressed out. She folded her limbs and knelt on the desk, inches from Raff's face, hovering with some unknown intent. Raff was used to this though he longed for the day he found out what those eyes truly held. His book and film will skyrocket his bank account if nothing else. Just a small insurance so that someday when the chance to escape might appear...Raff will have the resources for it.

"Jeyne, just do your schoolwork and use your voice when asked a question. Go to Gregor's classes and do what you must. Go to Unella's appointments and do as you must. If you get better grades from the teachers, if Gregor and Unella can report you are attending their appointments, then I can start to turn Kevan's mind to letting me guide you more. I can convince him that you don't need to be poked and prodded by Unella, no more pills and shock therapies. I will suggest that less time with Gregor would be good for you. See? In order for me to help you, sweetheart, I need you to help me too. You must do as you are told so that I can convince Kevan that you have no further need of these things. Do you understand that, Jeynie girl?"

A small darting down of her head and Raff took it as the small nod of agreement. Then her lips curved and her eyes narrowed.

"If I behave and go to my enemies willingly, you will convince Kevan that I do not need Gregor or Unella's help anymore? I understand that. I can speak to the professors, do the stupid work, that isn't hard. Tyrion said last month that my reading was already going faster. I am up to a sixth grade book reading level now! But I hate Unella and Gregor so much, it is very hard to just keep not fighting them. I will try though, for you. I will remind myself that my revenge upon them comes soon. And I can use the joy of that as my motivation to make it through their repulsive attentions. I want to bite but I won't. I will wait and let the revenge be sweet. I have watched, stalked, waited and watched, listened. Myranda showed me how to spy right, Sansa told me about using patience and collect information instead of attacking. Hot Pie worries for me but his suggestions are close to yours."

Raff forgot his own rules in his deep concern for Jeyne's safety as he reached out to clasp one of those long bony hands with sharp jagged nails. The girl allowed it but gave a tiny whining sound but stayed still in a buzzing tense way. Her eyes were on the strong, manicured hands warming and covering her small hand.

"Sweet Jeynie, whatever you are planning, I wish you would tell me all of it. Because I sense bad things can happen for you from whatever revenge scheme you have rattling about in your head. Please, honey, I understand your anger but revenge isn't the answer here. At least not in anyway you or other students would plan. It will only hurt you in the end. Tell me what you are planning and I will show you the flaws in it. I will help you come up with a better solution, okay? Tell your nurse, honey."

The slight flirting soft tone, the warm eyes that are inviting, the handsome young man, touching her hand, it was overwhelming in a delightful but terrifying way. Jeyne stared into those lovely eyes and then forced herself into bravery.

"Before Myranda came...I really really liked you. And then...I wasn't angry about her, I mean, another predator just moved where I didn't dare to go. But I wonder...I will make a deal with you, Raff. If you answer my questions, I will go to Unella and Gregor's appointments all the month long."

Raff sensed danger but was still itching to write all of this down. So he tilted his head and flipped his hair back, pretending he wasn't disconcerted.

"I will accept your bet but with limitations. I can choose not not answer any personal or private questions, or any questions at all that I feel are too inappropriate."

Jeyne nodded and Raff carefully took his hand back, leaning back in his chair. The girl seemed to carefully think of what she wished to ask or say.

"If Myranda had not shown up, if I had been braver...would you have liked me back? Would you have done with me what you do with Myranda if I had asked you to?"

Raff froze and mentally he heard an alarm shrieking of dangerous waters and he tried to carefully form a good answer. Then he received the shock of his life. Jeyne was suddenly in his lap, she barely weighed anything, her warm small claws now were on either side of Raff's face. Nearly nose to nose, Jeyne looked into his eyes and gave a small hiss of warning.

"No. That is cheating. You are thinking too hard before you answer to say the right therapist thing. I want the truth. I want the first answer in your head not the last one carefully made up. I won't hurt you and I won't try to sexually assault you, Raff. I just want the real answers and that is all. Please, you say you are here to help me, to guide me then do that. Help me by just telling me the real hard truths, just like that asshole Gregor does, but you say it nicer. Will you just answer my questions for real? Or the deal is off."

Raff ignored the shrieking alarms in his head and allowed her touch, her closeness. He was careful to keep his hands on the armrests and to stay still while the girl perched upon his lap the way she had on the desk. When he spoke his voice was firm but still offering the warmth to lead Jeyne into calm and obedient waters.

"Hmm. How about this, let's amend this deal. Since you want to ask me personal kinds of questions and want me to be more truthful and blunt....I need a bigger return than just going doing better with staff and appointments. No, I want a little more on my end, Jeynie. If I answer all your questions honestly, you must not only do better like you offered, but I want to know what your revenge plot is against Gregor and Unella. Deal?"

Jeyne was gone before Raff could've blinked. Curled back on the couch as if she never left it, Jeyne bit at a ragged nail on her thumb.

"I don't want to tell you my revenge plot. You'll stop me. I know you will and I can't risk losing my one chance to hurt those who have hurt me. I wish I could get my questions answered but maybe another time. But I will make a smaller deal with you, how about that? I will do what I must to get a better report next month...but you must try very hard to get Kevan to release me from Gregor and Unella's torture. I want so badly to trust you. I don't trust anyone, Raff. But I want to trust you and that is very scary for me. I hope I am doing the right thing by trusting you to help me."

Raff was relieved and disappointed all at once that the strange intimate yet threatening moment was over. He knew Jeyne well enough not to press anymore issues.

"Alright, that sounds like a good solid deal. I want you to trust me, Jeynie, I won't let you down, I won't lead you on a bad path, I only want the best for you. Don't you know that yet, sweetie? Now, look at the time, we actually ran over...then again, we always do, don't we? It's because you are my favorite student and you know it. I will tell you this much. Myranda isn't my greatest pleasure. She isn't a relationship, just a girl who knows only one way to gain things. I would hate to see you be like her in any way. I respect you, I feel true concern and caring for your mental and physical health, I want to help you. I feel none of those things for Myranda. She isn't the therapist's pet, that would be you, dear. It is time for you to leave me and go to your last class of the day. Shock that little dwarf by starting a heated debate on history or something."

 

Hot Pie roared so loud that everyone in the cafeteria jumped. That included Polliver who was getting coffee. He swore as it spilled upon his newly ironed shirt.

"Dammit! Boy, why are you shouting like that? It better be worth the stains on this shirt or you'll be having a better reason to screech!"

With a joyous face flushed from cooking hot food, without a shred of fear that he destroyed a shirt, Hot Pie literally bounced his way out of the kitchen. He spread his arms wide and his goofy smile nearly covered him from ear to ear.

"I did it! Just in time for you to add it to the monthly report too! I kept my end of the bargain, Polliver! Just weighed myself and I have hit Kevan and Unella's target weight! I did it! Come see for yourself! Then you can add it, right? Remember? I have the good grades, I go to all my therapies and shit...the last big goal was the damned weight, right? Well, I have done it, finally! You said you would recommend less therapy, less doctor crap, you said that maybe you can have Kevan let me test out of school...so I can have my own cabin and get a paycheck and cook like a real chef! Kevan said once I was ready, he would let me learn with real chefs!"

Polliver gave a large smile and his voice was jolly but there was something in there that made Hot Pie feel uneasy.

"I don't need to see the damned scale, I can just look at you. I see how good you are doing and looking. The reports are already done though, buddy. But it doesn't matter, we just can add it for next month. But listen, the report for you this month is glowing. Everyone has only excellent things to say, you have become a model student here, Hot Pie. Kevan will be so pleased he will see you himself, I bet. And when he does, I will make sure he sees how much you've worked. I will make sure he knows you reached your goal weight."

The boy's face dropped a little.

"You only wrote out those reports this morning, right? Isn't there still time to add it in? For you to speak to Kevan on my behalf? I've done everything you said to do. I have nearly killed myself catering to all of you and you can't just add a little extra scribble on the report for me?"

Polliver moved closer and his hand rested upon his baton attached to his thick belt.

"Now boy, do not pick up that shovel and dig a hole to jump into like you used to. It took Gregor a long time of burying you over and over for you to learn that. And you know how I feel about it. Don't backslide and earn that Piggy name back! Think of your goals not your anger. It is too late this month but I told you already it won't matter. Kevan will see you during the visit weekend. He will be out and about for the parents, he will eat your wonderful baked goods and see how dedicated you are to our staff, to our school. He will see the weight and all the good reports you have. Do not ruin that by being a brat again, holding grudges never works out for you. Now, I am going to change my shirt and bring this one back to you. I expect that you will get rid of this stain after your work today. Bring it back to my cabin tonight or tomorrow morning the latest. Make sure it is ironed correctly."

Hot Pie stared hard at Polliver, his face now set grimly but he gave a sharp nod as his shoulders slumped a bit.

"Yes, Polliver. Sorry I ruined your shirt."

With a grin, Polliver rubbed Hot Pie's sweaty, curly hair.

"I know you feel like I just burst your happy bubble. Sorry, kiddo. But I need you to be realistic, I need you to use your head not your emotions or your mouth. Trust me, the way I tell you to go is the right way. Do you think Raff and I didn't have to swallow back impatience in order to get where we are? Tell you what, when you bring me my shirt, if there is enough time, I will tell you a bit about me an Raff. How we had to go through swallowing shit in order to reach Kevan and our own goals. Maybe it will help you out a little. We will have a sit down and share some coffee and chat. For now, congratulations on losing the rest of that fat, Hot Pie. You should be proud of yourself and I think you should brag about it as much as you want. Now get your slender ass back to work, I smell chicken pot pie for lunch. Good work, buddy! I will be back with my shirt in ten minutes. Go make me food that will cause me to swoon. A proper lady swoon!"

Hot Pie grinned at the teasing and the friendly touch. The thought of getting to be invited into Polliver's home to hear stories that might help him out, it eased his anger.

 


	18. Truth or Trust

Tyrion smiled at Loras and Sansa as he walked past the two gloriously styled heads pressed together. 

"Hard at work, I see? Can I ask why you two are out here on such a wonderful night doing schoolwork still? It's almost curfew, children and here you are doing proper work instead of some form of mischief. My heart be still! Part of me cheers you on your road to scholarly pursuits! And yet, another half of me wants to tell you that you are only young once! Go skinny dipping in the pond, watch a horror movie and eat popcorn, read a racy novel or whatever teenagers without electronics can do!"

Loras and Sansa giggled and with a flip of her braid, she explained.

"My sister, her roommate, they are very loud and annoying. We can't concentrate in there. And..our roommates aren't exactly quiet enough to work in our rooms. Damon...likes privacy.  So we figured since it's nice out, we would do our work on a thick blanket on the lawn. We are allowed to be here, I checked with Polliver first. We know the exact distance we are allowed to roam in the evening and I do know that the pond is off limits after it becomes dark. We are trying to work on the calender ideas. I think we have a good one and we are just making some notes. Not real homework, we have finished that. This is just the calender stuff which is really rather exciting! I have never even taken photography before. Neither has Loras, its new for us."

Tyrion grinned. "Usually the calender is seen by the students as a form of torture. It is refreshing to have kids that appreciate trying new things! Now, what is the subject you've chosen? I am dying to know!"

Loras shook his head and Sansa's eyes gained a tiny twinkle, a merry one.

"No, I'm sorry but this one is a surprise! We aren't telling anyone what we are doing for the calender. It will be even better that way! You understand, don't you?"

"Hmm. Well, I am supposed to know what you are doing so I can give it approval or not. Kevan will not be amused with you or I if the calender is offensive...I fell for that before. Polliver and Raff were students here once, you know. And I am sure it will shock you to know that their senior year, they were voted to make the calender. I made the mistake of letting them keep it secret. Next thing I knew I had many months of rotted animal corpses to stare at and a decomposing sandwich. Thank gods, that Kevan found it amusing! Or I could have been disciplined right along with those two smart asses."

Sansa gave a giggle and waved a manicured hand at Tyrion playfully.

"Please! You know us well enough by now! We would never do anything like that! I can swear to you that it is not a pornography thing, not a bad thing. Just a different, unique calender that you can be really proud of. That doesn't have to be boring animals or nature. Say it is alright that we keep our secret a little longer? I have such a great time giving surprises! Loras and I are making a calender that you will never forget."

Tyrion sighed and looked up at the moon. "Oh, okay. I shall place my trust in the two of you. But nothing gets put into the actual calender until I have seen it. That has to stand as a rule. Deal?"

The perfect children gave Tyrion perfect smiles and he gave a perfect smile back. He continued on his journey, wondering what those two were up to.

 

Tyrion paused a moment as he strolled toward his cabin. Two things paused him.

Sansa had mentioned Damon briefly and her voice had slightly changed, it had sounded a bit stressed. He was aware the two shared a room which was absurd and asking for trouble in his mind. Was Damon bothering her? Tyrion made a mental note to have Polliver look into that possibility. Part of him felt stupid about that, after all, he had worked closely with the boy as had Stannis. Damon was truly not the monster he is portrayed as in the outer world. He is impaired, sweet and desperate to learn, to change himself. But he was still mentored by Ramsay and has violent tendencies when pushed that way...

The other thing that was pausing Tyrion was Theon and Ramsay. They were at the very edge of the dark woods, directly in front of where they are never allowed to be at night. There was a large rock, a few of them, that lined the forbidden areas and Theon was standing on one of them, facing the darkness of the forest. His arms spread wide, he looked like a sacrifice. Ramsay was behind Theon and slowly removing the boy's shirt and pants, touching him, staring into the darkness with Theon.

"Might I ask what the living fuck you two gentlemen are doing?"

Without a shred of shame, Ramsay turned to grin at Tyrion, still unzipping Theon's fly slowly.

"This isn't allowed, right? And it's almost curfew. I am trying to disprove the existence of this Tickler. I am going to jerk off Theon on the rock, watching to see if the Tickler will come and rip our cocks off."  

"What the hell kind of logic is that? You will get caught by someone and get your asses beat is what will happen. Whether it be the Tickler, Polliver or Gregor. And gods  help you if Unella strolls on by. Feel like having some shock therapy treatments? Jeyne will enjoy the break, I am sure."

Theon turned and looked at Tyrion with hollow eyes filled with some very dark excitement that Tyrion didn't wish to see or think about.

"It's okay, Tyrion. We aren't going to go any further than this rock and only my ejaculation will be out of the boundaries. And we will be inside by curfew."

Ramsay hugged Theon from behind and gave Tyrion a very polite but sarcastic smirk. With a large sigh, the teacher decided it wasn't worth his precious free time.

"Very well then. Do not say that I didn't warn you. Have fun until you can't, boys! Watch out for that Tickler!"

Tyrion nearly ran home at that point, wishing he hadn't lost his silver flask. It must be around somewhere though he is fairly certain by now it is empty and full of a student's DNA. It could have been the terror twins or the horror-porn twins, he isn't sure which. But he is sure one of them knows damn right well where his flask is! Hurrying inside his comfortable neat little hobbit house as Stannis dubbed it, Tyrion ran straight for his impressive liquor cabinet.

A wonderful gift from Kevan the last year for Tyrion's excellent work.

In their last batch of students just before the feral, the fat boy and the slut showed up, there was a particular student that worked with Tyrion as his mentor. The boy was brilliant if misguided. Tyrion tutored this boy in dictation, languages and more. Soon enough, Kevan became interested in the boy's talents. When the young man graduated, Kevan employed the young man as a translator for him and Tywin for their international work with other companies.

It was Tyrion's crowning moment and he felt that his gaming table, his expansive liquor cabinet, the Persian rugs on his cabin floor...all were earned. He was proud of it and rightfully so.

Downing more vodka made Tyrion calmer and he sank onto his couch.

Stannis and Loras are working together more often, in fact, Loras asked Stannis about getting a proper haircut and the professor offered to do it himself. Sansa seeks out Tyrion. He hopes this might be another crowning moment for him. The girl is clever, brilliant and deep down she seems good hearted, just misguided. He sees a darker spark in her, he won't deny it's existence. But Tyrion believes it doesn't have to turn that way with proper motivation and support. Tyrion works best with those types of children. He has high hopes for Sansa and Loras. Even higher hopes for himself and Stannis. If they both graduate students that Kevan can be impressed by, the professors may finally achieve their dreams!

The teacher fell into an alcohol fueled sleep, dreaming of the gaming center that Stannis and Tyrion have begged Kevan for.

 

Part of Hot Pie was waiting for the punchline, the joke, when Polliver invited the boy inside his cabin. He looked around with admiration, it was a small place, just one bedroom, kitchenette and living room. The furniture was nothing special, it was a decorative style only known as "first apartment for single guy" but Hot Pie dug it. He sat on the overstuffed leather couch that was clearly ancient. It wheezed when he sat down on it then the cushion seemed to give up the fight, sink down and die.

Polliver laughed. "If you had sat on my couch when you first got here a year ago, with all that fat...you would have destroyed it. Now it just wheezes like it does to everyone who sits on that damned old thing. One minute, kiddo. I am serving YOU tonight. Stay there a sec and relax."

Hot Pie couldn't relax but he did stay seated and looked about the room. He stiffened and stared hard, his breathing getting a bit choppy when he noticed the console on Polliver's really large screen television sitting on an immense gaming table. Then the boy received another shock when Polliver came back in and handed him an open beer.

"Go on, you deserve it. And you'll need it for the stories. Trust me. We need to hurry it up cause curfew is coming. If we run late, I have to walk you back so Tickler doesn't destroy you. So get comfy and stop staring at the beer, it won't bite you, have a sip."  

Hot Pie sipped the beer, grimaced then took another sip and his face straightened out.

"It's not bad at all. I like it, thank you. Uh...is that.."

Polliver saw the boy staring at his console and laughed heartily.

"Yup, its all mine. And I have over eighty games too. I earned it. Kevan is generous to those who please him. You will earn things for your cabin too someday soon. I can feel it in my bones, boy! Now, tear your eyes from my gaming unit, if you please. I am nervous you might go jack off onto it when I hit the bathroom later...you know that I can't let you play it. At least...not yet. I am sure that you can learn to play without getting addicted again....but I want to be sure of your mental state, kiddo. Let's get through this full month and if Kevan shits stars over your progress, I will let you play a game with me. For now, we need to chat so you can be set straight. I want you to trust me, let my wisdom guide you, so I am telling you a little past history. Drink and keep your eyes off my console and your hands off your prick!"

With a flushed face, Hot Pie looked away, moved so he would only see Polliver and gulped half the beer down all at once. He let out a tremendous burp and felt a little dizzy and silly. Polliver grinned and said, "Excuse the hog, the pig will speak next." He burped the entire alphabet after taking a swallow of his beer, this made Hot Pie laugh.

Settling on a lounge chair with extended leg comfort, Polliver started to speak, when he offered another beer, Hot Pie took it eagerly. He was no longer thinking of that amazing console, the boy was caught up in the story.

"I will not go into my weeping dramatic past. Let's just say I came from a rough family in a really rough neighborhood. I was drinking when I was a baby, my mom was a heavy drinker and a heavy sleeper. So she would put a little whiskey into my bottle whenever she fed me. By the time I was five I was rolling the old lady's joints for her and lighting her crack pipe. When I was eleven I was robbing stores, had a switchblade and fucking terrorized the kids at school, was a real bad bully, had some bad temper issues, ya know? So one day when I was around fourteen or so, I robbed this liquor store with some buddies. I had stolen a gun from my piece of shit step dad, I held it on the cashier while the others grabbed the money and some beer. The cashier, some grizzled old fucking asshole, he grabbed for a rifle he had under the counter. When he swung up with it, I shot him in the arm to make him drop it. The bastard dropped the gun alright, he also dropped dead of a heart attack right then and there. Didn't take long for the cops to find me...my fucking asshole step-fucker turned me in! I was really lucky that Kevan took me in. I was at a juvenile denter center from hell and was looking at being tried as an adult for murder. My  mother decided to give me up to the state before my trial was anywhere near to starting. I was fucked. Then these two dandy dressers came strolling through the joint and found me, talked to me. They told me of Kevan's school, it was still new enough that they scouted out students from detention centers and courthouses. I leaped, I fucking JUMPED at the offer, Hot Pie. It was this or prison, possibly for most of my life."

Polliver took a long pull off his bottle and then stretched out lazily. He swept one hand over the buzz cut on his head and his lips were carved into a cruel smirk but his bullet hard eyes showed the slightest touch of wild, painful wistfulness. It was gone before Hot Pie was sure it was ever there.

"My mother was thrilled at the idea, the state was thrilled with not dealing with me anymore and here I was shipped. Gregor came on the fucking crazy bus and I was thrown into the school. Oh, sure I had wanted to come here...but only because I didn't want to spend my life behind bars. I had thought to come here and then escape. I was great at running away, I had so much practice in it. I was a complete dick, Hot Pie. Refused to go to therapies and the doctor. Fought with all them, teachers, counselors, even Kevan. I swore once at Kevan. He had Unella stitch my lips shut for a full day for that. I can't tell you how many times Gregor buried me, kiddo. I would run away and there was no where to go. Whether it's the forest, the fields, the road...no matter what direction I chose...we are too far to walk away out of here and they always find you...always. I got my ass beat almost on a daily basis for sometime, had to practically live in detention."

Hot Pie laughed at the images in his head of a teenage Polliver getting buried and beat by Gregor. Of a rebellious teenage Polliver fucking with the system that he now forces upon others with eager vigor. He was halfway through the second beer and feeling quite nice. Polliver grinned at him and winked.

"How you doing there, buddy? Getting a buzz? No worries, I will guide you home safely later, Hot Pie."

Hot Pie gave his mentor a wide goofy smile full of teeth. "Thanks. I'm fine. Keep going, please!"

Polliver took another swallow and put the empty bottle in the small recycling bin then got another. He sat back in his chair, his limbs settling into the chair, opened his bottle, took one sip and continued.

"What kept my sanity while I was fighting the school, was Raff. He was my roommate. Raff was there just before I got there, he had the room to himself for a about two weeks then I was thrown into it. Same age, similar hatred of the school and eager to get away or tear the fucking place down around him. Raff had a whole different story, he was rich, from a good family. He was handsome, perfect and intelligent with money, how can that ever be bad. Right? It was bad though, his father was some asshole who was always on him to be better, do more, always play the right part at the right time. And Raff cracked under the strain. He was going to be a doctor, his parents were determined, he was groomed for it. The kid was like, fifteen and playing violin and piano, taking college classes at a fancy prep school, playing tennis, killing it at math competitions, studying like a madman in between. He just had enough and went bam. Started hanging with a bad crowd, doing fancy drugs that he got at fancy clubs that pretended he was old enough to go inside. Raff didn't date any girls, but he was certainly interested in them. He had a few...incidents and bam, his parents landed him here rather than in prison. He and I got along real well. He was the brains and I was the brawn and boy, did we give the staff a run for their money."

Hot Pie didn't want to ask what incidents, but his mouth wasn't listening to the slowly numbing brain. "What...incidents? What did Raff do?"

Smiling, Polliver shook his head. "That isn't a part of this story that matters. If you want to know what Raff did, you'll have to ask him."

Snorting, Hot Pie waved his hand. "Uh uh. I don't think that would be good for me. I don't want to have revenge from the nurse who handles my medications and is my head re-arranger, thank you!"

Hot Pie continued to enjoy the buzz and Polliver was trying to catch up, to get a good buzz going took longer for him. He continued to talk but turned the story from bleak to hysterical. Hot Pie laughed so hard that beer came out of his nose in a burning rush when Polliver told him of the calender revenge. Polliver told Hot Pie of all the pranks and tricks and escape plots the two had come up with. Then he told Hot Pie how they slowly began to calm down, to understand the staff was helping them.

"I didn't trust any of them for a long time. I saw only abusive pricks, I saw only enemies for a really long time. Raff picked his mentor around sixteen, a year after he'd been here. I still hadn't done that yet, I even teased him over it. But Raff started to get more serious about his school work, he started to pay attention, to work in the program instead of against it so much. He still loved tearing shit up with me...but Raff also started to see how things were going to be for us. He spent time with his new damned mentor, that boring fuck, Stannis. Then Raff started to get assistance and training from Unella herself and I was pissed, I was jealous and frustrated. I got worse in my attitude while Raff was getting better. Gregor decided he was going to be my mentor whether I like it or not. I wasn't happy about it at all, of course. But Gregor went between abuse and therapy until he finally managed to help me pull my head out of my ass."

Hot Pie laughed along with Polliver and accepted a third beer.

"Dude, that is the last one for you tonight. Drink it slowly and if you start to feel sick even a little, put it down. Okay?"

"Sure. Thanks for letting me have the beer and for the stories. Please keep going!"

"No problem, buddy. So Gregor bluntly laid out what prospects I had in life. Like I did with you. I had no future but prison beyond this school. Even if I slipped through or evaded the law, I would do what to survive? The only things I knew how to do. I would go back to robberies or dealing drugs or rolling drunks for a bit of cash. Or I could stay here, learn and get a good job or career through the grace of Kevan. Guess which path I chose? Right? After I started to attempt the program, to really work with the staff, I saw results like Gregor said I would. Turned out I had a talent too. When new unruly students would show, I would be the one to stop the violence, to talk down the freaked out and to help them adjust to the school. Kevan started to encourage me to become a counselor and I was all for it. It didn't happen in one day or all at once. Felt like fucking forever, I wasn't a patient kid. But I learned how to go about things, how to make myself noticed, how to gain favors from the stupid ass kissing shit that you have to suffer through now. Raff went through it, I went through it and so will you. They started letting me do less of the school crap and started training with Gregor. I was graduated before I was even totally given the official word from Kevan that I was going to be a counselor at the school. After I finished getting that stupid diploma, I was launched. I spent the summer training with Gregor and in the fall, I was given my cabin, my staff clothing and baton by Kevan. Course, staff clothing just means jeans and a white shirt with the damned school name scrawled on the back in gold. Might as well stamp a gold Princess on the pants ass too...but I was proud as fuck over it. Raff had the same time table as me by then and he was taking online classes while working closely with Unella and Stannis. He started as the school nurse that fall too. He didn't actually finish nursing school yet but Kevan thought hands on training would be best."

When Hot Pie left an hour past curfew, he was fully drunk and fully determined to keep his eye on the prize.

If Raff and Polliver could be success stories here, so could Hot Pie. He let Polliver take his arm and lead him to the dorm house. Giggling, the drunk boy crashed into the dark common room and Polliver sighed heavily.

"Drunken idiot, let's not announce to the entire student body what you've been doing tonight. Hush...be quiet and let me get you to your room."

Hot Pie, Myranda and Jeyne have the only rooms that were private. Their bedrooms were just past the kitchen and up a small flight of stairs. Three small bedrooms and one bathroom but that was fine by them. Having a private space was worth it. Polliver pushed Hot Pie into his room and ordered him to go right to bed. Hot Pie nodded then staggered unsteadily into the tiny closet. Laughing softly, the counselor dragged the boy over to the bed and tossed him onto it. The boy was asleep when his body hit the bed. Polliver took off Hot Pie's shoes and threw the bedspread over the kid.

"Dream of good things, dream of a cabin of your own and cooking amazing food for your bestest buddy and mentor, okay?"

Hot Pie only snored and rolled over. Polliver grinned, shook his head and quietly left the room, shutting the door softly behind him. 

 


	19. The Great Caffeine Tragedy

Friday morning was no different than any other morning.

Polliver showered, dressed and went about his usual routine. He would go to the cafeteria to meet with Raff and have their first bracing cup of coffee before dealing with medications or ducklings. They would flirt with Myranda who would be mopping the floor and setting up tables. Half listening to Hot Pie and Jeyne babble at each other while the boy prepped food and the girl cleaned up behind him.

Except when Polliver entered the small food house, only Raff was there, staring blankly at the coffee table. The tables were half set, floor freshly mopped but no Myranda.

"No coffee. I can't live anymore. Not a drop. Take me out kindly, Polly. I'm done for. No coffee."

Tilting the pot and examining it, Polliver sniffed and felt tears well.

"It can't be. Maybe something is wrong with the pot? No coffee? Is the boy dead? Did he die?"

Raff shrugged.

"Did you give him more beer? A bad hangover? With a flu? Then he died?"

Polliver shook his head finally tearing his eyes from the empty mocking pot.

"No. Only Wednesday night. We had runny eggs and burnt potatoes next morning and it was still on time. And there was coffee."

They looked into the kitchen and there was food prepped, ready to cook. No Hot Pie and no Jeyne but there was an open back door. Both of them walked to it and stepped onto the small back porch. Just in time to see the most interesting sight that was not meant for the eyes of a decaffeinated staff.

Jeyne was running, fleeing from Hot Pie and Myranda across the back lawn directly past the porch. That alone would have been interesting enough since the three were not known for such antics together. They were a close knit trio but they never fought or chased each other before. Also, Hot Pie and Myranda knew better than to ever challenge or chase the feral as it could be very dangerous. And both of them were not noted for extreme courage or conflict.

But that wasn't what made it so interesting, what made both men just stare numbly, just standing side by side, arms dangling. No, the interesting part was the bald, thin feral girl was running on all fours and was fast, it seemed to be an unnatural grace. Her limbs were at all the wrong angles, her neck was curved so her eyes could focus hard in front of her. The jeans and shirt struggled to maintain her body but losing the battle.

Barefoot, cheap denim tearing at seams on her legs, unable to move at canine angels and the white t shirt was halfway up her back. The spine bulged as if trying to come through the thin useless white flesh and the front of her shirt dragged upon the ground. Her fingers dug into the earth, tearing it up as she plunged forth, her teeth glistening through a fierce grimace.

Then another interesting thing followed as the boy who once couldn't manage a single sit up, learned to fly. Hot Pie went from running to launching himself into the air. He had his arms straight out and he fell in a graceful arc, flattening the feral with a thud. A hissing Myranda climbed onto Hot Pie, grabbed two fistfuls of the wild curls and then pulled as if he were a horse she wanted to stop.

"Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Raff's voice was soft and conversational, his eyes pinned on the writhing, cursing forms on the lawn. Polliver cleared his throat and his voice was calm, relaxed. "As in did I just see a girl run on all fours like she was born to it? Or the boy who flew and landed like a sumo wrestler? The girl riding the boy like a pony she wants to kill?"

They walked down the steps and Polliver pulled out his baton to thump into his hand as they walked towards the three idiots.

"I SEE A HORSE FANTASIZING WHORE, I SEE THE FLYING COOK TURNED SUMO WRESTLER AND I SEE WHATEVER THE FUCK THAT IS THAT ESCAPED FROM UNELLA'S LAB. DO YOU KNOW WHAT I DON'T SEE? I DON'T SEE COFFEE! I DON'T SEE ANY BREAKFAST COOKING OR WORK GETTING DONE!"

At the bellowing of Polliver, the children separated and staggered to their feet. Shifting, trying to pull their clothing back in order, they looked up with a mix of rebellion and terror at the two men. Polliver pointed his baton at Jeyne.

"I see you, girl, don't you dare try to take off on me or I'll-" Polliver sighed as the girl took off running, this time on two legs. In a trick that took time to perfect, Pollliver threw his baton. One second the girl was running, the next the baton twisted in her lower calves and she was flat on the ground. Raff grinned. "Even without coffee. Damn...I love it when you get to do that."

 

Polliver and Raff might have won that battle but they lost the next one. Without coffee, they both were weakened and just without true motivation or deep thought. No matter the threats or persuasions, the three would not discuss why they acted that way. Jeyne remained mute, Myranda gave smiles and misdirection and Hot Pie was the only one who gave anything of a clear response. It was cold and firm. And it was all the boy would say.

"We had a dispute. That's all. There is no further issue. Do you want me to get your coffee? For the disruption, I will bring you and Raff your coffee personally for the rest of the day."

It was too luring and for the first time in recorded history, Polliver and Raff utterly caved in and they took the carrot with desperate hands. "Fine. All day and until curfew tonight you are our barista bitch, Hot Pie. Now move before I whack you! Whore, Feral, get your asses in gear! GO!"

Raff watched as the three ran back inside then he narrowed his eyes in the direction they had been running from. The direction leading towards the clinic and the path leading towards Kevan's house. "Maybe I should go check the clinic quick? Just in case?" Polliver shoved Raff and headed towards the back door, led by his need for coffee. "Unella is in there. She always goes there before breakfast, she would have raised holy hell if things were missing or wrecked. And these three have never had interest in drugs. Why would they go in there? I mean, if you really want, after coffee you can strip search them."

The coffee sounded way more satisfying than strip searching three students that have never shown urges to rob, wreck or seek out drugs since arriving at the school. Both men let it go and instead thought of the fun they will have calling on Hot Pie for coffee all day.

 

Myranda threw her suitcase on her bed and opened it, surveying it's contents. Every gift ever given to her by one of the men she visits is surveyed and usually kept by Kevan. He allows her to use some of the minor jewelry and smaller gifts like music boxes, make up and hair products that she usually tries to ask for. But sexy garments, fancy clothes and good jewelry is all kept by Kevan. Her brand name suitcase and matching travel case are kept in Kevan's keep as well.

When it's time for Myranda to go on another weekend visit, the luggage is returned to her. Whatever items she has been given in the past is usually within it so she can transform herself into a high priced sexy gift from Kevan. Usually it will be Bob or Harold that will come to her bedroom the night before with the luggage. They will tell her only the barest details she must know. What time she leaves, what methods of transportation, whether she will need to stop for food and then a reiteration of what she is to do.

She adds only a few items, mostly hygienic ones then tossed a book or two in there. In spite of exotic locations or exciting ones, Myranda was mostly stuck seeing it from windows, balconies and over tall gates. So books help when sometimes they are in a location that has television but nothing in a language she can understand. With a sigh, Myranda sang out,

"I know you are under the bed, Jeyne. Come on out and talk to me before I leave. I'm not mad at you anymore, Hot Pie isn't either. We are concerned. We are worried for you, about this stupid thing you did. You are being manipulated, dearie, we see it even if you don't. I know that you think it's just a favor owed to you now. But how do you know that the favor will be returned? And what you did, that carries a heavy fucking penalty here if you got caught! What if Raff figured out where you were? What if he had decided to search us? You wouldn't even get the NICE punishments from Gregor or Polliver for that shit. You might be our nurse's favorite but you aren't Unella's. And Kevan! Sweet gods, did you even think that far? If Unella decided her lobotomy treatment wasn't quite enough, she would have handed you over to Kevan for judgment."

A slender hand followed by a long white arm appeared to climb up the side of the bed, followed by the rest of Jeyne in a fluid quick movement. The girl knelt up just before the suitcase and the bald head tilted upwards to look at Myranda.

"She will help with my revenge. Has been helping, advising me. It was worth it. I got what she needed and what I needed."

Myranda gave a growl of frustration and grabbed onto the bald head and stuck her face forth into the feral one. "Stupid girl. Listen to me, you might know all about being a predator but I know more about females, human non feral ones, way more than you do! That girl is trouble, she is a big huge danger sign. I want you to see that red hair and think of a big red stop sign, okay? Please, hear me, Jeyne. No help from that one is real help. Every word, every smile, every kind word is like that needle that Raff hides when we lose control. He speaks soft and pretty, then he jabs hard with his sharp little needle. So does this bitch, trust me. I know her kind."

Jeyne whined and Myranda let her go after kissing then swatting her head. "I know she is not really nice. I can tell, I can see. But I don't care, I don't want her to be a friend, I want to get revenge. She was a way to do that. But Sansa is very smart, head smart, I bet her plans are way better than mine are."

"Forget musing about what gingercunt is about to do! I have to go soon and I don't want to spend my whole time worrying about you! The plan you have is crazy, it's too dangerous. It will work, sure, but at what cost? To you? Do you think you won't get one FUCK of a revenge punishment back from Kevan, if not Gregor and Unella, for it?"

Jeyne crawled into the suitcase and curled up, managing to fully fit in it. Myranda laughed and shook her head, sitting on the side of the bed. "I wish I could take you with me. Well, at least for the company in between the rest of things! But can you imagine the terror you could cause those old perverts? The old bastard would have a heart attack! We'd have a great vacation pretending he was fine, just resting...Too bad it wouldn't work."

Jeyne wrinkled her nose as she saw the huge box of lubricated condoms, the birth control pills and the damsel dam.

"It's not right. Not fair to you. Do you really want to do this? Why do you do it? Like Hot Pie wants to cook here?" Myranda gave her little naive friend a smile, it was a kindly one from a wise person to a child. "No, I hate doing this, I'm just good at something I hate doing. I don't mind if it's younger men or older ones, if they are good looking or if they have something I really want from them. But this...is horrible but Kevan doesn't ask, he tells me what to do, you know how that goes, don't you? I do it without complaint because it leads to something better. Kevan said if I do this then soon he will find the right man for me to either be mistress to or marry if I am real lucky! It will be a very rich powerful connection or enemy that Kevan wants someone that can always spy on."

Jeyne tilted her head, craned her neck and slowly her back rose as if slowly surging upwards towards Myranda. She stared intently into Myranda's eyes, as if trying to understand. "But...can you trust Kevan to keep his promises? You say to trust no one, not a single student or staff member. But...this is something you trust in?"

"To be honest, I have to hope for the best. I have to hope that if I can pleasing him, that Kevan will keep his word. I think he means it, he has already mentioned three names to me that might suit him." Myranda rubbed Jeyne's head playfully until the girl ducked away, giggling.

"I mean what I said, Jeyne. Stay away from the red head. Stay away from those new kids, they aren't like us, honey. Nothing like you, me or Hot Pie. They are rich, spoiled, tricky and cruel, no matter what they pretend. Trust me on that. Do no favors, offer nothing and take nothing from them."

Nodding, Jeyne crept out of the luggage and lay on her stomach across the bed so her head was level with Myranda's knee. "I won't anymore. I gave Sansa what she needed, she gave me what I needed. All done. All over. No more students. Just you, me and Hot Pie. I hear you. But...you got a joint from Ramsay by going with him and Theon into the garden shed a while back." Myranda angrily muttered, "Yeah, I did and look what I got for it. Hardly worth the damned joint. I am a perfect example of why you should never trust these students!"

Jeyne winced at the memory of seeing Myranda's breasts with deep purple bruised bite marks, three burns from lit cigarettes and a bunch of shallow cuts on her stomach and inner thighs. She ended up in the clinic since Ramsay had apparently tried to bite her in worse places, very tender ones. Gregor took was the one to punish Ramsay for causing damage to Myranda. Jeyne heard Ramsay screaming and crying all night, no one got any sleep in the house. She found out from Joff as they all staggered into the common room, giving up on sleep, that Gregor had shoved a ginger root up Ramsay and he wasn't allowed to have it removed until morning.

Myranda shook off the bad memory and stood up to zipper her luggage up. "Never, no matter what is offered to you, never take Ramsay or Theon's lure, ever. They are dangerous, they are only in enough control to stop when they have to. But I don't think that is going to last. There is something so very wrong there. Leave them alone, never be alone with them! I have to go, honey. I am going to miss you guys, but I won't be gone long. Be home Sunday night, you can tell me all the gossip!"

Groaning, Jeyne rolled across the bed and then whined out, "It's that stupid parents visit this weekend! I hate it when strangers invade us, staring at me! I spend the whole time hiding away! And Hot Pie can't hang out with me because he is serving drinks and food the whole time! If you aren't there, I will have to help with setting up, clean up and helping him serve things! I don't care what Gregor says or does, I will wear a hood or hat if I have to help out. Though if my revenge goes right, it won't really matter, will it?"

Myranda rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't count on that, if I were you. I really wish you would wait until I returned for your revenge ploy. That way I can comfort you after or at least cry over your freshly dug and hidden grave."

 


	20. Hidden Talents

The children burst out of the school as if it were the beginning of a summer vacation then skidded to a halt at the sight of Polliver at the bottom of the stairs. He smiled widely at them and spread his arms wide.

"Hey there, Ducklings! I know, I know, very exciting the first time you experience a half day of school here. To only have to suffer basic academics and not be forced to endure your usual gym and other workshops all afternoon. However, let us NOT forget why we have this wonderful half day! After lunch you will have exactly four hours before you best be groomed, dressed and ON TIME to see Kevan. He has received all your reports and will speak personally with each of you about them. This should make a few of you happy and the rest of you scared to death. We will all meet on time at the front lawn. I expect silent ducks in a line for Unella to fuss with in case there is a cowlick or an asshole who stained something. Then in a very orderly fashion you will go into Kevan's home with me. You will behave in your very best high society rich uptight fashion taught to you by your betters. Each of you will get a chance to be seen in his office. You will wait your turn with silence and respect. Now, go eat your lunch and plan mischief that doesn't fuck with those plans."

 

After lunch, Damon and Sansa went back to the bedroom to work on a new book. Damon didn't like it but wouldn't say that to Sansa. The book was full of scary stories for little kids. How could Damon tell Sansa that a kiddie book scares him? The worst one was a story of a short squat man with a flowing black trench coat and a nightmarish huge smile full of jagged teeth.

But Sansa was so kind to find this book for him and help that Damon tried to just concentrate on the reading of the words. He ignored the pictures as much as he could as he read through it with her.

"That was really good, superhero! Look how fast you are picking this up! I am proud of your hard work, truly. Now, as a reward, let's practice something I know you are really good at and enjoy! This time you can teach me something, how about that?"

Damon grinned and blushed. "I don't know nothing that you couldn't do better than me, Sansa."

With a near seductive smile and a warm look in her eyes, Sansa sauntered closer and drawled out, "Oh, I don't think that is true at all. You have talents, even if you aren't aware of them, superstar. I mean, during our physical activities with Gregor, you can do far more than me. I would faint before managing half of those exercises you have to do. All the weight lifting and boxing, wrestling and even chopping up wood like that or cutting branches with a chain saw. I can't do any of that."

Damon shrugged. "So? You can do jogging, running, archery, gardening, chemistry and I can't do any of that good. I can use a whip real well but they won't let me have my whip here."

Sansa smiled.

"I have heard about Damon Dance With Me. Ramsay told us those stories during dinner once, remember? He was trying to upset us while we were eating and it didn't work out. You would use your whip on victims, make them dance for you, make them do anything you wanted. But I just like the part of how talented you were with a whip. It is a unique thing. But you are right, no whips here for us."

With a toss of her long red tresses, Sansa touched Damon's large hand and caressed it.

I love how you box, your fists are huge and rock hard, I imagine it must feel so powerful and gratifying to box. I want you to teach me a little bit of it. Would you do that for me, superhero?"

"Sure...but I don't know that I am the best person to teach you. We can go to the gym and get the gloves on and I can show you some easy moves."

Sansa's face went kind of sad and her shoulders slumped slightly. Her voice was a wealth of gentle disappointment. "Oh. Well, never mind then. Remember, they would all see and question why we were doing such a thing. It might lead to the question of what we do in here...it was a stupid thought of mine anyway. I'm sorry. I'll just go see if Loras wishes to work on the calender, I guess."

Damon blocked her as she went to walk away and grabbed her shoulders. "Wait, I can show you right here. I can teach you without gloves, sure! Don't take off and do some boring school thing with that fucking pansy. Please, Sansa?"

"Oh, okay. But only if you are sure. You know boxing better than I do, if we must have gloves and a gym then we can just forget it. I don't want to do the wrong thing and make you feel uncomfortable." Damon was adamant that it was fine so Sansa gave in with a brilliant smile. She paid attention as Damon showed her a few moves and then tried them for herself. Damon stood behind her and helped her move the right way.

"I don't totally feel I get this one. Listen, I learn a different way then you do. Let's try it another way. Stand in front of me instead and see how I do it. If I need it, I can see you try it." Damon stood in front of Sansa and watched her attempt the short jab with one fist then a longer one with the other. He offered a small bit of correction and Sansa tried again. He told her it was better but she asked if he would show her one more time.

Damon had no idea what happened. They were so careful to stand far enough apart, how could Sansa have moved forward so fast? Why would she do that? There was no way to stop himself in time and his large bare fist crashed hard into her left shoulder, dislocating it. She gave a small cry of pain and Damon cried out in horror. "Oh gods! I am so sorry! What...look at your poor shoulder!" Damon was nearly in tears but Sansa remained calm even as she paled under the pain.

"Listen, it was my own fault, I fell forward. I will be fine, it's just a minor dislocation that the doctor can fix easily. I will go see her and come back to show you I am fine. Why don't you read through that book while I go? We can see how far you got when I return, alright? Do not feel guilty and don't cry, I don't blame you one bit, silly boy! Superheros don't beat up their tutors, we both know that. Now, I will be back very soon, go read that book!"

"I should go with you! You shouldn't go walking around like that without someone. Besides, they might want to know how you got hurt and I did it by accident but I still did it." Sansa shook her head firmly and shoved the large man onto his bed. "No, no offense, but you have a bad reputation of hurting others and worse to ladies, thanks to Ramsay! They would assume you came to make sure I didn't get you in trouble for it! They would think the worst. But they trust me and always listen to what I say, you know that. So if I am the one to tell them, they will believe me that you are not guilty of anything. That you just had a clumsy student for boxing!"

Damon laughed along with Sansa but still felt uneasy about staying here. Sansa left and Damon picked up the book with a shudder. He hoped she got back before he had to read the dreadful story with the monster man.  

 

Unella's steely gaze took in the shoulder then Sansa's blank face. She clearly didn't believe that it was an accident. Sansa had told her the story in a blank if slightly strained voice while looking at the floor. The shoulder was rotated back into place and a sling was given as well as painkillers. Then Unella stood in front of the girl and forced her to look up.

"Boxing doesn't happen in a bedroom and without gloves. And no one is stupid enough to walk directly into those large fists. I want you to understand something. We take sexual assault and physical assault very seriously here. I understand with your family and the way the world is, you would be reluctant to speak out. This is not the world and your rich family is not here. In Kevan's world, if you are being victimized by another student, once you tell us, it will be handled, quickly and without the world ever knowing of it. I can promise you that if Damon is hurting you, that we will protect you. But you must tell us, you must say it for me to fix it."

Paling like milk, Sansa shook her head so fast that her hair flew like a cloud of fire. "No! No, there is no abuse. None. Please, it was only a small accident. Please, can I just go now?" With a sigh, Unella nodded and stepped aside to open the door. "Very well. Just remember what I said. Tell any of the staff and we will help you immediately. You can reach me at any time, any hour if you decide you would like to talk or receive some assistance, Sansa."

Sansa nodded, avoiding eye contact and ran out the door, nearly flattening Raff on her way out of the door. After she was gone, Raff looked at Unella. "What the hell was that all about?" Unella looked back at him and shrugged. "I am not sure, really. Damon might be speaking with Ramsay too much without our knowing it. Can you ask Polliver to see about that? I'll speak to Gregor too. We might need to change their roommates soon, just to be safe."

 

Harold and Bob left with Myranda while Hot Pie and Jeyne watched wistfully.

"She gets a limousine ride then a private jet to some exotic great place. We get to serve a bunch of parents and staff all weekend. Yay, us." Jeyne patted Hot Pie's shoulder as he mourned himself. Jeyne smiled. "I have something to look forward to. Revenge. Today. At our visit to Kevan." Hot Pie winced and grabbed Jeyne's hand.

"No! Not then of all times! You know that Kevan loves his rituals and goes rabid if they are fucked with! If you tell him during your report time, not only do you interrupt him, but then ruin the whole thing. He will have to focus on your revenge instead of his grand lectures and speeches! And then deal with what you've told him about them! He will be pissed and everyone pays, you will most of all for causing his interruption! Find another time to do it!"

With a heavy sigh, Jeyne nodded. She did see the sense in what Hot Pie said. "Okay, you are right. I won't do it during the reports." Hot Pie let go of her hand with a smile of relief. "Good. Okay, we have another two hours before we have to get ready so what should we do? Hey!" Jeyne ran away rather rudely and he snorted. He stormed off, hoping to get a chance to find a good show on the television in the commons room.

As he passed by the open window of one of the dorm bedrooms heading towards the front door, he heard something that made him shiver.

Ramsay's voice was a teasing lilt. "Okay, next picture. Who did this one?" Theon's voice was full of a dark soft yearning to please as he responded. "Ted Bundy, right?" "Good boy! Correct. Okay, how about this picture? Who did this?" "Ah...oh, BTK!" "Right again! You are really getting good at this."

With a shiver, Hot Pie moved away faster and when he got to the common room, he made sure to turn the volume on the show up rather loud.

 

Kevan was sipping at a crystal glass of scotch while relaxing, digesting his salmon and wild rice lunch. He had on soft music, it lightly swelled up from the old cherry wood stereo his grandparents bought brand new when they still were just earning their fortunes. A well dressed servant came forth and spoke.

"Excuse me, Sir? One of your students is at the door, they wish to see you and said it's a matter of urgency. Shall I contact one of the staff or let the girl in?"

Intrigued at a bold move that few students would dare make, Kevan said to let the child inside. He stood up, straightening his smoking jacket and checking the mirror to see his ascot was firmly in place as was his flowing mane of hair. Kevan was mildly surprised to see Jeyne slink into the room, fully hooded. She timidly inched as close as she dared, which was halfway across the room from him. Her hands scrabbled each other without making purchase and her head was down.

"Well, my dear, this is a rather unconventional thing, you seeking me out. My maid said it was urgent?" Kevan sat back down in his chair and swept a graceful hand towards the couch. "Please, have a seat, it makes me nervous if you stand and pace. Sit down and tell me what is wrong, Jeyne."

The girl stalked on stiff legs to the couch and perched on the edge of it. "I am sorry to bother you, Sir. And I am new at this so I will make a mess of it. But I want to try and I can only hope you won't be angry at me for trying something. Raff says I will find my talent if I really apply myself and try to learn, to work with him and the staff. So I want to see if this is my talent."

Kevan leaned forward. "Oh, you think you have found your talent and I am the first one you wished to show? I am very touched by that, Jeyne. How wonderfully kind of you to share it with me first." His voice was condescending and it was clear that Kevan felt the girl had come to waste his time with her misguided but sweet notion. Jeyne saw this and gave a small bitter smile. She looked directly at the man, into his eyes and spoke slow but clear.

"I might be a feral but I am not stupid or sweet, Sir. I don't read or write well and I have trouble with lots and lots of things. But I am not dumb or slow. I learn, I hear and I see. Myranda is a spy, she does other things to be a spy, I know that. I won't do those things, I can't. But I hear, I see and I listen, I even collect. And I am a spy, I think. I can prove it to you with information you do not have but would like. May I please do that? I can prove myself right now, right here."

Kevan nodded, somewhat intrigued by this girl's attitude. "Alright then, impress me with your spying skills."

Normally Kevan would have offered some scorching insults or lectures first about bothering him this way. However, even Kevan tread lightly with Jeyne as she is unpredictable and this room was full of easily destroyed treasures. He settled back in his chair and prepared to hear the worst spying news possible, like how Hot Pie gave extra food to a student perhaps. Or some large cheating scam at the school.

Then Jeyne began to speak in a fast, factual tone and Kevan found himself sitting up straighter, paying attention.

 

"Unella and Gregor have been having sex for some time. They hide it, they sneak and I know the exact times they do it. Until a week ago, since then they only fight, no more sex, just constant arguing worse than before. And then I found this and Unella crying." Jeyne carefully pulled a clear bag out of her pocket with a used pregnancy test in it and laid it on Kevan's coffee table. It was clearly positive.

"Gregor is making arrangements for her to leave and secretly get an abortion. He called some doctor called Qyburn and plans for the two of them to ask for time off. They would make it look like it was separate small vacations. Unella would ask for two days off and leave, Gregor would leave the day after, meet her at the clinic."

Jeyne looked at Kevan and shrugged. "It is what I have got for information, I hope its enough to prove I can spy well. If it is of no use to you, I can simply use the information to torment the two by telling all the other kids." Kevan stared hard at Jeyne and then gave a slow rich chuckle that was somehow terrible but nice too. He stood up and walked over to the girl. Clasping his hands behind his back, he smiled down at her.

"What a clever minx, you are becoming! I don't think Gregor understood when he shaved your head, I don't think Unella understood when she used you like a lab rat, I don't think they understood what hell they may have unleashed. Very good revenge, Jeyne. Good work. And I applaud your spying efforts to do it! Now, you do know that once I've disciplined my employees for their crime against my rules, they will come after you. They will ask me how I got the test, how I knew so much and I will not lie to cover up your revenge plot. I will tell them if they ask who it was that told me. They will come after you and while I don't believe they would dare to go beyond my limits, they will certainly get you back for your revenge. But I think you knew that and are ready for it. That level of aggression against the staff worries me, Jeyne."

Jeyne shrank back slightly and stared into the dangerous waters of Kevan's calculating eyes. Kevan leaned forward until she was pressed hard into the cushions. "Listen to me very carefully. If I want you to be a spy, I will tell you so or Raff will tell you so. Let me tell you what you are right now. You are a freakish feral that is trying very hard to become a real human girl. We strive to help you with this, don't we? And you are so close, so very close, Jeyne. I want to see you succeed here, I want to be able to claim that we cured you. Unella and Raff desperately both want that, as do I. But if Unella accidentally fries your brain or gives you the wrong medication and you kill yourself, or if Gregor breaks your neck, no happy ending for any of us with you. If I think that there is no hope to save your poor disturbed mind, no hope..."

Kevan waited until Jeyne was sobbing and huddled on the couch before he relented.

"Calm yourself, dear. Please, here is a hanky, that couch is delicate, do not stain it with your fluids. Now, I will finish your sweet clever revenge for you and you will leave to rest in your room. Compose yourself and get ready for our report time later. No more spying unless requested, hear me, Jeyne? Good girl. I will inform Raff of our discussion here so that he may counsel you better on your thoughts of both hidden talents and revenge tactics. You are dismissed."

Kevan watched the girl flee the room and then he took out his cell phone. He texted Gregor and Unella, asking them to please come to the house. Passing a servant, he spoke in a hard tone. "Tell Gregor and Unella to come to my study immediately. Also, bring me that plastic bag on the table then please see that the table is cleaned and disinfected. Thank you, Gilly."

 


	21. Knowing Isn't Knowing

Kevan placed a quick call to Raff while he waited for his prey to show. 

"Raff, guess who just gave me a lovely visit? Your little subject of that cute film you think I don't know your making. The main character of the book that you think Unella doesn't know about. My favorite little charity pet and you are utterly aware of how and why this girl is here. Everyone knows, but we never mention that, do we? No, because it is distasteful and best left quiet. Right? Of course, you understand that. Because you understand there is "knowing" something and then there is "knowing" something. Perhaps you might wish to explain that to your budding spy? She just informed me that Gregor and Unella were having intimate relations. She also brought me Unella's positive pregnancy test. And though that is spying, it was more obsessive stalking and a feral sign that the girl dug through trash like a raccoon. Of course, now I will have to discipline Gregor and Unella, so the girl got her revenge, at least. However, I won't hide who gave me this information. I will leave it to you to keep the girl from being punished badly enough that I must...inform her father of her demise. Then a favor is lost and I will owe a debt instead. How do you think I will thank Unella and Gregor for it? How do you think I would thank you for that?"

Without waiting for a response, he hung up.

 

Kevan looked up to see Unella and Gregor enter. He smiled and graciously waved them forward.

"Ah! There you both are! Please, sit, sit! Much better, hate craning my neck." Kevan waited until they sat and looked at him expectantly before he moved. He used his golden pen to gently push forth the pregnancy test still in it's bag. "Let me be the first to offer congratulations." Unella sucked in her breath just staring at the test. Gregor stared hard at the test then at Kevan with the same hard look. It was not was Kevan was expecting and he toyed with his pen, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, anything you'd like to say, Gregor?"

"You told me that you did not spy on us, that you didn't go searching through our stuff. Was that a lie? Because that was in my trash can. The one in my house still."

For a reason that Gregor and Unella couldn't comprehend, that made Kevan burst out laughing with true mirth. They sat stunned and just stared until the man pulled himself together and wiped a tear from his eye.

"Oh dear, perhaps I really gave her less credit than I should have. Points for bravery and true focus. No, Gregor, I have kept my word. I don't spy or search upon you or your private dealings. But students can and do, on occasion. This was a student that was driven by an urge to try her hand at revenge and at spying. She did fairly well at both, I'd say, for a first try."

Unella hissed out, "Jeyne. Dammit!" Gregor looked at Unella. "I will hold her down while you lobotomize her." "Agreed."

Kevan gently cleared his throat while he twirled the pen about his fingers lazily. "Please, do go on discussing how you'll maim my student, don't mind me at all. I can wait for you to finish your extremely important conversation. I can wait until my flesh shrivels away and my bones fade softly into dust if you'd like."

Both turned back to Kevan who gifted them with a sunny smile and raised eyebrows. He spoke quite courtesy. "All done? Are you sure? I don't mind waiting." Once both gave grudging apologies, Kevan nodded. "Good. Excellent. Now then about this situation."

 

The smile was gone, the mirth in Kevan's eyes was wiped away as if it never had been. A frown grew as did the storm clouds in Kevan's eyes. His voice was deep and it was deeply displeased.

"If one student knows that you've been having sex, then they all know. Only one so far knows of the pregnancy and do you think she will only tell me? There was a reason why I made a rule about co workers having relations. Because how can we ask our students to not engage in sexual activity when our staff does it? I do understand that we are rather stranded out here and needs exist. That's why we have offered alternatives and if those aren't tasteful enough then hell, that is why we have averted our eyes to Myranda's doings. And to be honest, we all averted our eyes from the activities of the two of you. But we expected you would be smart enough to hide it from the children. No matter. What is done is done. There are only two options I can see to rectify this."

Kevan leaned back in his chair, crossing one long elegant leg over the other. He took the time to see the crease in his pants weren't affected. Looking back up, Kevan tapped the tip of his pen against his chin.

"One option is to show the children that you take responsibility for your actions by getting married here, by me. Live in the large cabin that's empty and raise that baby. And keep your positions here. The other option is you both get fired and leave disgraced so our students can see that we take our rules seriously. Then you can visit Qyburn for your abortion and tell him how you were fired." That made Unella make a small sound of terror. Kevan gave a slight smirk to her then turned to Gregor.

"Of course, the charges were never dropped against you, Gregor. The crime of murdering children is quite grim, two lovely little children. Not to mention the murder of their mother. This was the best Tywin could do for you and the only thing he will ever do for you again. He doesn't forgive mistakes easily and that one drop of DNA was all it took. Once you leave, you are a wanted man that death row beckons for."

He turned his glacier stare upon Unella who looked sick.

"And Unella, what will become of you? Hmm? How many suffered at your hand, Doctor? Qyburn was grateful that you took the full blame and didn't mention who gave you the orders. That is why he helped you escape here for a sanctuary, a place to escape to before the ethics committee thought to call the police? But if you leave here, if you go back, the ethics committee will have already called, the police will already have your name by then. Not as bad as murder, but deliberately giving diseases to treat them on a pediatrics ward is considered unacceptable by the general public. Then again, I don't think you have to worry about that much, dear. Because once you tell Qyburn that I have fired you and the police will be after you, I think we both know, you won't be leaving that clinic alive. Qyburn can't trust that the police won't find a way to make you tell the truth. Just in case, he'll make sure that won't ever happen."

 

Gregor and Unella stared at Kevan then at each other then back at Kevan. "Shall I inform everyone later that there will be a wedding or a firing?"

Both muttered at the same time. "A wedding, Sir." Kevan beamed and his smile was warm and heartfelt. "Wonderful! As I said when you first sat down, congratulations!"

As they stood to leave the room, Kevan cleared his throat one last time, causing both to flinch and look back at him warily.

"One last small thing before you leave. I am aware that you'll be wanting some revenge of your own upon the feral. I will not stop you but please be aware that if anything you do causes me consequences, you too will feel consequences. How far you go, depends on how far I go. Keep in mind that her father wished her hidden away forever, not tortured or murdered. It is only our own kindness that makes us attempt to make her less feral. And of course, the desires of Unella and Raff to use her as a way to launch books. Of course, since you can never use her picture or her name, nor where you knew her, the book won't make the impact you both hope for. No matter. Please leave, we must all get ready for the reports with the children. It is unfair for them to be on time and waiting on us."

 

Hot Pie looked up from his movie as Jeyne skidded into the room. She looked elated and terrified. "I did it! Did it! Walked into Kevan's house and did it. He will punish them, maybe he will fire them! But...he will said he will tell them who told him that Unella was pregnant. He said Gregor and Unella might lobotomize me. I think I am going to hide in the woods for a week or two this time. Just until it's safe." Groaning, Hot Pie stared up at his idiot friend. "What did you do...forget it, let's hurry and get you what you need so you can run for it."

The door slammed open and Raff came in, looking angry in a way they have never seen before. "JEYNE!" Leaping a foot into the air, Jeyne flew to head for the stairs to her room. "No, get back here right now!" Raff chased her up the stairs, her reached her door as she slammed it shut. He slammed his shoulder into it and Jeyne squeaked as she was shoved back. She ran for the window, hoping to climb onto the roof from it but a hand grabbed her and yanked her back inside. Raff twisted her arm behind her back to immobilize her while he slammed the window shut. Then he dragged her across the room so he could shut the door.

"I told you not to get revenge without talking to me first! I told you to tell me what you've planned so I could tell you whether it would be too dangerous! And you told me that Hot Pie and Myranda warned you off from your revenge! Yet you went ahead and did it anyway! I know you were in the clinic the other day and I know that you were rummaging through trash cans like some filthy rabid beast! All to find a pregnancy test because revenge was so important it was fine to do something so disgusting, right?" The disapproval, scorching anger and bitter disgust in Raff's voice hurt worse than if he struck her.

 

Jeyne cried out, twisting in his arms. "No, no! I didn't do that, didn't go through trash, I am not that way anymore! Please, I swear I wouldn't do that! I had someone else give it to me! I did the rest but not the trash!" Raff spun her around and sat her hard on her bed then stood over her. "Who? Who helped you go through trash?" But Jeyne just shook her head and looked at her lap, tears falling. "I can't tell you that. I'm sorry, I can't. I don't want someone else in trouble for something I did." Raff grabbed her chin and lifted her face up. "Was it Hot Pie or Myranda? Did one of the new students want a hand in causing revenge? Was it Joff or Ramsay?"

"I won't tell you. I won't get another student in trouble when they were helping me. It wasn't Hot Pie or Myranda, they didn't like my plan at all. They didn't know when I would do it and they didn't know I would go right to Kevan the way I did. But I won't say who it was." Jeyne's eyes started to dilate and her breath came faster, her hands turning into claws. Raff backed up slightly and stood up straight.

"I will not make you tell me who it was, Jeyne. Calm down, we won't talk about that anymore. We both must calm down, I'm sorry I got so angry. I am worried because that was a very foolish and dangerous thing you did. And you know that Gregor and Unella will want to return the favor of pain caused. So until I can be sure they are calm enough not to injure or outright slaughter you, all your movements are restricted as of now."

 

Jeyne stood up fast and shook her head. "No! I can just run into the woods and hide for a few days or a week or two! I could survive out there for months if I had to." Raff smirked and put one hand in his pocket to wrap around the needle. "Sweet girl, haven't you noticed that you are always found one way or another? Because there is no real hiding here, no real running away. We can track you to your general location and then it's just a basic search from there. True, you can evade longer than any other here, but only for so long. And don't you think Unella and Gregor will be interested enough to keep looking until they caught up to you?"

The girl looked at Raff's hand hidden in his pocket then at the door and back to Raff. "I don't want you to jab me with your damned needle." Raff smiled and shrugged. "Then don't try and run or fight me. I can see it in your eyes, in the way you stand, Jeynie. But if you try either one, you give me no choice but to knock you out. I texted Polliver before I came here, he was on his way. He is right outside that door and if you run, he will block you and restrain you while I drug you. Is that how you want this to go?" Raff's eyes were looking angry again and Jeyne started to cry a little. "I hate it when you get mad at me. Hate it when you look or act like I am a wild animal."

"Then stop acting and looking like a wild animal and I won't need to. Do I need to ready the syringe or are you going to behave for me and listen to what I have to say?" Sniffing, Jeyne perched on her dresser and wrapped her arms around her knees, watching Raff nervously. "I will try to behave and listen." Raff pulled his hand out of his pocket and leaned against the wall near the door. He tilted his head and called out softly, "You can come in, Polliver. Jeyne is sitting on the dresser and will stay there while the three of us chat." He moved back and kept eye contact with Jeyne while Polliver slowly opened the door and entered.

Polliver shut the door quietly behind him, careful to not make sudden movements. He leaned against the door, his baton attached to his belt but close to his hand. Giving a calm but amused grin to Jeyne, Polliver spoke.

"Little duckling wandered out of line and decided to fuck with the geese, huh? Well, not very smart, Feral, but I give you points for creativity, stalking ability and a shitload of courage. But you were very naughty and those geese are going to be very angry at you, dearie. We need to keep you protected from the geese and it's sort of your own fault so you really can't bitch about it. I will explain to you what restricted movement is going to mean for you and you aren't going to like it, Feral. Not in the fucking least but if you try and run, we can use the baton and the needle to get the cooperation we need from you." 

 

Hot Pie was pacing the living room when Raff and Polliver both came back down. Jeyne was limp in Raff's arms, sedated and wearing chains on her wrists and ankles. "Why is she chained like that? Is she alright? What will they do to her?" Raff gave Hot Pie a disgusted look. "Oh, now you suddenly fucking worry and care?" Hot Pie stared at Raff and yelled, "Of course I care! She is my friend! I told her not to do it, I warned her and I didn't know she would do what she did! I tried to talk her out of it and so did Myranda!"

Polliver whacked the boy in the stomach hard with the baton and Hot Pie bent over in agony.

"Both of you warned her? You should have told me! One of you should have told Raff, you know he is her mentor! And I am your mentor, you should have told me! Do you have any idea how much danger she could be in? Unella and Gregor have killed before, think it will bother them to snap her neck or play operation without anesthetic? Now we have to find a way to keep her out of their way, keep them from their worst impulses. Think that will be easy? So guess what? Until this blows over or they reach her, we keep her a prisoner. She is in chains and she stays in them until we say otherwise. After your report visit with Kevan, I expect to see you, we are going to talk about this."

Hot Pie watched as Polliver held the door and Raff left with Jeyne in his arms. Polliver walked quickly with Raff and then they were gone.

Hot Pie sat heavily on the couch and put his head in his hands. What if they can't keep her safe? What if Jeyne finds a way to get away from them only to be caught by Unella and Gregor? Never mind that Polliver was royally pissed at him for keeping Jeyne's secret. What if Polliver takes his name away again? Too many what if's and Hot Pie almost was happy to hear the others all come in. They all went to their rooms to get ready for their reports and Hot Pie reluctantly went to do the same.


	22. Scared Little Ducks All In A Row

Sansa went to head out with the other students, towards the front lawn and Kevan's judgment when Arya caught up to her.

"Hey! Remember me? I have some news you actually might want to hear. You were too busy last night so you missed the phone call from Uncle Petyr. Don't worry, I talked to him for you. I'm not the suck up you are so he doesn't like me as much. But he talked to me anyways but he was bummed that you were too busy for him."

Spinning around fast, Sansa walked Arya into the wall before the girl could register it happening. Sansa glared at Arya and her hand was clutching her sister's shoulder too hard.

"Ow! Knock it off, bitch! I swear to the gods, I'll give you a bruise on that pretty face, sister or not! I hate it when you get all fucking creepy on me! Save it for someone who isn't on our side, okay? Not your damned enemy, Sansa!" Arya looked a bit scared and ill as her sister continued to squeeze her shoulder and just stare at her. "Please, stop it, I fucking hate it! It's just like mother, stop it or I'm not telling you a fucking thing that our uncle said! I mean it!"

Sansa spoke in the tone honey badger mothers would use upon their young if they could speak.

"I am not our mother, Arya. I am your older sister and right now I am very upset with you. All I ask from you is to leave me be, do what I say when I give you good advice and remain loyal to me as your sister. Easy things to ask, I think. I told you if anyone from our family called, to tell me right away. I said that if Aunt Lysa or Uncle Petyr call, to tell me. You were irritated that I haven't made you the spotlight of our new world so you lashed out. You acted like a spiteful brat and didn't even attempt to let me know that our uncle had called. Even though you were fully aware that I was hoping to speak with him. What did he say? Or must I ask him myself when he gets here tomorrow with our parents?"

Arya looked mutinous for a moment but Sansa's face changed her mind. "Aunt Lysa is dead. She broke her neck while they were hiking. Our crazy aunt probably thought she could fly and took a running leap off a cliff. Uncle Petyr won't be coming since he has to mourn and prepare services. So it will be Dad, Mom, Robb and Bran since they will head to the services after they visit us here."

Sansa let go of Arya's shoulders and turned away, her face closed after it showed a minor shock and she snapped out, "If you ever do something like that to me again, I might just take you for a hike, little sister. Consider that. Why don't you wait here for your new little friend? I'm sure he has some idiotic prank he needs to share with you." Arya watched with narrowed eyes as Sansa strode away towards the lawn.

Joff bounded up next to her and saw Sansa storming away. "Oh no, another dissing battle with Oscar?" Arya shook her head. "I don't know what that was. Don't think I really want to know what she is up to. It's never good to be involved in Sansa's fucking plans, that's how I ended up here. Let's get going before we are late. All of the staff seems really tense today and I don't want to get anymore detentions, bruises or holes to dig."

 

Unella was brutal in her measurement of the students in line. She nearly strangled their throats as she buttoned top buttons and straightened collars. The combing out and restyling of Arya and Theon's hair was so ruthless that even Polliver winced. Unella found no fault with Sansa or Loras but she grimly searched for a fault, hoping to find one. The lack of imperfection made Unella glare at them as she nodded at them and walked away without a word. Gregor looked over all the students and turned to look at Polliver.

"Where is Jeyne? She should be here, in line." With a look of shining innocence, Polliver drawled out, "She wasn't available today. Already informed Kevan that Jeyne wasn't attending the reports. He is fine with it, but go ahead and check with him to be sure, if you'd like."

Gregor seemed to grow two sizes as he walked into Polliver, who calmly held his ground.

"Don't you dare play games with me, asswipe. No one gets out of reports unless they are in a coma or dead. Is she in a coma or dead? I doubt it. Are you helping your little cook hide her best friend? Are you helping your best friend Raff hide his little project? Did you forget the only reason you are a counselor here is because of my mentoring and my recommendations? Hmm? This is how you thank me for that?"

Clearing her throat slightly, trying to remember that the students were watching all of them with eager eyes, Unella walked up to Raff.

"Where did you put her? I will just have Gregor track her if you don't tell me. Pointless to hide her anyway, your project is as dead as mine is now. Kevan knows about my plans and he told me about yours. Backstabber. But it doesn't matter, Kevan said he will never let us use her name, likeness or where we've ever met her. Rendering your film dead and both our books into pure fiction with no sources."

Raff gave a bittersweet smirk and spoke softly. "I am aware of that. Jeyne is my patient still. I am still her mentor."

Polliver smiled at Gregor and he gave no shits about discretion at all. His voice was steady, amused and loud. "Gregor, I appreciate everything you've done for me. I am glad I listened to you so I could become a counselor here, truly. But I am your equal now according to Kevan's own staff rules. One of my main jobs as a counselor is to take care of my ducklings, to protect them. Feral may be a fucked up little thing, but she is still one of my ducklings. And I won't let you rip apart my poultry."

Unella glared at the two insolent men then snapped at Gregor. "No matter. After the reports are finished, we will track her on our own."

Raff grinned. "Good luck in your hunting. Oh, look, time for the ducklings to file inside to await their Kevan time. Come on, Polliver, we don't want to keep Kevan waiting."

 

Arya and Joff sat together silent and still before Kevan's desk. They both watched as the brilliant gold pen shone as it moved between Kevan's fingers and the smooth paper it wrote upon. Joff had stifled a yawn twice, he was used to this tactic, his own grandfather and mother have used it for years on him. For a bit, Joff concentrated on the amusement of watching Arya try not to squirm with anticipation and boredom.

Finally, Kevan looked up and graced them both with a warm smile. His rich voice was melodic and his eyes were inviting.

"My dearest great-nephew, Joffrey Lannister! And of course, the young Miss Arya Stark, a family I have known of and admired. I have actually met you and your sister before, a few times. I believe the last time I saw your family as a group, was it the funeral services for your half brother and youngest brother? No matter. The past doesn't concern us in here. The world doesn't concern us in here. The names Lannister and Stark don't concern us in here. In our small world, Joff is equal to Myranda, Arya is equal to Hot Pie. Riches mean nothing, status and popularity mean nothing."

Kevan's smile seemed to begin to slowly frost over as did his voice as he leaned forward, tapping his pen upon two stacked folders.

"Would you like to know why I am seeing you together? Because of this extreme equality. The two of you seem to be equal in everything. Test scores are exact, the reports are exactly the same from teachers and counselors alike. Equally, you have turned in ten percent of your homework, both have the same amount of detentions, punishments and lectures. Both of you have skipped the same classes, the same amount of classes. The only glowing reports I have on both of you is that you are equally healthy and do not cause fights with each other. Does this sound like a glowing progress report for your parents?"

Joff looked at his uncle with a small smirk on his face, Arya said nothing but barely hid a sneer herself. Kevan relaxed waited politely for one of them to say something. He seemed to be thrilled that it was Joff who spoke first.

"Uncle Kevan, once my mother sees this place and hears from me what it's really like here, I won't be here to bother you anymore. I am pretty sure the Starks will feel the same way when they speak to Arya. We both intend to get out of here by exposing things if we have to." Arya simply nodded in agreement and the two rebels stared at Kevan with mutiny. Kevan smiled as if the children were candy and he had one hell of a sweet tooth.

 

With a graceful movement, Kevan stood up and twirled his pen as he strolled around the desk. He sat on the edge of it in front of the two children.

"I think it's time that you both understood the truth of things. If your families put you here, if they went to Tywin for help, it was for one reason. To save you all from prison, to save them embarrassment and to hide shameful children away. Can both you of you truly be naive enough to think your families are not aware of how my school runs itself? At least to a very basic extent, enough for them to not care as long as you look good when they see you to appease any small lingering guilt?"

A small chuckle and Kevan shifted as he looked with kindness upon Joff.

"My dear boy, have you ever known your mother to defy your grandfather for any reason? If Tywin has decided this is where you shall be, no amount of pressure from your mother will change that. And I can tell you that my niece can offer me anything she wishes to and it won't change your status here one little bit. And if you think your mother doesn't want you here, where she knows you are at least protected, you are quite wrong. Cersei understands there is no other place better to hide you and still be able to see you."

Kevan shifted his gaze upon Arya with the same cloying sweetness.

"Same thing with your family, young lady. Ned and Cat have donated money to my school in the past, they have worked close enough with my family to be aware of how things are. They are aware of the type of place you are in and they agree it is a better option than prison. The Stark name is an old prestigious one if not as rich as our family, it is just as ancient and respected. I am sorry to inform you, Arya, that you and your sister have rendered yourselves unworthy of the name. You have become scandals and your family is just as infamous as mine for hiding shameful things and shameful family members."

Sharing a smile to both of them, Kevan spread his arms out.

"This is your new home for a very long time! Maybe forever, if we can't straighten you out enough to find good uses for you. So I want you to consider this. There is nothing bad enough happening at this school for either of you to allow your families to pull you out. Feel free to spout anything you'd like to them, I look forward to hearing what you'll say. Get it all out. But you will still be here the day after they leave. Perhaps you'll wish to apply yourselves, to find mentors and make something of yourselves. Find a talent and learn to use it. Or you won't and when you turn eighteen, if you are still useless, what then? Shall I continue to support you here as bad examples for other students? How will your families react when I tell them that you have not reformed, not changed at all, that I have no use for you at our school anymore? When I tell them that you both cannot be trusted to return to society in any way? What happens to you both then? Will you share the same grave or the same institution somewhere?"

 

Kevan stared levelly at Hot Pie.

"Boy, I have received such glowing reports about you. Truly impressive, you have decided these past few weeks to really throw yourself into your studies and work the program. I am proud of you in almost every way, young man. Even your weight is spot on, perfection! Polite and respectful to staff, average but diligent work in your academics. Raff says you are cooperative in therapy, Unella is happy with your mental and physical  state and Gregor says you have reached all your milestones in his gym classes and activities. The schedule you have has been revised to accommodate your new skills and Polliver has been excellent as your mentor. All wonderful things, Hot Pie." 

The boy shifted, flushed but looking pleased and hopeful. Kevan tenderly smiled and continued.

"Normally, I would see this report and leap at the chance to offer you a chance to train as staff. I would set up your diploma and tell the professors to test you out of classes. I would tell Pollliver that he will begin to train and mentor you as a staff recruit as opposed to a student. By summer you would be picking out basic furniture for your cabin. It is honestly what I want for you, what I wish to do for you, boy. Alas, it is not going to be happening, at least not during this report period. Do you know why? Because of loyalty, Hot Pie. None of your work or talents will matter until I know that I have your loyalty."

Watching Hot Pie's face fall, Kevan gave a mock long sympathetic face.

"I know, it's a hard decision for me too. But I have to be certain of my staff, boy. I understand how close you are to Jeyne and Myranda. As it should be, the three of you are different than other students and it's perfectly normal that the three of you stick together. The relationship is a normal one and one I heartily approve of. Poor little Jeyne will never have friends except for you and Myranda most likely. So I want the trio to stay together, you are a very good example for the two girls, in fact. What I am concerned with was your actions concerning Jeyne's little revenge ploy. I am aware that Jeyne told you of her plans, that she intended to bring to me exposure of Unella and Gregor. Surely, you had to be aware how bad that could have gone for her. How badly it might still go once Gregor and Unella reach her? Yet, you said nothing to any staff member. Not even to your own mentor or to Jeyne's. Heck, you could have even told me personally! I am not that scary to approach, am I?"

Hot Pie looked down at his hands and muttered, "I just wanted to protect her from any trouble. Myranda and I never thought she would really do it. I mean, Jeyne isn't a spy or a person that gets revenge like that. Normally, she just attacks or hides from whoever she is mad at. We really believed she was just all talk, we figured she was listening to the other kids and mimicking what they would say or do. She does that sometimes. I am sorry I made such a terrible mistake. I don't want anything bad to happen to Jeyne. If I truly believed she was going to do it, I would have said something. Now I see that I should have said something anyway, just on the in case. For now on, I will report things to staff. Please, Sir, I want nothing more than to become a loyal staff member. I hope that if I can do better, you'll consider me for staff again at the next report."

Kevan stood up and walked around to Hot Pie and patted his shoulder firmly. "That was the exact type of answer I wanted to hear from a potential staff member. Now, here is what we shall do. I will allow you to begin your staff training with Polliver, I will ask the teachers to set up testing you out of classes. The therapy will be reduced to once every two weeks with Raff. Unella will see you once a month still. And free time from those therapies and classes will offer time to train with your mentor. I offer you no cabin, no definite offer of employment or cooking school until I see how your next report is." 

Hot Pie leaped at the slightly smaller carrot with his hands, eagerly. "Thank you, very much! Thank you for allowing me another chance to prove myself and for the chance to test out and train! I promise I will show you I can do even better, that you have my loyalty!"

 

Loras and Sansa were both showered with praise for their diligent efforts to do well at the school.

"Excellent grades, both of you picked wonderful mentors and have volunteered to create our calender. Both of you have taken advantage of all that has been offered, therapy, extra projects and activities. Chores always done, always on time, never causing issues of any sort. Almost too perfect to be believed, both of you. Funny, I called Joff and Arya in here at the same time because they were equal in all the wrong things. Now I call both of you two in here at the same time because you are both equal at all the right things. I have heard both of you are interested in teaching, how interesting. And according to Tyrion and Stannis, not only would you both be good at it, but perhaps even more. That they have only scratched the surface of what might be lurking talents inside of you shining twin stars. So, I will lower the amount of workshops, gym classes, physical activities and therapies for you both. I shall tell the staff to keep an eye on our most clever and brilliant children, to help you continue to see deeper into yourselves. I cannot wait to see what our next report brings, however it pleases me to tell you that your families will be thrilled to hear our reports on you both."

Kevan smiled and the two perfectly groomed and well dressed children reflected his warm cheer back at him. He moved to sit on his desk before them.

"I hear from both Raff and Unella that you both have found regret in your past actions, that you feel shame for causing such tragedy by your own reckless actions. That you have accepted responsibility for what you have done. That is excellent progress! The doctor says you both have no need for medications which is even better! Now, I would like to ask you each one thing before you go. A rather troubling subject has come up about trouble or possible trouble with roommates."

Looking directly at Loras, Kevan asked without anything but gentle query, "Ramsay and Theon are not injuring or bothering you in any way? They are not up to anything you wish to me speak with me about? It can be in private if need be and they will never know that you told me, young man."

Loras grimaced but shook his head. "I will admit they turn my stomach with their relationship but no, they leave me out of it. I rarely see them, in fact." 

Kevan nodded and patted the boy's arm before reaching out to take one of Sansa's soft hand. He looked into her eyes that were sweet, intelligent and dark deep down where he could just seek it out. And yet, it wasn't the type of darkness that came from something horrendous like Ramsay. No, these were certainly the eyes of a certain Stark woman. Smiling, Kevan wondered if it would bother Sansa to know that she looked so much like her mother.

"My dear, I heard how this dislocated shoulder happened. I would like to hear about how you are getting along with Damon. We are concerned, dear. No one here wants anyone to get hurt. We take sexual and physical assault very serious and we would help you, Sansa. I agree that Damon is a nice boy but we can all agree that when Ramsay has his ear, Damon can become dangerous. Have you experienced this, Sansa?"

Squeezing Kevan's hand, Sansa sweetly looked up at him and gave a small smile on her soft lips. "No, he is fine. Just a big kid who doesn't know his own strength and is not very smart. I am sure it was an accident and I have been advising Damon to avoid Ramsay. Whenever I see them talking, I try to help draw Damon away. But I feel safe in my room. I am assured by Damon that he will not listen to Ramsay anymore, that he won't box in our room anymore. I am assured by the staff that we are all protected and cared for, I have no worries for my safety in your school, Sir."

Kevan watched the two leave his office with piercing eyes. There is something afoot with those two and he can nearly taste it. He will indeed ask the staff to keep a closer eye upon the two perfect students.

 

"Damon, I do not want to speak to the top of your golden head. I do hope you aren't mimicking Jeyne, with pulling long hair over your face to avoid life? Good, there you are, a handsome if hulking young man. I must say, you have certainly come a long way in such a short time. Now, true, your intelligence is very dim, you learn at a very slow pace but you do learn! And you listen, obeying rules for the most part. A few tardy assignments, a few late appointments and some minor wisecracks and pranks earning you a few detentions with Gregor. Interesting thing, your only detentions and mess ups are with Gregor, Raff or Unella's time with you. Maybe because that is around the time you see Ramsay? The teachers never have issues, they say you actually try very hard to please them and reach your goals. During classes, the only person that shares even partial class time with you is Jeyne. She is also a remedial learner though she is learning two grades above you at a sixth primary reader level. Jeyne doesn't work as hard or as earnestly as you do, she gets in more trouble during class than you do. Interesting."

The boy seemed to be too intimidated to say anything at all and just wrung his large paws together. With a sigh, Kevan put down his pen and folded his hands on the desk blotter. "Damon, how is your relationship with your roommate, Sansa? I have noticed she is wearing a sling. I heard a rather interesting tale as to how she received that dislocated shoulder."

Kevan had to lean forward to hear the muttered response. "Please, try to speak up a bit, Damon. I am old and hard of hearing."

"It was my fault. Sansa's shoulder is because of me. I shouldn't have done boxing in the room, without gloves. Shouldn't have stood that close to her while doing it. My fault and I am sorry. I really like her, she is nice, she is pretty and sweet and kind. I am not any of those things but Sansa tells me I am a good person if I just stayed away from Ramsay."

Nodding, Kevan tried to understand the contradictions of who this boy was and what danger if any, he posed. The staff seemed reluctant to state in the reports that there might be a problem. Damon only seemed to do badly when around Ramsay. Kevan decided to try bluntness with the boy but he spoke very clearly and slowly.

"Damon, I want to know if Ramsay tells you to hurt Sansa. Or if he tells you to hurt anyone else here." The boy seemed to hesitate then nodded reluctantly. "I don't listen anymore though. I don't want to hurt her or anyone else. I...I'm not interested in that stuff anymore. I mean, I like to pull jokes and clown around with Ramsay but not that other stuff anymore. I don't want to play the serial killer games or any of that...I  just want to do better."

Kevan tilted his head and stared intently at Damon, his voice silky smooth. "I am very glad to hear that, Damon. I am sure we can help you do better. Son, can you explain the serial killer game, please? And the other games too?" Damon looked uncomfortable and he wouldn't meet Kevan's eyes but he did speak. Silently, Kevan listened to Damon's halting and nervous explanation of the games Ramsay taught him. Including the ones that involved victims. Kevan wrote down what Damon said along a few notes for the staff. When Damon had nothing left to say, Kevan looked up and gave a very reassuring smile.

"Thank you, young man. That was very helpful in letting me decide what direction to take with you. I accept that what happened to Sansa was an accident since you both agree that it was. I also believe the staff is right to assume that Ramsay is your worst and most dangerous influence. I truly don't believe you would have ever done any of those awful things if Ramsay hadn't manipulated you into it. Listen to me, Damon. I want to help you, the staff wants to help you and I hope you let us. But you must listen to our counsel. I am going to ask that you no longer remain friends with Ramsay or Theon. Damon, you are a good boy deep down, you are showing us such great effort, I want to be even more proud of you next report. So I will suggest you look for a mentor among the staff. Stay away from the wrong students, like Ramsay and anyone who is his friend. Do you think you can do that?"

 

Theon fidgeted under Kevan's gaze.

"Now then, young Theon, let us talk of the reports I have been given on you. It's a good thing your father probably won't bother to visit you. We wouldn't want you to offer him yet more disappointment. Anyone with ears has spent their life hearing Balon bitch about his failures, you being one of them. Whether that assessment would be fair is in doubt, he has been saying it since you were a toddler after all. But you are a disappointment to the staff and to me. We cannot take comfort even in average level grade work since you have been caught at cheating with Ramsay on nearly every test. Homework is rarely turned in on time if at all and it's sloppy work at that. Both you and Ramsay have trouble concentrating in class, you both would rather torment your teachers or each other instead of following tasks. Gregor and Raff say you are known for skipping out on your therapies and non academic classes, that you have to be chased down on occasion. Also, there has been incidents of you being found with Tyrion's missing silver flask, others have had items go missing and think it might be you and Ramsay. I notice a pattern, do you? Damon had that same pattern in the outer world as Ramsay's best friend, his most loyal follower. Look where that has led that poor dumb ox. Are you Ramsay's next poor dumb ox, Theon? Is that what you hope for? To be a submissive partner to a serial killer, to help him commit atrocities?"

Waving away the stammering protests, Kevan frowned at Theon.

"I don't want to hear it. Truly. It will only make me feel even sadder for that poor Damon and for you. Let me lay things out very simply for you, boy. The world has lost interest in you, it doesn't want you. If you ever return to it as you are, it will kill you, eat you up and never think of you again. This is your world and your home now. That must sink into your dense skull. Distance yourself from Ramsay, try to work with the staff and you might stand a chance at some form of a life. There would be a chance to get a mentor, discover something useful about yourself. Let us guide you and mold you into a person that can be useful and not whatever monstrous thing that Ramsay wants from you."

 

Kevan smoothly wrote in his old fashioned but lovely handwriting while Ramsay sat, waiting, his fingers playing idly on the wooden armrests. The boy never cracked, he sat and watched Kevan's movements like a dangerous predator.  When Kevan finished adding his last notes on Theon, he twirled his pen, looking up at Ramsay.

"Ramsay, the second born son of Roose Bolton. An old name with an even older savage history. How hard the Bolton's worked to rise, to change their outer image while sharpening their inner true works. Domeric, your older step brother, he wasn't much like you or your father, was he? No, a reed thin tall young man that wanted to go into politics and law. Born to Roose while he was young and still in love with his late wife, Bethany. Did you know him very well, your brother? Probably not, he was ten years older than you. I believe you still resided with your mother in that crack dealers house until, what, two years ago? With a rare twice a year visit to your father's home from age three until you moved in with him permanently? Sad."

Kevan offered a sympathetic face that didn't match the stone eyes.

"No matter, your father had no time for you and your mother, whom was a paid whore. That was always a fault of your father's I will grant you that. He had a rather gruesome obsession with buying, abusing and impregnating crack whores. No matter, the only pregnancy that mattered to your father, was his proper wife's. And Roose was all about his high hopes for the first born shining son then. But alas, as young children always rebel, Domeric's ethics and morals were not the same as your father's. They fought, your brother runs off, officially goes missing and daddy suddenly had time for you. Was that a bad thing, perhaps? Because even though all the reports transferred to me from your history shows disturbing things, your behavior didn't get deadly until you were alone with just daddy. Was he your very bad influence, Ramsay? As you were Damon's very bad influence? And now you are Theon's very bad influence." 

Ramsay gave a razor thin smirk and leaned forward slightly. His eyes were hard, glittering with rage and his voice was soft but deadly.

"My brother was a fucking weakling, his mother was a weak, spiteful woman who couldn't accept her son leaving, who couldn't accept me coming in. That dried up old biddy would take Domeric and leave if she could when I came for my visits. I was only allowed in certain parts of the home, I couldn't go anywhere near another human besides my father and his damned henchmen. That cunt hated me on sight and I remember her hissing to my father that I was another animal that she didn't want to see. Bitch probably wanted to have me sleep in the kennels with the damned dogs!  The only reason I ended up with my father was because my mother overdosed and dropped dead. If you think my father or the name Bolton has ever done me any favors in life, you are sorely mistaken. Yes, daddy dearest taught me what he could, or what he felt I should know. He was never going to really love me, accept me or allow me to be heir to his fortune or his business dealings. I tried to love and honor my father, even tried to get along with his wife and received nothing for my efforts. I tried to be good friends with Damon because I had no one else and neither did he. I never forced Damon to do anything he didn't want to do. I don't force Theon to do anything he doesn't want to do. Theon has become my friend luckily, since Damon ditched me. I don't have any influence, Sir, or else, I wouldn't be in your school, sitting here hearing you insult me."

Standing up, Kevan walked around the desk and perched on it, so close to Ramsay that their knees almost touched. The gold pen tapped on Kevan's knee as he gave Ramsay a very sad smile. Shaking his head, Kevan spoke, his voice heavy.

"Poor delusional boy, do you even understand why you'll never leave here? This was your last chance before the law murdered you or your father did it personally to save himself embarrassment. The Boltons, Lannisters, Starks, Tyrells, all have influence, all have reasons to have shiny reputations. I know you are a clever boy but do you see the bigger picture here at all? None of you are leaving here unless I ever allow it and your families agree to it. Then, it would be under a different name doing work I have assigned you. In your situation I doubt this will be your future. No, you are a savage little cunning killer and you like to find submissive, vulnerable partners then hunt humans like animals. Whores mostly, I assume that is from some deep seated hatred of your mother?"

Ramsay looked very serious and yet there was a sliver of a smile upon his face.

"Sir, I don't deny that I am a killer. I don't deny that I like to work with a partner but I deny that I force anyone to do anything with me. Yes, I am sure because of my mother, I enjoy killing whores most of all, though I do enjoy torturing and killing crack addicts too. Male and female, really. Of course, I can have a future away from here. I am a killer and can become a hit man. I am willing to go further than just shady dealings of murder and enforcement for glittering things like Starks, Lannisters and Tyrells. I know what got Gregor in here, you know. I admired and followed that man when I was a child, hearing tales as I tagged along behind my father. Hell, even when I was with my mother, we heard of Gregor and Sandor too. That one killed a boy while botching a robbery at a butcher's shop? Sandor should have been working with his brother. Then again, considering how Gregor fucked up...I really loved Gregor's tales. I wanted to be him. Now I find him pathetic, I wouldn't have been caught. I won't get caught."

Kevan sighed and spoke softly as if to a small very dumb child.

"Ramsay, you are in my school, because you did get caught. Not only for drinking and driving, not only for the deaths of so many at the car accident, but for the dead abused girl in your van. All the things in your van were taken as evidence, so was the dead hooker and it was only through great cost and intervention that your father was able to have it all destroyed. In fact, for years that poor man has tried to hide and destroy evidence that his children have left copious trails of. Do you have any idea how much your father might owe to me or Tywin because of you? How much he is beholden to the Starks and to so many other debtors? All due to his children. Now this might be a testament to how bad his parenting is, true. But consider this. As it stands, you are the only Bolton child that isn't missing, that hasn't been truly tossed away by your father yet. Ruin this last chance for yourself and I do believe your father will decide you are to go missing too. As it stands, when Roose sees your report tomorrow, he may already be coming to that unfortunate conclusion. Now, I will charitably remind your father that it has only been one month. That we like to give up to a full year before making any harsher decisions. That gives you eleven months to decide if you want to be the last failure of Roose Bolton."

"Sir, I appreciate your time, thank you for your counsel. I will surely take it into consideration. Consider what I said too, I will be a great hit man someday. Or an assassin. My talents are already showing, I am great at killing, stalking and more. I am proficient in torturing and imagine the information I could get if needed for someone rich? So if you want to really help me, help me gain a way out to continue my career goals."

Ramsay never saw it coming, one minute he was in the chair and Kevan was sitting on the desk. Suddenly Ramsay was on the desk half laying over it and the pen was at his left eye. But it wasn't the inky point of steel that Ramsay saw too large in his eye, it was a slender razor tip.

"This is laced with poison and it's a rather gruesome but fast acting one. So I would stay very still if I were you. Did you even have time to blink, never mind resist? No. I am an old man, Ramsay, I have not trained with assassins, with serial killers, with Boltons or hit men. Though all of the above are in my employ. Let me help you understand this, boy. Everyone here, is a dangerous person in their own ways. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here. Telling me you can torture or kill doesn't fill me with hope. I have plenty of killers and those who like to torture around here. It isn't a unique talent and not even one you are clearly very proficient at."

Kevan stepped back and threw Ramsay backwards by his collar.

"Eleven months, Ramsay. You have only that long to decide to be a dead serial killer or a live boy that has a better talent for us to exploit. And I truly hope you don't take down Theon or Damon with you. I forced Damon to tell me of your little games, the staff has told me of other games. Stop your damned games, Ramsay. At least Loras is one boy who doesn't find your manipulation and sick play something worth his while. I really hope at the end of the year, Loras isn't the only one left in that room. Now get out and think on what to do with your time left."   


	23. Go Ahead And Corner A Bitch

Myranda should be impressed but she wasn't. Limousines with champagne, fancy imported chocolate and water from private springs don't even warrant a blink. She has ridden in too many of them. They never landed her anywhere all that great, so the only good thing are the enmities which are fleeting in the end. Due to the stress of what lay at the end of her trips, if liquor is offered, she is allowed to drink a moderate amount of it.

Private jets are no different really. The longer the trip, the fancier the transportation, the more repulsive the client usually. This jet was full of roses, expensive alcohol and even a discreet offering of different types of drugs. Myranda had already been slightly suspicious when she saw both Bob and Harold coming with her. Usually it was one or the other, only on certain trips have they both come with her.

If they both escort her, it's because she is servicing more than just one client, up to four at a time would make both men stay for her protection. One time they both went with Myranda because the client was known to be very aggressive. Myranda found that funny because the asshole still managed to give her enough of his BDSM interests to put her on bed rest for three days.

Of course, Bob and Harold blamed her for it, not the client. They had said if she hadn't kept laughing, he probably wouldn't have been so rough on her. As if it was possible to stare at Pycelle wearing nothing but a leather harness and a teensy, eeny pair of leopard skin panties and jackboots and not die laughing. Her favorite was Walder Frey, that crusty bastard. He loved to bring his sons and insult them while they tried to fuck her. She always acted her rudest around Walder, unlike Pycelle, he loved it. Gave him more reason to insult and degrade her while indulging himself. Like Pycelle, Walder enjoyed a bit of roleplay, he liked to pretend she was a saucy serving wench and he a lord.

"If the stewardess offers you the party drugs again, you should take her up on it. No point suffering elderly men sober, Kevan understands the need for such things. We do not condone drugs normally, of course, but on rare occasion, like now, we shall allow the small indulgence."

Myranda stared at Bob with a raised eyebrow. She tried to hide her shock and her nervousness. "Why should I need drugs, how bad will this be? Come on, both of you are with me and they offer drugs? Along with all this other fancy shit and the traveling so much?" She gave a jagged laugh. "Have I angered Kevan somehow? Is this my last trip or something? Do I get to come back afterwards?"

Harold and Bob gave her identical smirks and Harold spoke with a spark of amusement.

"No, dear. I promise this isn't your demise and Kevan isn't upset with you as far as I know. This is a very private man, with lots of money who wishes to lavish it. We are both with you because there will be multiple others there. More young women just like yourself actually. This person enjoys the company of many girls at once. He wishes to play with you along with these other girls. He isn't known for extreme violence or even as much as some of your clients might enjoy. Possibly some minor kinky paddles or straps at best. Mainly, just lots of other females, he enjoys sampling many different females at once."

Myranda relaxed slightly but did take the offer of drugs to steady herself. She has had a few clients that had other girls her own age or older join in. It isn't particularly exciting to her but it does mean she'll get breaks. At least she can share the load, so to speak. The drugs kicked in and she floated away with the jet.

 

Jeyne woke up with a bandaged sore arm, chained by wrists and ankles in a dark place she did not know. Thrashing, screaming did no good but it was the first thing she did. The panic wore off and left her tired and numb. Curling up on a thick blanket on top of the mattress she couldn't seem to leave, Jeyne tried to calm herself. This was a room, it wasn't cold like a too big house, a cellar or a dog kennel. It was a mattress under her, not rug on polished wood, cement, cheap tile, straw or dirt. She remembered Raff and Polliver told her she had to be restrained and hidden. Jeyne recalls that she attacked them when they came for her and Raff got her with his damned needle.

Relaxing slightly, Jeyne knew she was at the school still somewhere. That Raff will be back, that she is not abandoned here to be forgotten or killed. She logically knew this but her mind kept trying to play tricks on her. Jeyne tried very hard to ignore it since the goal was not too look crazy or desperate when Raff returned. Her chances of getting loose from the restraints might depend on it. So when Jeyne heard a razor voice slice through the air, she whimpered and whispered to herself, not real.

"Look at you, a filthy little beast. How dare you slink this close to where I can see you? Get back with his other filthy dogs, Jeyne! Shoo or I'll strap you!"

Another voice came, this one soothing, but still cold and the disgust was barely covered under the soft tone.

"Poor girl, I was gone longer than I meant to be. She kept you out here in the kennels the whole time again, didn't she? Let's get you a proper scrub down so you can come inside. I promise the whole time I am home, you may stay inside but you must remain silent and hidden when possible around my wife. At least this time it was in the heated dog kennels and not the cellar."

When Raff entered the little room and flicked on the light, Jeyne was already in a ball, sobbing. She didn't respond to the lights or sounds of someone entering the room. In her head she was sneaking with Domeric, he would seek her out in secret, to talk, to play and it was her one joy. But in the stark woods of her mind, this was the last day ever, this was the last time she would ever see him. The bitter eyes woman, she caught them and Jeyne had piss running down her legs, there was so much blood and she ran and ran ran ran ran ran but you can never really get away, can't rip through yourself and run run...

 

Another limousine and Myranda was able to see the glittery city, the tall silver buildings. She was still riding a high and was wide eyed, it was the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. When Harold sat on one side and Bob on the other, Myranda giggled. "Oh shit. Oh no, I was right. It's a bad really bad one. If I am bad or you think I might be bad, that is the only time you flank me in a car like this. What did I do or what do I have to do? For real now, please."

Harold and Bob had identical features and smiles, the glasses showed Myranda herself as a thin desperate, pretty whore. Their pastel suits seemed to glow too brightly along with the shattering city lights. Whining, Myranda cringed and both of them put an arm around her. Harold used a very soothing but amused tone.

"Sweetheart, we have never put you in a situation that would injure or kill you. And we try to guide you, protect you, always have, right? Kevan is not mad, I swear. This isn't your end, I promise. But this one might be...overwhelming at your first glance. First impressions are very hard to take in sometimes. Remember the incidents with Pycelle, how you giggled when you shouldn't have at all? We don't want this to happen with this man. He is someone...repulsive and sadly, Kevan's brother needs his assistance in something. Plus, do you remember Kevan's new servant, Gilly? She is this man's daughter. Mr. Craster sent her to us because she was very rebellious. So when Mr. Craster asked if you would play his daughter's replacement tonight, Kevan thought it would be rude to say  no. That isn't a big deal, to play a daughter for one night, is it?"

Myranda shuddered but shook her head. "It's gross, but yeah, I can do that. Walder sometimes would say things like I was his daughter or granddaughter. It was creepy but it's not a huge deal. As long as...it just makes me nervous that you both are here, there is drugs...I mean...I'm....you two are what's freaking me out! Fuck, I can't think right and I feel like I really need to. Both of you are ruining my rare high!" She frowned as they both chuckled and squeezed her as if she were adorable. Harold slowly moved her head onto his shoulder and Bob rubbed her neck to relax her. "Don't let us ruin the high, honey. The only reason I am here with you and Harold is because there are more females here than usual. Equality, remember? If I told you there were going to be ten men waiting for you, wouldn't you want both of us there? Well, there are ten young ladies in there along with Mr. Craster, so here I am."

Staring at Bob even though he tightened the fingers on her neck, Myranda nearly hollered, "Ten? I have to sleep with ten women and this old fuck? I better get SO much out of this, I mean it, Bob! This isn't fair, that's a lot of jaw work alone! And I will NEVER agree to ten men at once, do you know the damage that could do to me?" Another together chuckle was enjoyed by the two men and Myranda wished she wasn't fucked up and that she had the courage to tell them how much she despised them. Self preservation kept her from doing that at all times and now was no exception. Shutting up, Myranda went back to staring at the lights streaking by.

 

Raff had rushed Jeyne out of the basement of the largest actual house besides Kevan's, the one that soon will be occupied by Unella and Gregor. He ran like lightening to his own cabin that was luckily on two cabin's and one cluster of trees away. Wrapping Jeyne in a blanket, forcibly making her drink some hot tea and texting Polliver madly, Raff tried to sweet talk Jeyne out of her trauma.

Polliver had been busy in his own cabin, whacking Hot Pie with his baton just hard enough to make him twitch, while roaring. "This is how it works! If you do not do well, then I am not doing well. If Jeyne sinks, then Raff sinks too. Mentors gain favor or punishment just like our stupid damned idiots! Loyalty? Of all the fucking things to get bad points on! I have NEVER mentored someone that got bad points on loyalty, Hot Pie. NOT EVER!" He ignored the beeping as long as he could, then Polliver swore and turned away. "Don't you move an inch, boy! We are not done! How dare you try and defend such a stupid thing! Loyalty to Jeyne would have been to keep her safe from herself by telling-shut up a sec." The silent Hot Pie just watched in pure misery as Polliver checked his texts. He just knew when he left the cabin, he would leave as Piggy.   

"Aw fuck me...let's go, Hot Pie. Run with me right now and keep your mouth shut. Raff's having some issues with Jeyne, hurry! Know why I am letting you be a part of this fuckery? Because if you had opened your mouth, this wouldn't all be happening. So welcome to the consequences and roll up your fucking sleeves."

 

Damon watched Sansa pace and wanted so badly to help her, to know what was wrong. "Can I do anything for you, Sansa, anything at all? I..hey, I know what will cheer you up. Today I told Ramsay that I can't be his friend anymore!" But Sansa only gave him a nod and gentle approving smile. "Thank you, Damon. That is wonderful news and very smart of you. I am not sad or angry, no, not scared, just...I have to make some quicker choices than I thought I would. My plans with this weekend visit have to change a little. I can tell you secrets, can't I, Superstar? My special superhero, I can tell you anything, can't I?" Damon blushed and nodded with a sort of shy glance. His words were earnest and filled with a little boy type longing that briefly pulled at Sansa's heartstrings.

"I would never give away your secrets and I would do anything for you. Not like with Ramsay, I...I think you are my first real true friend. I mean, you might be a secret friend but you are the first real friend that just likes me for me. Even if I am dumb and have done awful things. I like...worship you, I think. Not in a...I would never...but in...you are my real friend, right?" Sansa melted and bent down to the lonely child trapped in a giant body. She patted his hands and assured him with a smile and a kiss to his forehead. "I am your only true blue real friend, Superhero. I know you would do anything for me, you would and I appreciate that. I want to do the same back. I really want to. And I hate the thought of bad things happening to you. Do you know what a necessary evil means, Damie?" Damon shook his head and Sansa smiled.

 

"It means sometimes you have to do things you don't want to because you have to. Regardless of the cost. My uncle is a very good example of that. He finds murder distasteful but when there is really no other choice, he does it. And he has apparently decided not to wait to dispose of his lunatic wife. I was counting on Uncle Petyr to help me this weekend. I could have convinced him or even my nutty aunt, I could have convinced them to let me out. Uncle Petyr is tender towards me and I know how to work my aunt. All I would have to do is let them see me and hear me and I would have been gone, whisked away and missing. But no, Uncle Petyr has decided to ruin my plans. My parents...are strict and will not fall for the same tricks. Well, my father might but not my mother. So I have to think of a necessary evil and commit it. It's the only other way I can do this now. I can't rely on my little sister, my brothers are useless and my parents...I don't want to go back home, back under their boot and get blank eyed like the boys. Or dead like the other ones."  

Damon didn't understand most of that but what he caught was disturbing. He knew enough about murder to say nothing and simply accepted it. "Wait, you wanted to use your uncle to leave here? I don't want you to leave, Sansa! Please, this place is helping you and you are the only one here that can help me!" Sansa gave Damon a sad look and placed a delicate hand on his desperate face. "Well, see, that is the thing, Damon. Without my uncle, leaving isn't an option anymore. But if I have to stay here, at least for a little bit longer, it has to be better than this. I need more, I want to do more and find my way out as soon as I can. Not right away, I'll be here a while longer, don't worry about that. Sweet boy, you look disturbed, what have I done to my superhero? Here, this will relax you a little, open your mouth. Superstar, it's just a little sweet taste to dissolve on your tongue. Don't worry, Unella gave it to me for my nerves. There, just let that kick in. Superstar, you really are my friend, I really do wish I could have you with me as a loyal friend. And I hope after I commit my necessary evil, you'll still believe that. I am cornered, Damie and I don't like that feeling. How do you feel by the way?"

 

Hot Pie had resolved to keep his mouth shut and not resume former behavior when things got stressful. This resolve lasted exactly five minutes after he saw a shaking Jeyne wrapped in a blanket on Raff's couch just staring into the distance. She was curled into a ball, whimpering and Hot Pie caught a glimpse of her bandaged arm. "Did she hurt herself?" Raff shook his head but Polliver looked closer at her arm and then grinned. "Nah, took the tracker out. She was asleep the whole time." Hot Pie glared at them. "When did you put trackers in us? Why would you cut it out like that? Now she has to go through it all over again once this is over!"

Polliver whacked Hot Pie in the head with his hand and muttered about respect. Raff rapidly kept walking in circles then consulting both a medical text and a medication log. "I forgot that she would be triggered by the fucking chains! Now she's back with her step-monster and daddy dearest in the land of kennels, chains and we are fucked." That was all Hot Pie could take and he spread his arms out while yelling. "Are you fucking shitting me? Are you the worst damned therapist in the world? How can you forget how she reacts around chains and other sounds she spent years beaten under? Do you remember auto shop? Wood shop? Metal shop? What Jeyne did in those classes, why you pulled her out of them? The nail gun girls? She either attacks or goes like this, always, how can you forget that when you are her therapist and mentor? And I'm the one who fucked up?" 

As Polliver whacked Hot Pie's ass for him eight times for disrespecting Raff, he glared up at Raff. Over Hot Pie's yelping, he said, "I agree with everything the boy just said. We fucked up with those fucking chains and you should have told me she had a reaction to chains. She was always fine with usual restraints, I could have gotten them." Raff shrugged and then admitted, "I was pissed off and wanted to teach her a lesson. So I used chains and the basement, thinking she'd be scared and grateful when I showed up."  Polliver stopped hitting the boy and shoved him over to walk up to Raff.

"Do you understand that you used revenge and fucked it up? Exactly like your patient just did. Wow. Why do I ever listen to you and help you? Is it that you are just so luscious looking I can't help myself?" Raff snarled and shoved Polliver away. "Oh fuck off. You are in this too now and so is Hot Pie. So fucking help instead of screaming at me or making fucking jokes! Or we all fucking go down together! Her fucking father is visiting for the first time tomorrow, remember? We were going to bring her to Kevan, who would explain why Roose would be here and she was only to serve. Only speak to Roose if he spoke to her, that he would be here to see another student, not her. She is used to that kind of treatment with him and how the fuck do we do that now? Look at her!"

Raff sat down next to Jeyne and took her pulse and tried to soothe her with his voice. It did nothing, Jeyne wasn't with him, not really. "Ironically, I may have no choice but to call Unella for help. So please, please, try really fucking hard, you damned gorillas, to help me snap her out of it! I'm a therapist but I'm only given the education that Kevan allows! I am no damned magician, Unella's way more knowledgeable if twisted. So help me before I have to call her. Because Unella will take care of Jeyne at least long enough for the visit, then who knows what. And Gregor will most certainly have all three of us. So put on your thinking caps, okay?"    

 

 


	24. Monsters Attend Night School

Joff had claimed a small area near the woods as his own personal angry place. Tonight he was sharing it with Arya, Ramsay and Theon, all angry and in need of privacy. They needed to rage out, to drink the alcohol stolen by Theon, the drugs Ramsay bought from Sansa and the rage fueled heavy metal provided by Arya who borrowed Loras's hidden cell phone in return for a future favor.

They swore, jumped, got fucked up, threw rocks at trees and made pointless useless threats at those who cannot hear them. They all pretended not to keep an eye on the approaching curfew. All acted as if they didn't care if Gregor showed up to rip them apart. All of them pumped up and announced the Tickler was a bullshit story and tonight they will prove it. 

Joff sneered at all them, wavering about drunkenly. Arya was nearby examining the tree that was singing and wondering why they called it ecstasy, is that like fantasy?

"Listen, none of those assholes will bother with us tonight! Polliver is murdering Ex-Piggy in his cabin, Raff is hiding Feral somewhere, Unella and Gregor are going to spend all night chasing after them. And they have to deal with a wedding and a baby coming!" They all laughed and nodded, pretending to relax. All expect Arya, who was having a very important discussion with the tree. It had a voice just like Jon's and when the knots of the tree became wooden eyes, they looked like Rickon's. Ramsay ripped a bottle away from Theon and drank fast. "I can't fucking believe that fucking sack of shit, Damon! How dare he,after all I've done for that white trash helmet wearing fucktard! I wasted half my life on him, Theon! Fucking betrayed me! Theon, don't betray me, I won't be able to handle anymore fucking traitor shit!" Theon nudged Ramsay and gently assured him he would never leave him or be disloyal. Joff pretended to not worry about the time or the Tickler.

 

Near the edge of the glittery part of the city was an immense hotel with so many windows up high it made Myranda dizzy to look up. Harold took one arm and Bob had the other, they smoothly led her through a fancy lobby with a real water fountain in it that went up to a glass ceiling reflecting back the stars. The elevator was polished wood and gold gilding that Myranda was entranced by. Just as they went down a long narrow hall near the very top, the drugged feeling was finally coming down. Enough for Myranda to be able to clearly offer her best smile, practicing it as they walked.

"Good girl, all ready and this is the right time I guess for Harold and I to tell you the good news. Since this client is very important, we had to skip your report time with Kevan. This may be the big one, girl, the one tough assignment, any information you get, any pleasing you do, will please and impress Kevan. He is inches from having you married to one of the prospects. So if you need more drugs, want some wine or even whiskey, you just tell us. We are going to be here to guide you, to keep you safe and to help you reach your goal. Remember that, Myranda. Okay, here we go, sweetheart."

The man was fat, repulsive, rude and his eyes were dark and cruel. His lips were locked in a sneer and he had a terrible habit of letting his tongue dart out of his lips. That was not a huge deal, Myranda can deal with that easily enough. Ten females all naked, all wearing collars was kinky but not impossible and Myranda herself had been instructed to be naked wearing only a collar when she entered the room. And then that was end of what Myranda could process at first, watching the girls all kneeling before the large fat man on the huge circle bed.

She heard Craster talking to the girls and maybe to her but the words were sinking in hard as her eyes finally registered the cowering girls. These were not the usual sleek girls around Myranda's own age, though some girls were her age. Myranda's collar was fake, it was just black cheap plastic. Not these girls, they had leather collars and they were worn down depending on how old they seemed. The oldest was at least thirty and the youngest girl might have been three, she was in diapers. Myranda saw a young girl that might be nine and another that couldn't be more than six. All of them had similar hair, same eyes, all brown eyed with resignation and fear in those orbs. They all had a branding mark on them, they all wore bruises and they all looked just like Craster himself. The youngest in a collar and diaper was crying and whining in fear, the others trying to shush her.

"Now, lovely daughters of mine, for this one night, I give you a chance to have Gilly back! Our real Gilly was a very bad girl, wasn't she? So for this one night I wanted to give you a much better example of what Gilly should have been. Do you remember how angry I was about that bad daddy's girl, how I felt you all had needed daddy to be stricter! I was worried that bad girl was a bad example for my darlings. This night is a good one, don't start crying, one of you comfort and shut up that little one or I'll do it! Tonight this pretty whore will pretend to be Gilly for us. She will pleasure daddy the way Gilly should have and play with each of you and me! All the games that Gilly should have done with her daddy and precious sisters! We are filming it, so we can bring it home and watch it. Our friend who is filming this will edit it so it will be Gilly's head instead of the whore's. Won't that be nice? So whore, we shall call you Gilly tonight. She is much prettier than Gilly was, isn't she girls?"

Myranda just stared at the youngest girl then at Craster.

She fled without a word out of the bedroom into the outer living room. Myranda would have ran out the door, down the hall and into the city if Harold and Bob didn't block her.

 

Damon felt better and worse all at once. He certainly didn't feel happier or calmer, an urgent energy rose instead, he was sweating and hearing things wrong. Seeing and feeling wrong things too. He tried to tell Sansa, tried to grasp at her and explain but the girl just gently would hush him and smile. "It is alright, Damie, I am with you the whole trip. I am right here, lay down, I know you feel way too tense for such things but trust me." Damon obeyed and his large hands grasped the edges of the cheap cot bed, afraid of flinging himself off. Gasping, Damon watched as Sansa quickly managed to undo Damon's pants and pull off her underwear fast under her fancy skirt that she was still wearing.

"What are you doing? I can get on my own pajamas and you...you should change in the bathroom or I will shut my eyes! Rules, we made up those rules, Sansa!" Another hushing and a soft hand was on his cock, he tried to lurch up and Sansa pushed him down. "No...hush...let me do what I need to, superhero. I need you to save me by being my evil, superstar, there you go, see, you want this too, Damon. Deep down, Ramsay taught you to love somethings, right? Not all of it was bad, right? I mean, there is no shame in feeling good however you have to, however you can. So let me, superhero, let's feel good together."

When Sansa rode him it was the most amazing shattering thing that has ever happened. Damon wanted badly to not hurt Sansa, she was so much more delicate than he was. His hands were so large and when her voice encouraged him to rip her shirt off he did. Careful not to touch her skin without her permission, in spite of the fact that he was deep within her. She kept whispering though, Ramsay things, bad things that Damon really did enjoy even if it made him sick before and after. Damon flipped them over and drove into her fiercely. Sansa began to scratch at him, still hissing sweet poison into his ear and Damon lost himself to her commands. He bit her, licked her and left bruises where his fingers dug into her hips.

Suddenly, Sansa punched Damon in the eye, he sat up to hold his sore eye and the girl slid out from under him. Damon moved so she could leave the bed, his cock and his eye throbbing, then he stood up to follow her. "What did I do? I am so sorry, I hurt you! Oh, please, I am so sorry, Sansa!" The disheveled and marked girl with messy fire red hair, wearing half a bra and a skirt smiled at Damon. "No, you did exactly what I needed you to do, superhero. Hush now and come here to me, honey. Over here. I want us to fuck closer to the window, I want to do it right here."

Damon smiled and rubbed himself as he walked over to the open arms and trusting smile. 

 

Bob pressed against her back, Harold was pressed to her front and both were gently smiling at the sobbing, freaked out girl. "I can't, I won't! Some of them are babies, children! I won't do that, he shouldn't be able to do that! I won't, tell Kevan that I just won't. I said no and I won't do it. Oh my gods, they are all his real daughters and look what he did to them! I can't..." Harold grabbed Myranda's slender neck with one firm strong hand and the other smoothed her hair with gentle strokes. Bob wrapped his arms around Myranda from behind like a big bear hug of support.

Myranda stared into the mirrored glasses as Harold's voice came out strong and calm. "Okay, okay, calm down, sweetheart. Listen to me, we can make some adjustments. We can do that for you, Myranda. I will tell Craster that you will have no sexual activity at all with anyone under fifteen. They can watch or you can watch but no touching the younger ones. No problem, he won't be happy but he will comply. See, sweetie? No need for all this fuss, be a good girl and think of the prize Kevan is offering you. Just do your job, that's all."

Myranda shook her head in spite of the pressure on her throat. "No. Those young girls have to leave the room, I won't watch him do that to them. And they shouldn't see anything I do to him or the others. I am trying...but I can't do that. I have some fucking morals, just a few ethics and limits, Harold! I won't go in there with those little girls in there. I mean it. I won't do it. Tell him that!"

Bob's hug became steel and Myranda found it hard to breathe, her ribs aching. Harold wasn't soothing her hair anymore he had it nearly ripped out, pulling her head back to stare down at her in mirrored disapproval. His other hand on her throat began to slowly strangle her. Bob's voice was in her ear, his hot breath smelling of chiclets blew into her ear.

"Myranda, you don't make the arrangements, you just follow what you are told to do. It is really that simple. The deal was made. We have said we will alter some arrangements for you and we will. But you will do this and if Craster wants all his little daughters to watch then that's his problem. When he plays with the small ones, just avert your eyes. But honey, you never get to say no, silly thing. Not ever."

She thrashed as Harold let go of her hair to retrieve a shining needle like Raff's. Harold smiled as Bob restrained the panicking girl. "Calm yourself, sweetheart. It's going to make you feel so good and you aren't going to care what your body is doing. Shh, trust us, Myranda. This is for your own good, it will keep you in control and let your mind sail away. There we go, good girl, just let that sink into your system." Bob held the girl firmly as she thrashed then began to go limp. Her eyes glazed over and a small smile appeared. Myranda gave a little giggle and Harold beamed at her, kissing her forehead.

"And here we are! Good girl, are you ready to play? Bob and I will take you to your play session. Just do what you are told, fly away on the nice feeling and just obey orders, my pretty girl."

 

Damon nearly tripped over his own jeans to reach her and Sansa gave a gentle smirk. "Don't worry, clumsy, just take that last leap." Feeling silly and horny all at once, he leaped, causing a large thud to stand before Sansa. With her coaching, Damon lifted her to fuck her against the wall, her long legs were wrapped around him. It was amazing and he was nearly there, nearly there. Sounded as if Sansa was close to orgasm and then Sansa gave him a tiny strange look. It didn't match what they were doing, the savageness of their sex, it was a somber, sad look and then Damon was screaming.

Sansa had given him the look then whipped her head as hard as she could. Smashing that pretty face into the wooden thick window edging. Sansa pulled back her face and there was blood, she was screaming now, loud and high, pain gave the scream it's strength. Damon's drugged out mind could not understand. Sansa slammed her ruined face one more time against the windowsill. Damon's prick withered inside her and he let go of her, screaming.

Then their door burst open and the monster from the scary book was rushing at him. Damon screamed even louder than Sansa.

 

Ramsay and Theon were holding onto each other for balance, Joff had to drag Arya as she kept wanting to chat with fucking trees. In spite of the courage from illegal substances, the group didn't last beyond forty minutes after curfew. They didn't speak of this loss of nerves out loud, they just simply decided to take the party to the common room within their limits. As they staggered towards the dorm house they heard terrible screaming. Ramsay strained forth and asked, "Is that Damon screaming like that?" Arya suddenly became more focused when Sansa's scream tore through Damon's and through the night air. "Oh shit, Sansa!"

They all started to run forth, more as interested witnesses but Ramsay and Arya both had some concern deep down inside. Then the group skidded to a halt and shared a lovely tight group hug. A terrifying hulking man in a long black flowing trench coat was dragging a screaming Damon out of the house. The face turned to see the fucked up students and gave a too large smile full of jagged teeth and black eyes that offered only a void. Theon screeched until Ramsay clasped a hand over his mouth.

They watched in terror as the man began to drag the screaming boy away and though they all smelled it, none of them mentioned that Joff pissed himself.        


	25. Bad Ducks

Myranda became aware that she was staring up at a ceiling. It was off white and had gold speckles all over it with a large chandelier in the center. Shiny and pretentious and utterly useless as the lights were as dim as real candles would have been. Naked, sticky and sore, laying on a bed, sprawled like a broken doll, that registered next. Aching all over, Myranda slightly turned her head and saw the camera man diligently filming in the other direction, off the bed. Turning her head the other way, she saw Harold and Bob standing in the doorway. They weren't looking at her or whatever the camera man was watching, they were talking to each other softly, intently.

Sound began to filter though the cotton of her thick feeling head and Myranda heard Craster's angry voice. She heard crying, begging from all the girls, but the words got her moving. "Get that diaper off her and bring her to me now, I said! Sara, you bring her here right now or you'll be screaming like you did an hour ago!" Myranda recalled that Sara was nine, she vaguely remembered Craster screaming her name when he-None of them saw her even move, it was fast, so fast and Myranda wasn't even thinking. One minute her hand smashed a lamp, the next a thick shard of it was buried deep in Craster's throat. 

The cameraman swore, a few of the girls screamed but most laughed and Myranda just stood there, swaying, her hand dripping from deep cuts. As Harold and Bob rushed to grab her, Myranda smiled sweetly. "I may be your whore, gentlemen, but I am not a pedophile and I won't suffer one. Let Kevan bury me if he wants to, if this is what I have to do to survive. Somethings just aren't worth it." And since she went that far, and Myranda knew she was probably about to die, she cast the rest of her thoughts right along with it. "Sorry to ruin your next reward from Kevan. Even Pycelle didn't cause a total lack of rewards but this...I might be killed, but I really wonder what Kevan does when his top men fuck up?" Myranda giggled until Harold's fist sent her into blackness.

 

Kevan stared at the window, he looked at the moon as he listened to Harold on the phone. "She would have agreed to the younger ones leaving. Why didn't you just go with that? Since you two brought her to me in the first place, I assumed you would understand her breaking point. That wasn't the right way to go about punishing your charge, was it? We will be discussing that most thoroughly later. Clean it up immediately, make it look like one of the daughter's perhaps did it. Begging the question, what to do with all ten of them?"

In a chastened voice, Harold asked with only the smallest of hesitance, "Should we...dispose of the girls? We can overdose them, make it painless." Kevan gave a shiver of disgust and replied fast. "No, gods, no. Keep them calm and quiet, not near their disgusting corpse of a father either. I will call you back on what we are going to do for the girls. Take care of that film and the man making it. And I expect to see my student in my office as soon as she returns and Unella has tended to her." He hung up and nearly screamed, "Fuck!" Harold and Bob rarely fucked up, perhaps he shouldn't have lectured them about the Jeyne thing so harshly just before they had left. It made them act rashly and now this.

 

Gilly heard the knock on her door and put down the book she was reading. Throwing off the covers and throwing on her robe, Gilly hurried to the door. It was late night and no one has ever bothered her once it was dark. Living in Kevan's nice house, having her own room, it had been a dream come true. She doesn't have to converse with anyone but Kevan and his men. She enjoys the domestic chores and gets along well with the kind chef in the kitchen. This was paradise after the living nightmare of her father. The knock on the door shook her because this is what she had been waiting for. The day that someone decided to sample what Gilly had been for her father. Gilly would not protest of course, it was too nice of a place to risk losing. She only hoped it was Kevan rather than Bob or Harold. Those two made her flesh crawl when they smiled at her.

Kevan was still dressed in his lounging pants and smoking jacket, his hands folded behind his back, a solemn look on his face. "Excuse me for disturbing you at this late hour, my dear. I have some rather distressing news and a situation I need some help from you with. Craster has passed away, your father is dead. Is there a relative I can call for your sisters? I offer a lifetime position to you here with us, Gilly, but I cannot take on ten sisters. This is no place for small children, dear." He waited patiently while the shock passed over Gilly's face that her monster was dead. Then she shook her head and firmly spoke. "My sisters can take care of themselves. We have been doing it for a long time. My oldest sisters will watch and protect the younger ones. If..if you could give them new identities, they could disappear." Kevan nodded as if pondering this. "Of course, I need to be sure they would never speak of it. They would have to forget their past, do you think that they can do that?"

"They hated him, feared him as much as I did. They want no part of him or his memory. All any of us ever wanted to do was get away from him and forget." Kevan gave a small smile and pulled out his phone. "Very well then. I will tell Harold and Bob to do that very thing and you will speak with your sisters and assure me that they will  never speak of it." Gilly sobbed as she spoke with her oldest sisters and Kevan discreetly handed her a hanky while looking elsewhere. He calculated the cost of new names, new clothing and money to travel for those ten girls. Then he started to deduct it mentally from Harold and Bob.

 

The screams of Sansa and Damon ripped through the night air. Polliver, Raff and Piggy all ran out of the cabin, heading towards the screaming. They saw the group of kids all clutching each other, Theon screaming and flew past them. Gregor came from the woods where he was hoping to flush Jeyne from, Unella had been searching the sheds. Both came flying at the screams, forgetting their momentary fears of why they couldn't find Jeyne.

When Gregor discovered he couldn't track her, Unella had gone off the handle for a few minutes until Gregor slapped her. "If those morons took her tracker out, it means she is secured, restrained. They wouldn't be stupid with it. She is probably chained up, hidden, I found my chains missing earlier." Unella had almost lost it again. "Chains? Gregor, remember how she triggers around chains? What have those fucking idiots done? Tomorrow is visitor's day, did they really think we'd fuck her up before visitor's day? Idiots! Never mind hurting Jeyne, now I just want to hurt Raff and Polliver!"   

But before they could finish searching and then hurting Raff and Polliver, screams came and they ran.

Stannis and Tyrion were drunk and deep into a fierce battle from days of yore. The screams came in through the open windows and suddenly Christians and Vikings ceased mid battle as the professors staggered out the door. Sandor had been lecturing Loras about being out of bounds during curfew when the screams sent them both running towards the dorm house. Kevan had taken the phone back from Gilly when the chaos faintly rose in through Gilly's open balcony doors. "Oh my. Sounds like I need to take a walk and visit the students. Thank you for your help, dear, please enjoy your evening."

 

Upon sight of Sansa, bloody, bruised and clearly raped, who was hysterically pointing, gibbering about Damon and the Tickler, Sandor and Gregor shared a glance and left. Unella and Raff rushed the girl to the clinic and Polliver was left to deal with clearly fucked up ducklings, all flipping their flippers over the Tickler. Loras stood there with his jaw open and then cast a glance at Hot Pie. "The Tickler is real? An actual person called the Tickler just dragged Damon away? For good? How do you find this shit? How does this happen?"

With a dark glint in his eye, Hot Pie smirked and said with true honesty, "The Tickler is absolutely real. And if you try to find him, you won't. He finds you, but only if you really deserve it. If you ever see him, your chances of survival here become very fucked. Not many get a second chance after seeing the Tickler. I really hope we see Damon again. I really thought he was just a stupid kid that Ramsay took advantage of." Loras nodded and narrowed his eyes. "That was my impression too. But I did see him talking to Ramsay earlier today. Damon might be dumb but with Ramsay in his ear..."

Raff sedated Sansa while Unella glared at him, taking the girl's pulse. "You are a fucking moron! Chains? How could you forget that of all things? Where is she now? Is she fully catatonic?" Grabbing the nearby tray of medical tools and yanking it closer for the doctor, Raff sneered. "Oh, fuck you. I fucked up, okay? I was the one that deserved to punish her, not you! She is my student, not yours! And I won't let you lobotomize her or shock her brain! I won't let Gregor snap her neck or break her bones into new and interesting pretzel shapes!" Unella gestured for Raff to move the surgical light into another position so she could fully examine Sansa's face.   

 

As Raff moved the light until Unella gave him a thumbs up, he pointed with the other hand down as Sansa's bloody, swollen face.

"See this shit? I don't want this to be Jeyne's face. I actually care about her beyond the damned project. She is still a human being. And a kid, a traumatized fucking kid! I might have fucked up and scared her too much but at least I remember that she is a person, a child that came to me for help!" Unella snorted. "With help like yours..." Unella barked out orders as she stitched up a small part of the swollen mess. Most of it would simply have to heal, it was messy but nothing was broken luckily.

With a frown of distaste, she dryly told Raff to set up another tray. "We must check for tears, it was clear Sansa was raped. I just can't believe that boy did it. Did you have any indication of it?" Raff shook his head. "Not a bit. He was doing a lot better, kept saying he had a secret friend to help him out. Wouldn't tell me who, but I figured it was Sansa. He had that doggy worship look in his eyes when she would go past him."

Unella sighed, "Raff, regardless of what you think of us, of me, I wouldn't have done those things to Jeyne. And Gregor wouldn't have broken or murdered her. Think of what Kevan would do to us for such a thing? And any revenge on her would have waited until after visitor's day. Kevan wouldn't have enjoyed any disruptions to his public day. And here we all are now, this is a huge disruption. Add Jeyne to this mess and Kevan might be the one to murder us!"

 

Sandor frowned as they climbed down the path in the woods nearby. "I'm just saying to talk to the boy before you let Trant really have at him. The boy isn't the type to do that shit on his own. Not once did he try again all this time and I've seen the way he looks at her, he worshiped her." Gregor gave his brother an accidental kick in the leg and sneered. "Are you a teacher now? A counselor? Do you dream of being more than a part of the landscape?" Sandor glared at Gregor. His voice was gruff but still respectful in it's tone, even if it was an unwilling respect.

"No, but guess what? Being part of the landscape means no one sees you anymore, you aren't really there. No more important than a rock or flower. I see things you don't, I hear things you don't, so I know these kids a different way." Gregor seemed to wrestle with himself for a moment as they kept walking and finally he slumped his shoulders slightly. "Okay then, flower, what did you see and hear that we didn't?"

"I saw Damon punch Ramsay once for talking about trying to rape Sansa. I saw how the boy always shadowed her to protect her if he thought that Ramsay was around. And when I had to fix the solar panes and worked near their room, I saw inside the bedroom. I saw the girl teaching him how to read. It's all I ever saw them do for the two days I was working over there. Today I was in the garden fixing that stupid scarecrow when Damon and Ramsay came by to talk privately. I heard Damon tell Ramsay that he won't be his buddy anymore. Ramsay started to argue and threaten and Damon just kept listing reasons why he couldn't hang out anymore. Every single reason had to do with something Sansa said. The boy said Sansa in every other word and Ramsay nearly yanked his own hair out. So why after that would Damon just lose control and hurt the one person he worships?"

Gregor groaned. "Fucking kids. I hate the little games they play. Won't matter anyway. Once Kevan sees Sansa's face, hears the story, he will want to blame it on all of the staff. We are all about to get our own fucking tickling by Kevan himself. Tomorrow is visitor's day and what does he have to present to the Starks but a raped and abused daughter? Whether she planned it or Damon slipped up, it won't matter. It still happened and that is all that Kevan will care about, all the damned Starks will care about."

 

Polliver was hanging onto his temper by a thread. Normally when his baton swung a few times, ducklings got against a wall and shut up. Tonight he felt like he was playing Whack-A-Duck as they all spun around. Feathers were ruffled and sharp paranoid eyes glanced everywhere as they all moved less like ducks and more like squirrels at a rave. "I want order, dammit! Everyone better find a piece of wall or at least stay on a fucking piece of furniture! Stop moving and freeze or I'll-" He caught Ramsay on the hip as the ice cold eyes flared at him. The boy was dragging Theon by his wrist as he stormed back over to Polliver for the countless time. "I will tell my father that you've killed Damon! Do you hear me? He was harmless, that cunt, that gingerbitch did this herself!"

Joff and Loras were babbling as if they were being interviewed by the local news on the sighting of the Tickler. Arya kept trying to shove Ramsay aside to holler at Polliver, trying in vain to avoid the baton. "Hey! Ow! Listen, I should be with-Ahh shit! My sister needs me!" Looking past the dodging ducklings, Polliver snarled out to Hot Pie, "Get back to Raff's cabin and stop being useless! Get Jeyne to talk or something! Move!" Nodding, Hot Pie ran to the cabin, narrowly avoiding running into Kevan. He burst into the living room to find it empty. The whole cabin was empty and Jeyne was gone.   

 

Tyrion and Stannis were not happy to be the ones to actually run into Kevan. He demanded to know answers of questions they have not yet examined. However, all three of them heard the word Tickler a few times from the dorm house window. Kevan's face darkened like a storm cloud and he strode forth like a demon set upon it's meal. The two professors chose to hear of this in the morning then pretended to slowly head to their own cabins. They ran into each other a few moments later in the darkness to eavesdrop.

 When Kevan entered the dorm, all the ducklings finally responded. All of them either backed into a wall or sat down, but all of them had bright overexcited eyes. They were barely able to keep themselves still and Kevan noted this carefully. After surveying the ducklings rather disapprovingly, Kevan turned his gaze onto Polliver. "I see you are missing some of your children. Where are Hot Pie, Jeyne, Sansa and Damon? And I swore I heard the name Tickler? Did I hear that right?" With a swallow that hurt, Polliver forced words out. "Yes, Sir. Uh, Damon attacked Sansa. The Tickler took him. Raff and Unella took Sansa, her face was...injured. Hot Pie and Jeyne are in Raff's cabin."

The ducklings watched with bright little empty eyes as Kevan gave Polliver a hurt, sad smile that made the younger man pale a bit. "I see that all of my ducks have been out of line. What an example this has been for all the new students." Without another word or glance, Kevan dismissed Polliver from his immediate existence. Casting a severe eye at the students, he snapped out, "Anyone not in their rooms within five minutes will be brought to my office to discuss why you are all impaired." The ducklings flew to their rooms and even Loras moved, not wishing to face any other wraths they might find. Kevan waited only until the children left before leaving and storming towards the clinic.


	26. Not So Pretty

Kevan looked down at Sansa's face and swore quietly. The girl was still dozing under the sedation and they had covered her up to her neck in a sheet. He turned a much harder gaze upon Unella and Raff. They followed his gesture and left the room. Kevan opened Unella's office door and herded the other two in the small room. He shut the door and began to slowly back both of them up. "How bad is the damage to this girl?" Raff spoke first. "From neck down the bruising is consistent with rough sex." Unella added, "A few minor tears internally but nothing unusual for someone if they had rough sex. No semen found for what that's worth."

"Rough sex? What teenage girl wants rough sex where the guy destroys their face with a fist?" Angrily, Kevan mimicked a high pitched female tone. "Oh yes, please drive me hard against the wall and now smash my face hard enough to break it?" Both of them flushed and looked down but Unella spoke in their defense.

"Sir, her face looks worse than the actual damage. Only a few stitches and a rather large contusion. Nothing is broken or fractured, it will heal in time without issue. As for Damon, Raff and I both worked with him. He never gave any indications that he was thinking of violence. It was common knowledge around the staff that the boy seemed to worship his roommate. We saw improvement with the boy, he was becoming a very gentle and obedient kid, the teachers all spoke of how hard he was trying and how much he was improving in his academics. He told them he had a secret tutor but wouldn't say who. We all knew it was Sansa."

Kevan sighed then tapped his pen against his chin. "How did Sansa react when she was found?" "Polliver and I got there first, Sir. The girl was hysterical, her bra was ripped, only wearing her skirt, face all messed up. She kept screaming about the Tickler stealing Damon. She wasn't screaming over a rape, she was pointing and screaming about the Tickler taking Damon." Unella nodded. "Even when we got her here, until we sedated her that was all she kept screaming about. She didn't answer any questions. We didn't even seem to register to her."

With fear and respect, Unella and Raff stood their ground, staring up at him with steady belief. Kevan stared hard then shook his head.

"Do you have any proof to offer me that this boy is innocent? Are you ready to stand by your statement that Sansa might be playing us? That she organized her own rape? I have a problem with this theory...her damned FACE! And regardless...this is not the way we can present to the Starks. I want to know the second the girl is awake. If she is coherent, question her then send her to me. After you've sent me the report. Even if she is still babbling, treat her and call me. Sansa doesn't leave this clinic unless it is to come to my house and she is to have no visitors. Keep her little sister away from the clinic. Raff will offer medications at the dorm house or school until Sansa is no longer in the clinic. As for your theory, I do not dismiss it, I just require proof before I believe that girl would deliberately ruin her face!"

 

Damon totally forgot that he was a muscled large boy capable of savagery. As his father has taught him years ago so many times, as Ramsay taught him for years afterwards, size doesn't always matter. The fear, the black terror, what Sansa did, this story book monster come true, he was paralyzed and only able to sob and scream. Dragging for what felt like forever, Damon hollered until he had nearly no voice left. The lair of the beast was reached as Damon was dropped and rolled into a packed earth patch inside a black tent.

He thrashed, trying to pull himself together enough to squirm away, a wheeze of terror coming from him, but the monster took over the space in the tent and was over Damon. A terrible stench as if the man ate the bottom chunky parts in the sewers, it smothered him as the man leaned close and spoke. The smile could still be dimly seen, those teeth seemed so big and jagged, they opened and Damon saw empty space, as empty as those glittering eyes. A voice that was half hoarse whisper and half a chuckling hiss.

"Boy, do you like to beat up and rape pretty girls? Yes, yes? You must love such things, I love things like that too. Sweet piece of boy-meat, I like to beat up and rape pretty boys. You are pretty to me, sometimes I like to rape pretty things...sometimes I like to eat them. I wonder where to start with you, pretty boy?" Damon wailed and tried to move but a slick thick thing slid up his cheek, leaving a slimy trail. "NO! Please, I didn't, I wouldn't, she...she swore it would be safe, she destroyed her pretty face, I didn't! Please, don't eat me! Don't rape me, don't eat me! Oh gods, please I will be a good boy, I will do so much better, I will! I am sorry, I didn't know Sansa would do that. Please!"

Chuckling heartily into Damon's ear, the man started to touch him, with his jeans wrapped and torn into it's own bondage around his ankles, his privates were easily found. The man squeezed Damon's testicles with a moist warm hand and Damon sobbed, his hands scratching into the dirt.

 

Outside of the tent, Sandor raised an eyebrow and looked at Gregor. "Did you hear enough yet? You heard what Damon just screamed, right? Wanna wait until after Meryn is balls deep in the boy to see if Damon changes his story?" Gregor whacked Sandor's head hard enough to hurt before entering the tent, nearly knocking the thing down as it could take no more residency. He gagged as he saw that Meryn already had his hard purple cock in his hand aiming into enter the boy.

"That's enough. I want to talk to him before you continue, Tickler." With a groan and a curse, the man glared up at Gregor. "This is my only fucking perk to night shift. Talk to him after or tell me what you want to hear, I'll get it from him." Gregor shook his head and folded his arms, staring down at Meryn with revulsion. "If you don't get off him, I can see to it that you'll never get your fun again here. I'll make you a real school legend. Don't worry, with this crowd, I'm sure you'll have other chances."

Kevan showed up while Gregor and Sandor were still speaking with the shaking, sobbing boy. Gregor was holding the shivering boy and speaking in a very kind but firm tone. "Calm down, there you go...breathe. I know you don't want to go back to see Tickler so you must be calm and honest with me. Can you do that for me, boy? To keep the Tickler away? Be calm. Be honest." Damon was nodding and he didn't see Kevan observing from the trees. "Uh huh. Calm. Honest. Please, don't let him...please..I am so sorry I was bad. I am so sorry!"

Gregor gave a gentle smile and his voice was reassuring as if talking to a child. "I can see how sorry you are, Damon. I understand that part and I am glad that you are sorry for bad actions. Can you tell me what you are sorry for? What did you do, what did Sansa do? What happened before the Tickler showed up, Damon?"

Damon burst into sobs and his words were all in a near hoarse shout. "I don't know! We were talking...then the pill...then she said, she touched..we did and like Ramsay...the thoughts because she says like Ramsay and then...the window, it was so good and I knew it was wrong but..then she smashed her face, oh her poor face and I screamed because...why and then THE TICKLER!" The last was screeched and Damon covered his face with his hands.

Frowning, Kevan gestured to Sandor, who instantly came over. "Take the boy to the old community room. I will send Unella to asses and calm him down. Stay with him and keep speaking with him. Try and get the damned facts out of him. Tell Meryn I said good work, but he may go back to his usual shift responsibilities now. Sadly, regardless of what happened, I need this boy presentable and sensible tomorrow. If need be we can keep him hidden unless requested, then it can be a supervised private visit. Those that pay for students to be here expect to see those students at least in some capacity."

 

Kevan came upon Polliver trying to strangle Hot Pie in front of Raff's cabin. "Excuse me, Polliver. I am dreadfully sorry to disturb you while you are strangling one of my students to death. Should I come back later after you've finished and buried the best cook you'll ever be receiving or should I just wait here? I truly don't want to ruin your night, but there have been a few small hiccups here and now I am concerned you are adding another problem for me."

Polliver released the gasping boy and apologized to Kevan. "I'm sorry, Sir. I lost my temper with the boy." Dryly, Kevan responded, "So I can see. Might I ask why? And if you two are both out here and Raff is with Unella, who is watching Jeyne? Did you not say earlier that Jeyne was in Raff's cabin with Hot Pie? Which alone is interesting. Why are you trying to murder your own personal disciple, Polliver?" Flushing, Polliver looked at Hot Pie, they shared a quick glance of terror and Kevan's heart sank a little more. "Please tell me that you did not lose the girl. Gregor will be irritated at having to track her down."

That is when Hot Pie spoke in nearly a whisper. "Sir, Raff removed Jeyne's tracker and put her in chains in the old cellar. She triggered and never came out of it." Kevan closed his eyes briefly and the two started to inch backwards. "So...we have no way of tracking Jeyne and she is out there somewhere, not in her right mind. Excellent work, gentlemen. Amazing blunders. Alright. I guess you will have a very busy night looking for her. I will suggest you get Raff and Gregor to assist you. Tomorrow is visitors day, her father expects to see her out there...how do I tell him his daughter is missing and fully feral right now? Oh wait, I still have to inform the Starks that their pretty daughter was beaten and raped. Not to mention YOUR little duckling, Polliver, who got to fly away for a few days and just killed a client."

Polliver gasped in shock. "Wait, if Whore has messed up out there then that is on Bob and Harold, Sir. I can't know how she will handle situations out of the school!"

A condescending laugh and Kevan raised an amused eyebrow as he spoke lightly. "Son, haven't you counseled your own ducklings about how if one bad thing happens, it can hurt everyone? Well every single duck has managed to fuck up tonight and I am cheerily all about making sure everyone's pain is shared fully. Since most of the clean up responsibility ultimately falls on me, doesn't it? Find that feral girl. Now."

 

Myranda winced and yelped as Bob smacked a bag of ice against her swollen cheek. A finger in her face, Bob snarled out, "Not a word. Do not move, do not speak. Hold the ice against your face and think about what a bad girl you've been." She gave a sullen and sober glare that let him know that not only wasn't the girl repentant, that it wasn't just the drugs that made her do it. Bob's own temper flared and he grabbed her free hand, the bandaged one. He smacked it smartly several times until she cried out. "Bad girl! Bad, bad girl!"

Bob got up and stormed over to Harold as the doorbell rang in the suite. A creepy man with a goatee came in and gave her a quick glance that made her skin crawl. They referred to him as Locke and gave him cleaning instructions. Myranda pretended not to exist and allowed her mind to block out everything until Bob told her to get up. With her escorts on either side of her, Myranda was hurried out the back exit of the hotel and bundled into a car with them. It wasn't a limousine this time, it was still fancy but much smaller, a regular car. The driver was behind dimmed glass and was no more than a shadow.

Pressed hard between two angry mentors, Myranda stayed silent. She was going between simmering with anger and swimming in icy terror at her own daring. When Harold spoke, Myranda jumped slightly, his voice was tight with rage still. "We could have left you in Gin Alley, we should just drop you back to Karl. How much did you steal from that pimp of yours again? Didn't he swear he would break most of your little delicate face if you ever got out of jail and you didn't pay him back? I can't believe we took you out of prison, saved your life, bettered you with a free education just for this...For you to disappoint us. Just more proof at how disloyal you really are." With a gasp of indignation, Myranda turned to stare at Harold. "I am not disloyal! Don't you dare say that!"

Harold stuck his face in hers, he took off his glasses and those colorless eyes made Myranda whimper. "No? You didn't hide what Jeyne was up to from the staff? Jeyne didn't tell you or that cook what she was planning? That wasn't very loyal to us, to Kevan, was it? Now you murder a client rather than doing what you were told to do? Disloyalty is a very big deal, sweetheart. A very bad thing. We are very upset with you and so is Kevan. He wants to see you right away, dear. As soon as we return. This should worry you. I can see in your eyes that you aren't even sorry for what you've done. Have we failed with you, my dear little whore? Should we bother to try and defend you to Kevan at all?"

"I don't want to die. I don't want to have to face Karl either but I couldn't just let that monster live. I am not sorry I killed him, but I am sorry I was disloyal. I didn't know that Jeyne would go through with it! She always overreacts and sometimes mimics the way others say they want revenge. I sort of knew..but I didn't. That wasn't meant to be disloyal! I'm sorry that I didn't think it through. But it's all I can be sorry for, no matter what happens. No matter how scared I am, I have to have at least a few things to be proud of when I die. Like killing a beast and not sinking to it's level."

Bob grabbed Myranda's chin and turned her face towards him, lest Harold lose his temper again. "If Kevan let's you live, if he is kind enough to accept your apology for causing him this trouble...you will be grateful. And then you will fall to your knees in front of us, grateful that we have allowed you another chance. That Kevan believes in our word enough. Tell me that this will never happen again. Ever. That you will accept any punishment given and apologize humbly. I want to hear you say it." Myranda looked up at him and didn't say what she was thinking. If they ever put her in that situation again she would do it again.

Instead she gave an earnest trembling promise. "I am sorry for causing trouble and being disloyal. I will never be disloyal or murder a client again. And I am ready to face whatever punishment I have to."   

 

Arya stood at the window in her bedroom that faced towards the clinic. Her fingers dug into the windowsill and the breeze soothed her upset nerves. Joff was lounging on his bed, going on and on about the damned Tickler. "I'm just glad that you are too ugly for me to think of raping!" Arya snorted in revulsion and sneered out, "Wow. Thanks a lot." Shrugging, Joff went on. "I thought about raping Oscar but Death Row wanted to rape her too. I didn't want to deal with competition. Figured I'd let him break her in first." He yelled when Arya turned and threw the first thing she could reach at him.

Joff rubbed his shoulder and threw the book back at her, missing Arya by a good amount. Arya glared at him and stared back out the window. "I am going to need your help tomorrow. What happened to my sister has to be enough for them to pull us out of here! We have to make sure that my mother and yours hear all about it! Everything bad here including the Tickler! If Damon is dead and Sansa is raped and beaten up, it has to be enough! We can't let this get buried or eased over, we have to rebel and make sure we tell our mothers everything!"

 

Theon watched nervously as Ramsay paced and raged like a brutal winter's storm. Trying not to feel jealous at Ramsay's concern for Damon, Theon attempted to calm him down. "I doubt that Damon was killed. I mean..they really can't just go about killing students! Tomorrow all the adults will be here, they can't have a dead student!"  Ramsay came down on Theon like a tsunami, knocking him flat onto the bed, gnashing teeth only inches from his face.

"Don't you get what this place is, yet? It's a fucking prison for teenagers, some never leave, some don't surface again! Of course they can kill someone if they have to! But my father will not stand for Damon's death...there will be hell to pay and if father doesn't do it, I will! Stop your fucking jealousy, Theon, I can see right through you! I hate jealousy, I don't like dramatics, lover. Don't make me have to flay another little bit off you."

Theon stroked Ramsay's face with soft, trembling hands and tried to hide his terror. "Please, I'm sorry, don't flay me. I love you and I will help you save Damon and yourself, no matter what. I'll always do anything for you, please, I promise no more dramatics, I swear it. If you love Damon, then I accept it. Just as long as you love me too, it doesn't matter."   

Ramsay gave Theon a kiss that ended with blood smeared on both their lips.

"Be good for me, Theon. You are different from Damon, nothing like him, my little kraken. Damon wasn't smart, he wasn't arrogant, he didn't calm me. He made me only want to do worse, to watch Damon go savage with me. It's not that way with you, Theon. You make me feel calmer, so when I do plan out an attack or a hunt, I will be focused better. And it will be so sweet to train you, baby, trust me, you'll have so much fun with me. But I told you before that you needed to accept Damon, you said you would and I hold you to that. If he is still alive, you must help me save him. If he is dead, you must help me get revenge. Either way, the first step is to tell my father."


	27. Children Need Adult Reassurance

Loras sat in the tiny bathroom, curled in the empty bathtub with his cell, returned by Arya. He tried hard to ignore Ramsay's ranting and Theon's attempts to pacify him. The rooming was horrific, he spent most of his time hiding in here or reading in the room, pretending they don't exist. Loras tried to remember the last time he was able to not pretend something. He couldn't think of a time, ever and that made him a little sad.

Here was a reason to smile a little again. Pictures on his phone and a recording that he played softly. Sadly, the party recording had nothing really amazing on it but the kids did mention many things. All unproven rumors of course, but still it's leads to follow. And pictures of the group using drugs and alcohol in the woods at night. All minors unsupervised. Lovely, that might be a picture worth something. Loras heard with half an ear that Ramsay and Theon were fucking in the bedroom. Sighing, Loras curled tighter and switched the photo so he could look at his lover one last time.

Closing his eyes, Loras began to rub himself, thinking of the one man who captured his heart, there will never be another like him. Then just as Loras began to breathe heavier, he flashed a memory in his head. Renly and his sister with her poor face gone and Loras started to sob instead. "I'm so fucking sorry, I loved you both so much, oh gods, I can never atone, never forgive myself for it! Please, please, don't hate me, only you ever saw me not pretend. And I am so sorry, I wish I could take it back, take the whole night back! This has to be worth it, worth everything. Has to be. I'm so sorry and I will never stop loving you and never forgive myself."

With a sniffle, Loras switched the photo to show his lovely sister and his handsome finance. "Both of you were so beautiful. Oh, gods, Marge, you deserved to die lovely as ever, not like that mangled thing. And Renly, you will never forgive me for letting reporters take pictures of you with your suit and body so messed up." Loras burst into another round of self pitying tears only tinged with a deeper regret.  

 

The entire place outside of the dorm house was lit up as if it were holding a nighttime concert. Every light was turned on brightly and each of the staff carried strong flashlights. Hot Pie, Polliver, Raff and Gregor were searching, calling out for Jeyne, checking all her usual hiding places first. Eventually they began to spread out towards the woods, fields and the one lonely road that led to Kevan's school.

Sandor was calmly talking to Damon, he had the boy sipping water and eating some cookies. The boy's story changed a bit once the boy had calmed down. It was interesting to say the least. Damon gave the same tale of how Sansa gave him a drug, talked him into rough sex then whacked her face into the window edge twice. However, the way he told it, placed all the blame squarely on himself in the most absurd way.

"I...I would talk to Sansa about stuff that Ramsay would do with me, that we would do to other kinds of girls, ...not stuff meant for a lady. She probably got the idea from it! I shouldn't have said those things. Sansa only shared her medication because I was all upset. Why was I upset...uh, I had to tell Ramsay we won't be friends anymore. So she shared her pill so I would calm down. I think maybe Sansa hurt her face because she didn't understand rough sex, maybe? She was scared when the Tickler came, I heard her scream more then! No, she never screamed until she hit her face. I am very sorry, I know I made so many mistakes. Please don't let the Tickler have me!"

Unella rushed in and Damon screeched, thinking it was the monster again. Sandor kept the boy in the chair by holding both the broad shoulders.

"Shush with this nonsense, kid. Look at the doctor, she isn't the Tickler. I told you he is done with you now. We are seeing Unella and then the next person you'll probably see is Kevan. So just take a breath, okay? There ya go, just relax." Unella worked fast, checking his pupils, the boy's vital signs were taken and she tried to speak with a gentler tone than usual. "Damon, do you know what drug you took tonight?" "No, Doctor. I'm sorry. It was Sansa's medication. She had it in her pocket." Unella attempted to smile at the boy. "Where did Sansa get the medication, do you know?" "I think she gets it from the school nurse like everyone else."

Sandor and Unella shared a quick glance then the doctor sat down in front of Damon. She asked for his story and he gave her the same story he told Sandor. Unella patted the boy's knee which made him squirm and whimper. Swiftly, she removed her hand and spoke. "Damon, I would like you to stay in here for now. I am going to give you an I.V. to get some fluids into you. Help flush away this bad drug inside of you and make you relax instead. Okay? I am going to take a little blood sample too." Damon stared at her in wide eyed fear and shook. "I have to have needles too? Is that part of my punishment?"

"No, Damon. It's to help you, not hurt you. I know the needle is scary but it's just one you'll have to feel, okay? Sandor will hold you if you'd like or just your hand? Or would you like the relaxing medicine first?" Sandor held the boy's hand and even Unella felt pity for this large child that has been most thoroughly used. Unella waited only long enough for the boy to sink into the chair, eyes half closed before contacting Kevan.

"Sir, this boy was most certainly not responsible. He has just told myself and Sandor the story, several times over. Also, he was clearly drugged and he swears that it was from Sansa's own medications. No student has medications except when Raff gives them. It seems to be the same drug the other children were high on but I shall have it tested, I took a sample of Damon's blood. Let me tell you what story he has told us."

 

Sansa's face was half lovely and half a domestic abuse ad. The little black stitches in her cheek made a terrible fashion accessory. Her hair hung around her face and she hid her body in a sweat suit. She wished she had better armor standing in Kevan's home, with the imposing man himself looking at her as if he wanted to puke. Regardless, she pulled herself tall and waiting silently. She waited for the man to make the first move, after all, it was his house and his rules.

Kevan spread his arms out and gave a very sympathetic smile after spending five minutes simply staring at her. The girl didn't crack once and he was impressed, oh yes, impressed as hell. Of course, if she was smart, she would have looked away or cried if she really wanted to sell it. But beginners shouldn't be discouraged and Kevan decided if this night could have one bright spot, this was it. He could at least enjoy playing with this little ginger scrap that thought to play the big girl games.

However, he had to be careful, the girl was still about to see her parents the next day. He needed her cooperation, Kevan had to find out how to appease Sansa just enough. Then once her parents were gone, Kevan would set the young lady straight about her scheming. "My poor girl, I am so very sorry this has happened to you! Are you desperate for the warm and loving arms of your mother perhaps? For her to just whisk you away? Would you like that, dear?" A flash of terror was there and gone in a heartbeat. And Kevan thought, got you, sweetheart.

Instead of becoming comforted, Sansa was growing agitated, chewing at her lip. Kevan headed towards his desk to pick up his cell phone. The girl was too sore, still coming out of sedation and too new at the game. He waited for it and sighed, beginning to search for the Stark number. "I must do the right thing for you, Sansa. If you were raped by this boy, beaten, not only does the boy deserve what he gets, but I must call your mother and allow her to take you out of this school."

Before Kevan tapped the icon, Sansa broke out in mild panic. She took a step or two forward and blurted out, "Stop! Please, I manipulated Damon! I hurt myself after I tricked him into having sex with me! Please, don't call my mother, don't let Tickler kill Damon! I'll take whatever punishment you want, but please don't call her!"

Kevan put down the phone and sat at the edge of his desk and swept his hand out. "Have a seat, dear. Let's have a small chat. Now, explain to me why you do that to the poor dumb fool? If you weren't trying to leave with your parents, what was the point of such a horrible thing? And don't worry, your game was figured out in enough time for Damon to only have been mildly traumatized and assaulted." Now came the red face and the tears. Not the over dramatic ones or the pretty ones. Just a few tears, not many but her eyes were red and filled with a regret. The shame was only over being caught but it was clear the girl did care in someway for the boy.

Sansa sniffed and wiped her tears then cleared her throat. "I was hoping my Uncle would help me leave here. That he would see my arm in the sling and take me away, let me go missing. He has always liked me, I was the favorite niece because I listened to him. But he can't come and I didn't want to stay in the situation I was in. I thought if I faked the beating and rape that you would want to bargain with me so that I could stay but in better circumstances." Kevan stared at Sansa, blinked then burst into a soft genteel laughter.

"With a mother like Cat, an aunt like Lysa and and uncle like Petyr, no wonder you are all messed up, darling girl. Well, never fear, I agree with you, I don't think you should leave with your mother. We need to connect on our story to her however to keep you here. Now, since you went through such great effort, please tell me two things. Two things and we will see if i feel your needs are something I can accommodate for you or not." Sansa showed a bit of surprise that Kevan would be so generous and amused rather than angry.

"What did you hope for from me out of this? The second thing is, why do you fear leaving with your mother so much?"

"I wanted my own room, I just need some privacy. I am seventeen, I am a woman and have privacy needs. I wanted less Gregor based activities and less therapy time. And most of all, I want to choose my mentor past the usual staff. I am aware that even Harold and Bob do mentoring on Myranda. Well, I would like you to be my mentor, Sir. That...that was what I would have asked for." Sansa turned even redder and looked down at her lap. Kevan raised his eyebrows, he didn't expect the last bit at all. He wondered if he should be flattered or wary. He couldn't deny that he was interested. 

"Well, I am flattered, Sansa. I shall think upon the mentoring for a moment. I can allow you a room of your own. I can easily reduce those other classes and therapies. But I asked you two questions. So please answer the second one now. Why are you so scared to leave with your mother? If I am to mentor you, I would need to trust you and know that you are honest with me." Sansa took a deep breath then spoke in a bitter voice.

"My mother wishes to rule me and rule through me just like her other children. I wanted to save Arya and myself from that. If I leave here with my mother she will want me to get engaged to Rickard Karstark. A man known for his enjoyment of young boys rather than young ladies. I would have to marry him in a year, pretend to enjoy it, go to a prestigious university of her choice at the same time, classes and career of her choosing, of course. Breed for mother when she decided it was time. All because the Starkards have a company she would like to overtake. I can't live that way anymore, Sir. But those who don't follow her plan or displease her, they end up like Rickon and Jon. I don't want to end up like them and I don't want to live tied to my mother's rulings."

Kevan nodded and smiled. "And now...why do you want me to mentor you?" Sansa looked up at Kevan and he saw three sets of female eyes staring back at him from the past. Ah, there it was, that steel, stone crazy look come and gone. And yet, another chance to harness it or try to as he always has in the past.

"Sir, I have trained with my mother, I have observed my aunt quite closely and my uncle Petyr has also spent considerable time training me. But all of them combined leave me unsatisfied, they aren't truly what I want to learn from. My mother is too cold, my uncle is too ruthless and wants only to use me as much as my mother does and my aunt was crafty but utterly nuts. I was hoping to learn from Cersei for awhile but...then I saw what she really was like and I don't wish to be that either. I came here and this is my only chance to learn from the best."

Tilting his head, Kevan said mildly, "If it is a Lannister you need to learn from, Tyrion Lannister is already your mentor, isn't he?" Sansa nodded. "We were told we had to pick a mentor. Tyrion was my best fit for academics and I would still keep him as such if possible." Another chuckle and Kevan crossed his legs, tapping his gold pen on his knee. "What a greedy thing you are, two mentors, eh? Well, then Ms. Stark, in order for any accommodations from me, I will expect certain things in return. Caught at your game but I am still ready to allow you to make a proper deal with me."

Sansa nodded and leaned forward. Kevan played with his pen and pinned her with his hard eyes. "I expect complete cooperation on whatever story we tell your parents about your face. I expect you to accept whatever proper punishment we decide you deserve for the terrible trick you have played on Damon. Whatever additional grief you might receive from Polliver is your own problem. Accept it and it will end soon enough. Can you do these things for me? If so, then I will give you all the things you asked for. Excellent." Kevan had to admit, in spite of all the issues involved, it was such a delight to find such a fun thing as a slippery, crafty stone heart girl again.  

Kevan leaned forward and smiled at the nodding girl.

"Remind me sometime to tell you some tales. I had three young ladies that were very much like you. They were all thick as thieves but twice as cold hearted. Do you know what I had nicknamed them as a group? The Stoneheart Gang. I don't want you to be like them, Sansa. If I mentor you, perhaps we can make you different from all those bad influences and create some real good out of you. I can teach you how to gain power and loyalty without such tactics as those harpies would use. As for Petyr, let me give you a small tip, sweet summer child. He is a predator and a vulture, I have known him and worked with him. He also works for your mother, never forget that. If Petyr had tender thoughts towards you and just murdered his wife, what do you think he was offering you? To hide you then smuggle you into your own freedom? No, he was going to double cross your mother and marry you or marry you off to another for his own profit. Leaving with Petyr is just going to another jailer." 

Sansa's face fell again and Kevan enjoyed watching the spark of hope go in and out like a flickering light.

"Very well then. I will give you your mentor-ship, a room and adjusted schedule. I expect you to accept you punishments without complaint and you will help me keep your parents from any alarm over your face. Now, onto our story for your dedicated and loving family..."


	28. Lured To The Nest

Gregor was deep in the woods when he finally found Jeyne. He heard rustling above in the trees and shone his light up into the branches. "Jeyne? Are you up there? Yup, it's you. What are you doing up there? Are you trading being a feral for being a monkey? Come down here. Kevan is very worried about you, Raff is sorry he forgot that chains scared you." The nice talking, reassuring smile did nothing and Jeyne only went up one branch, staring down at Gregor with fear and wariness.

There was no way that he could use his sedation rifle on her at that height, the fall might break her damned neck. Sighing, Gregor sat down on a rock so he could look up at Jeyne. He rested the rifle in his lap and put his hands on his knees. "Talk to Nanny Gregor, Jeyne. Let me help you out, you can't live in that tree, girl. Are you still stuck in your memories, am I wasting my breath or do you hear me?"  The voice floated down to him and Gregor breathed a sigh of relief. 

"I hear you, Gregor. I am half in past, half in here." Gregor smiled and slapped his knees. "We can work with that, Jeyne! Talk to me about that, what is scaring you into running into the woods? Are you running from Bethany again, wild girl?" Jeyne's voice whipped out this time with a very bitter anger, a terrible pain that Gregor had to wince at just a bit. "Do you think I want to be feral? I didn't get a choice. Raff says I never had a choice,Unella says it and even my father said it. Why do you call me freak and blame me for what made me?"

Gregor shook his head. "I don't. I don't blame you or tease you because of what was done to you. I agree it was wrong. Bethany Bolton was quite the twisted fucked up woman. Roose was a cold son of a bitch to treat you the way he did and to allow his wife to abuse the fuck out of you. I understand that the woman turned you into a feral. Got it."pp

Gregor leaned forward and looked up, trying make sure Jeyne saw his face.

"Should I cry for you or pat your shoulder and coddle you? Should I hold you on my lap and pretend to be a better daddy for you? How is my pity going to help you, girl? I want to turn you into a person, Jeyne. I want you to defy that old dead cunt! She is dead and can't hurt you anymore. Defy her so that you can get past it and turn into everything she said you can't be! Want to be angry about what she did? Great, get pissed and I will teach you how to kick box! Want to chop wood and pretend it's that bitch's neck? We can do that! But those are things for a person, not a four legged feral. Help me prove that woman wrong, help me to make you a strong person. Someone that will make Roose regret never taking proper care of you. Want to learn real revenge, Jeyne? I will help you do that."

Gregor grinned up at the girl.

"Hell, yeah, I am going to punish you for your revenge on me and Unella. Course I am. But I'm not going to break your bones and Unella isn't going to fry your head. All of you fools forgot something. Kevan and Roose. Do you really think they would be okay with us doing that to you? Idiots, all of you."

The girl was watching him and listening, that was a good start. He gave a smile and gestured to her. "I promise there will be no revenge until after visitor's day. I swear it and the same with Unella. I'll make sure of it. Now why don't you start to come down? At least where I don't have to crane my neck!" Jeyne shook her head and then called out, "You will shoot me as soon as I get close enough to drop. Tricks." Gregor shrugged. "Depends on you. If Jeyne the feral is going to play tag in the trees all night then yes, I'll shoot you. But if Jeyne the person just climbs down, we can walk back to the dorm together. I promise." He waited and let Jeyne fight herself in silence.

Finally, Gregor heard her climbing down and waited to see if she would make it or if he would need to shoot. His fingers were tight on the rifle in his lap. Jeyne hesitated only twice before landing on the ground. Her movements were stiff and on the verge of bolting. Gregor stayed still on the rock until the girl stopped in front of him. Without a word of praise or anything more than a grunt, Gregor got up and began to head back. Jeyne walked beside him, moving in that stalking way.

To relax her, reintroduce her back into the world, he began to chat as they walked. "The Tickler made an appearance tonight. See the things you've missed?" Jeyne giggled then asked, "Was it Joff or Ramsay?" Gregor chuckled and said, "Nope. It was Damon. He attacked Sansa." Frowning, Jeyne muttered, "That isn't right. Damon is very sweet to her all the time. He does everything she says to and he needs her to teach him how to read. Damon loves her but not that way. He even was protecting her from Ramsay and Joff." Gregor sighed and heavily said, "Gods, I truly do pity Damon now, Jeyne."

Tilting her head up in a way that wasn't very person like, Jeyne asked a very human question. "Do I get bits of credit for being honest?" He chuckled and said, "Welcome back to our planet, Jeyne! So far, you have been honest with me and I am giving you credit for that. So...tell me something that will make your punishment the teensiest bit lessened. Go for it. It's worth a shot." Gregor sounded very dubious but Jeyne gave a tiny smirk.

"I got the pregnancy test from Sansa. She went into your cabin, not me. I could have done it, but Raff made me promise to never do such things. Sansa needed drugs and I know how to sneak around here. I have never stolen from there before, just this one time. I don't know why she wanted the drugs. I am sorry I stole from the pharmacy. It was wrong."

Gregor snorted and spoke with actual true grudging amusement and awe. "Sorry for stealing from the pharmacy? Not sorry for your revenge on me and Unella, though?" Jeyne looked at Gregor with honest calm eyes, shaking her head. "No. I am sorry that I am not sorry. My hair! My mind! Both of you just pulled me apart like I was a doll to play with!"

"Jeyne the feral has fear of Nanny Gregor, Jeyne the person can tell me how angry she is and why! Good! Right after your punishment and apology after visitor's day, I'll let you use that anger. Let's head for your room, I want you to go to bed and then I'm locking your door until Polliver gets you in the morning." Jeyne frowned but nodded and continued to walk with Gregor. 

 

Myranda was flanked by Bob and Harold into a small airport strip.

They sped to the first available direct flight back and spent the entire time trying to sleep. It was impossible since the plane rattled like it was falling apart. Wind blew through their hair and their stewardess kept whispering prayers through her frozen smile. One of the passengers was squeezing his chicken to death in terror and another one looked like the heart attack coming for others has already happened for him.

Myranda looked out the window once and was positive that she saw duct tape on the wing. When she told Bob, he leaned over and slammed the window shut. "Say anything like that again and I will request some of that tape for your mouth." The threat was utterly ruined when he turned greener and used the vomit bag. Myranda did go silent but she couldn't stop the smirk that painted her lips.  

Harold was whiter than a ghost and kept his eyes closed, head back. "Sweet Gods, Myranda I can feel that damned look on your face, smug little whore. Dammit, if we live through this hellish ride than you are going to pay for that. If we die, consider that the two of us will be stuck haunting with you forever. Consider the eternity." The laughter poured out of her even when they took a sharp nosedive. The shrieks of Harold and Bob gave Myranda start crying in silent hysteria, aching laugher that was painful but healing somehow. That was truly worth any punishment, Myranda can die happy with just that.

But the plane leveled out and they all survived. After a few more close calls, they landed with a dead chicken, held by a sobbing man and only one dead man. Apparently, someone had actually put the man on the plane already dead. Myranda did not wish to examine that situation.

 

Bob and Harold had bruised her arms and nearly dragged her to a rental car. Thrown in the backseat, she tried to sleep but since Harold had to drive, Bob had to stay awake to keep the driver up. So since they couldn't sleep, Myranda couldn't either. They stopped at a rest stop and Harold got them all hot coffee while Bob went to a tiny store and bought boxes of energy drinks.

Myranda had watched in a caffeine buzzed horror as Harold drove like they were in a getaway car. For half the trip, wind whipped through open windows, music was jarring and loud. Anytime she shut her eyes, Bob would reach back and whack whatever piece of her he could find. "MYRANDA! ARE YOU SLEEPING? LET'S TALK ABOUT TONIGHT? WOULD YOU RATHER DO THAT SINCE THE RIDE IS SO BORING YOU HAVE TO SLEEP! HAVE AN ENERGY DRINK, HERE YOU GO!"

Eventually, the men switched places. Harold stretched and leaned back in his seat as Bob prepared to drive. Adjusting the mirror so precisely that Harold raised his eyebrows. "Must you? Every time?" Giving a harrumph, Bob began to adjust the controls on his seat, the radio and more. "I must."

Trying not to smile or make any noise, Myranda watched the two of them with great amusement. Seeing Bob be so fussy meant at least they weren't going to drive like prisoners on the run. Relaxing a bit, she even got tears in her eyes when Bob turned off the screeching music and put on classical music. It was still a bit louder than normal, but at least it wasn't going to tense her up. She wasn't in a partying mood nor did she feel an urge to join a mosh pit. As fun as they are, Myranda is feeling quite messed up tonight, thank you very much. Harold kept sniping at Bob. Bob kept giving it right back at him, deliberately moving slower while staring at Harold. Finally, Bob started the car and pulled onto the highway. He drove normally, fast but normal and then said the wonderful words.

"Harold, Myranda, if you'd like to sleep while I drive, that's fine with me. I am perfectly awake and aware. In fact, I will be getting off the highway and taking a few shortcuts." 

This made Myranda give a grateful thanks and instantly lay her head against the window, shutting her heavy eyes. For some reason it made Harold sigh heavily and mutter, "Okay, you are being an asshole and you know it." Myranda didn't understand and didn't care, all she wanted was to fucking sleep. She sunk fast and had an amazing deep slumber for about ten full minutes. Then Bob got off the highway and Myranda understood that they were no longer driving a normal way. No, now they were driving as if they were the stunt-men for every car action film series. She found that her screams mingled with Harold's.

 

The men pretended that they weren't leaning on Myranda, who was also leaning on them, as they staggered into the house. Early light graced the sky and they were at the school one hour before anyone would stir. 

Gilly did something brave. She was in her best uniform, comfortable support sneakers, white jeans with a blouse she cares for with perfection and a string of real pearls. Thick brown hair was pulled into a lovely mess of curls upon her head and brown eyes that shined with a mix of good and bad things. Myranda noted that the girl looked like Craster. She has never taken much notice of Kevan's servants. But Gilly stood in front of her, not to address Bob and Harold in a respectful robotic voice. No, the girl's voice was savage and earnest, her eyes were on Myranda's and her hands clutched the bandaged one gently. 

"My sisters told me what you did. Thank you for killing him, for saving my sisters. Thank you, Myranda, they are free, I am free because of you. Thank you." Myranda nodded and smiled, her own unwilling tears filled her eyes. She couldn't speak, her own past was such shit and those girls, she had to end that beast. Gilly looked at her in a way that Myranda knew the girl understood. That made her feel vulnerable but Gilly seemed to understand that too and let go of her hand. She then gave her brief attention to Harold and Bob. The hard look and twisted lips let Harold and Bob know how the new housekeeper felt about them.

"Sirs, Kevan awaits all of you in his office. He has just finished his breakfast." 

 

The three of them staggered into the office, horribly aware of how messed their clothes and hair were. Myranda had a rather noticeable bruise on her cheek from Harold. Kevan looked as fresh as a daisy and his smile was warm and welcoming. In his best suit, already set for the visitors that won't come for a few more hours. Kevan's hair could have come from the best city salon and his shoes twinkled in the morning sun. The gold pen twirled in his hand, the brilliant gold playing in the sun ray then flipping past manicured nails.

Kevan walked from his picture window, looking upon the main houses below of the school, the gentle hill leading to it. He stopped admiring it so he could walk to stand in front of the bad ducks and naughty duckling. His eyes fell first upon his men, his stern gaze seeming to pierce through the glasses. Both men slumped a bit and looked down. "We are sorry to have failed you, Sir. We shall make sure Myranda is very sorry to have failed you as well." Kevan looked at Bob and stood in front of him to speak softly. He leaned forward with a stately manner yet Bob seemed to give way even though he never moved. 

"Has the girl been to see Unella? I believe I asked you gentlemen to do that. Are you that angry with your charge that you no longer care about her personal well being? If that turns out to be the case here, I can reassign her...and both of you. Since the young lady is already here, we will speak now. Then my dear, you shall go straight to the doctor." Myranda cringed when the eyes fell upon her and she nodded. Kevan changed his features, they melted into a sympathetic face, his eyes melted and grew concerned. His voice became kind, it was full of compassion. This scared Myranda as bad as the plane scared her mentors. Except Myranda dare not throw up on Kevan's nice rugs.

"Dearest Myranda, I am so very sorry for what you went through tonight. I do understand that you did put forth your best effort...that you tried to offer a compromise. I was shocked to learn the ages involved, I thought the man would not...bring them all. I know very little of the processes that Harold and Bob deal with. I might need to reconsider how involved I get." Kevan's eyes went to Bob and Harold on the last sentence and his voice made sure they got the threat clearly. "Now I am clear on what your limits are, aren't I? We all understand and I promise that type of situation will never be asked of you again. Not. Ever!"

Kevan gently clasped his hands on her shoulders and drew her forward from Harold and Bob. They tensed and Myranda was nearly hyperventilating, imagining Kevan's pen driving into her eye, into her brain. He smiled so sweetly as he pulled her directly in front of him, almost close enough to kiss and that pen was resting in his front pocket. Myranda went between staring at the pen and staring up at Kevan, nearly in blind terror. Kevan watched it and seemed to drink it in, it made him glow brighter as if fear were energy.

"Such a delicate pretty clever thing you are. Sweet girl, because of that important trip, you missed your report. Average learner, average worker, just floating by. There was a question of loyalty that sadly lost some points for Hot Pie and Jeyne. And you bear those lost points as well. For not telling someone Jeyne's rather dangerous plan. I believe that is why Harold and Bob pushed you too hard this time. Perhaps, they bear half the blame for what you did. So...now we have to not only have a bit of disloyalty to have you work out, we have this. This mess you have made for us tonight."

The hands on her shoulders were massaging them but in a way that made her tense, not relax. It was as if his fingers found the wrong things, found the nerves and caressed to wake them up into uneasy buzzing. It was that feeling that just begins warning of pain. "I do understand why you killed the repulsive pig and I shall not punish you for that. However, that was a death I had to have covered up. The death of the camera man as well. Consider the cost of feeding, clothing and transporting of ten females, please? How do you plan to pay me back for all the trouble, dear? I will have you bear a third of those costs and your mentors bear the rest."

At that, Harold and Bob seemed to look at each other. Kevan smiled at them and leaned closer, looking inquisitively into Myranda's startled eyes. He spoke in a very polite voice.

Do you have enough money to pay me back, Myranda? Does your luggage even contain a fourth of the trouble I had to go through on your behalf?" In a near whisper Myranda replied, "No, Sir." Kevan firmly grasped the agitated nerves in her tired, aching shoulders and gave a small shake.

"No, Sir? Of course not. How could a student here at my school with the talents of a practiced whore and a spy in training be able to afford even a fourth of what I can? So...that means you are in my debt, aren't you? That means you owe me a very large favor, it means you will be here until you have worked off your debt. Only then can we discuss your prospects as a mistress or married woman. That alone is sufficient for a punishment from me, I would think. I shall leave further discipline up to Harold and Bob. Myranda, if your mentors aren't working for you anymore, please let me know. I would hate to change mentors on you since you have worked so well with Harold and Bob, but if we must, we must. Of course, that would change things drastically for you. We have no other...unique mentors like our fine twins, the others do not travel much. I would hope you have another hidden talent we can find."

Myranda paled at the threat delivered in a choking compassion and she shook her head fast. "Please, Sir! I like my mentors. I'm sorry, I'm very sorry that I cost you trouble. I will be more loyal, I will pay my debt to you no matter how long it takes, Sir." Kevan stared at the girl until she looked as if she might faint and then her relaxed his grip upon her.

"Poor thing, it's all been too much on you. So tired, ragged, sore and shaking like a little baby, an abused one. Good grief, you like so terrified, as if I'd kill you! I only get rid of useless things, dear. And it is pretty interesting what I can find use for sometimes we just have to dig deeply. With you, we were lucky, it was clear you were made for certain talents. I want you to continue to use those talents for me. I forgive a bad mistake, I forgive such a trauma filled rash act. I won't forgive the next one. I will decide that is not your talent anymore. Then you are useless. Don't ever be that, Myranda. Go to your room and I will send Unella to you, the clinic is temporarily closed. For today, you may stay in your room, eat in the kitchen and avoid the visitors. It would be an idea to get some sleep, your eyes look awful."

Kevan released the girl and watched how she stared at him, then her mentors, then Kevan again. Softly, he spoke. "Dismissed, darling student. Go now to your room." Myranda gasped and ran as fast as she could. Kevan watched out the window as the girl staggered all the way down the slight hill with a small grin.

It was wiped away when he turned back to Bob and Harold.


	29. Happy Morning!

Polliver whacked his baton on the door a full half hour before normal. Arya leaped up and Joff just moaned and complained before rolling over in his bed across the room. "Go get that, it's probably them telling you that your sister died or something." Whipping his own sneaker at him as she went by his jumble of laundry. Arya went to answer the door.

"Happy morning, Target! Want to visit your sister before our day starts, this is the time. She is setting up her new room, one door over from her original room. Don't worry, Oscar looks far worse than she feels. For now at least."

There was some tight anger in Polliver's voice that made Arya look up at him and then her stomach dropped. She knew Sansa well enough now and she closed her eyes for a second, going still. The baton lightly prodded at her back and she staggered forward.  Polliver opened the door and shoved Arya inside, slamming it shut behind her. Sansa was setting up her dresser with her uniforms and gave Arya a quick smile, the best she could under the gruesome bruises. Arya sighed and then muttered, "You look like shit. Mother and Father should be whisking us out of here today, why bother asking for a room of your own?"

Sansa shook her head. "No. That is exactly what I don't want. I want to stay here, have my room and have Kevan as my personal mentor. I want to be as far out of our mother's grip as we can get." Snorting, Arya muttered, "We? It hasn't been we in a long time, if ever, Oscar." Glaring at her little sister, Sansa snapped, "Do not call me that when we are alone. Use my name. And yes, I know we don't hang out much anymore but it's not like we are synced together in here. Besides, you need to be with your own peers, me with my own. Listen, I know you want to scream about the injustices here to our parents but I am asking that you don't. I am asking that you join me in the same story about my face."

Arya stood with her mouth open then snapped it shut, her eyes full of fury. "I knew it! I knew that poor dummy was tricked by you! Oh my gods! He was dragged off by that fucking THING! That Tickler got him because of you! Why would you do that? For a room and a mentor? How could you be so fucking mean? Just like mother...you should want to go home to her, you are just like her." Sansa advanced on her sister, who warily backed up then got into a defensive position.

"I am nothing like our mother! Don't you ever compare us, not ever! Do you understand what happens if I go home to her? She forces me to marry a man who likes little boys, to breed with him like cattle, to rule my life. And I won't let her so I die, it's that simple, Arya. And then who is left for her to go after and plan for? Why, little Arya, of course! Walder Frey likes to marry young girls and I know that he has asked for you in exchange for a deal. Mother said no...but she said it was because you were still too young. For now, Arya. We won't agree with what mother wants and what happens when that happens? Jon ran and Rickon fought her, where are they now?" 

Arya glared at her sister but as always, the fear of their mother controlling their fate was her weakness. She hated that Sansa knew exactly how to pull at her, using strings of fear and need. "Why did you set up Damon for rape of all things, if you didn't want mother to rip us out of here?" With a glare, Sansa frowned and sat on her bed. "I fucked up, okay? Didn't think it through, I guess. I was hoping if Kevan got nervous about the rape, he would give me anything I wanted. I guess in that respect, I did get what I wanted but...I am still going to be punished for what I did. And I have to face poor Damon and apologize to him. I didn't believe the Tickler was real!" 

With a jerk of her head, Arya looked out of the window. "So you made a mistake, got in trouble, got what you wanted and all is well? No. I know you. That was too much to go through for such a small goal. I don't think I want to know what your games are anymore. I'm not going to be your Damon anymore, Sansa. I can find other ways to get away from mother. Better than trusting you or staying here. If I tell her you were raped, tell her all that happens here, she will take me out." Before Arya could gasp in surprise, Sansa was in her face. "She will take you out, alright. As soon as you try and run away or fight her, you are dead. This isn't something you don't already know, Arya. Here you are at least safe from her until better chances come along. Remember our brothers, think of how they looked when-"

Arya cried out and wrenched away, striking at Sansa's sore cheek. Sansa cried out and moved back. "Ow! Bitch!" Wiping tears away, Arya tried to head for Sansa's door but her sister grabbed her arm. "Listen to me! This isn't just for me, no matter what you think! I care and am trying to keep us both alive!" "You swore to never mention about what happened! Liar!" Sansa forced her sister into a tight hug.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. Please, we can't go back there...you need to help me out. You need to listen to me and let Kevan help shield us from mother. The only way to keep out of her grasp is to be in a stronger person's clutches. At least for right now. And Lannisters are the only ones with that kind of power. Kevan asked me to talk with you personally...if you don't agree with us about my face..." Arya squirmed until her sister released her.

"Fine. You win, are you happy? I will go along with whatever stupid story you have made up. Better here than at home anyway. But I meant what I said, I am not Damon. I am not going along with any of your schemes ever again. What you did to that poor dumb kid is just horrible and you are disgusting. Tell me what I need to say and let me get away from you."

 

Damon had been transferred to the clinic as soon as Sansa vacated it. Unella had him sedated and in a bed, every now and then he cried out in a troubled sleep. It was uncertain if the boy would be well enough to join the others during visitor time.

Kevan had tried to visit him just as he went into the clinic and Damon sobbed all over him. The poor child kept telling the story but claiming the blame for it all even as he begged the Tickler not to come back. Kevan tried to assure the boy that there would be no further interaction with the Tickler. "Dear boy, the only thing you are really to blame for is taking a drug from a student instead of your nurse." The mere thought that Sansa would receive blame rather than Damon, sent the boy back into hysterics.  

Raff was grumpy that he had to be up extra early to set up medications and bring them to the school. Like Polliver and Gregor, he has been up all night searching for Jeyne. Gregor didn't tell a soul except Unella and Kevan that he found the girl and she was in her room. He let Polliver and Raff continue searching through the night uselessly. Just for Polliver to receive a text at dawn from Hot Pie saying that there was snoring from behind Jeyne's locked door. The only reason they even found out then was because Hot Pie finally was sent to get an hour of sleep before he had to set up for breakfast.

Sandor spent most of his night with Damon along with Unella. Most of the staff looked more like zombies in the early light than school workers.

 

Hot Pie was half awake, nearly scrambling his own head along with the eggs. Jeyne showed up to do her job, plus Myranda's, since the girl was sleeping. The girl received a lecture from her friend that she completely ignored. Only Tyrion and Stannis seemed fresh and awake during breakfast. They looked with sadness at the runny eggs and overcooked home fries but said nothing. The poor cook seemed to be half asleep over bacon, close to sizzling himself.

As the professors headed towards the staff section where they saw the others half dozing, Stannis said softly, "Perhaps we should have helped last night instead of hiding in our cabins." Tyrion gave his friend a bright smile with no guilt and responded, "We heard them talking last night. Did you really wish to spend your night hunting down a triggered feral girl? What luck would we have really had? As for that poor soul, Damon, what could we have done for him? We aren't trained in the right way to assist something like that."

Stannis shrugged. "Sandor isn't either but he went to help the poor boy." Tyrion beamed. "Exactly! Others were already tending to him and to Jeyne. And Sansa was with a doctor and a therapist, none of those things involved us. We would have been a hindrance, not a help."

During breakfast, the professors heard the truth of Sansa and Damon. Stannis looked horrified but Tyrion only grinned. "I knew it! That boy wouldn't do such a thing. I admire the girl, very much like her mother. She reminds me of Cersei a bit too. Sansa has her eye on a large prize, I just wish I knew what it was. Or rather...maybe I don't. Those type of women are dangerous and terrifying to be honest. So..the girl has her room and Kevan himself to be her mentor along with myself. Very clever of her. Now, what kind of story are we to tell her family?" Clearing his throat, Gregor laid out what was to be said.

Sandor gave a look of disgust to his eggs and threw his fork down. "Don't any of you have a fucking conscience? That boy was truly fucked up by what Sansa did, by Tickler and none of you even blink over it! Instead, let's talk about how we can help the bitch who just used some poor retarded kid!" He shoved his chair back and stormed away. The others were too tired to care and Tyrion only shrugged and ate a muffin that was slightly singed on the bottom. Stannis looked bothered but said nothing. 

 

The student table was full of it's own dissension. Sansa had calmly and coldly explained to the kids at the table what they will say about her cheek. She had removed the sling and was already forcing her arm back into good use. There was no way to hide her face. Arya said that she would be lying for her sister. Loras readily agreed to it, Jeyne and Hot Pie simply shrugged. No one would ask them anything about the ginger girl. It wasn't their concern and they did not join the ensuing argument.

Joff and Arya began to battle. "Oh my gods, what a fucking traitor! You bitch about your sister, how she used you and here you are doing it again! We promised each other that we would tell our parents what a hellish place this is! Then we can get out of here, it's so fucking simple! Why are you helping her? What will she ever do for you? I won't help you, I am telling my mother everything!" Arya glared at Joff and yelled back. "Princess Douche bag! My mother is worse than yours, okay? It's...not safe for me and Oscar to go home right now. I don't care what you tell your mother!"

Ramsay stared at Sansa, he had deliberately sat across from her. "Are we all going to ignore what you've done? Are you going to pretend still that Damon raped and beat you up? Lie to your family about it but keep the lie going here?" Sansa smiled tightly at Ramsay and responded very calmly. "No. I was caught and I admit what I've done. I set up Damon, hoping to use that as a way to get something." Ramsay remained placid but simmering deep down and his voice was as calm as hers. "Did you get the something you wanted? Was it worth it, what you did to Damon? Because whatever YOU got...Damon got the Tickler. Because of you."

"I did get what I wanted, at least I think so. But I was also caught and will get a punishment after visitors day ends. Until then, we will pretend it didn't happen for the sake of the parents. Then I will pay for what I've done and I will apologize to Damon, try to make it up to him. He's okay, just in the clinic now...Gregor and Sandor stopped Tickler before he got too far. I really do regret having to use him though." Ramsay's eyes darkened and his hand tightened on his butter knife then waved it around.

"Oh, you regret it? That's awful nice of you, gingercunt. Tell you what, I don't think you regret it enough. I don't think any punishment staff would give you is enough. I am not helping you, no, I will tell my father every fucking detail of what you've done. Of this entire fucking hellhole. And if that doesn't help, if no one believes me or Joff...that's okay, it is perfectly fine. Because I am going to punish you myself for what you've done to my friend. I am going to get you, Oscar. And you will never know when it's coming or what I might do. Solemn promise though, I am coming for you."

Ramsay pointed the silver utensil at Sansa and gave a creepy smirk. "Consider yourself wearing a black spot. What you did to one of your own classmates..isn't acceptable. Does anyone here at this table think that Oscar setting up Sidebitch for rape and for the Tickler was okay?" Everyone including Arya gave a shake of their head. Even Loras looked upset about it and he spoke next.

"What Oscar did to Damon was terrible. And she deserves whatever punishment staff gives her. It's not up to us to punish or judge what she did or why. We can offer support to Damon. But I agree we should hide what goes on here from the visitors. Think of something..they threw us in here...they don't get any say over us in here. They have no way of knowing what happens unless we tell them. They don't deserve to know what we are up to, they don't deserve our consideration...after all, if they truly cared...would any of us be in here?"  

Ramsay shrugged. "I don't care. I am telling my father everything. Joff will tell his mother and Theon will back up what we say if need be." Theon shrugged but gave a half hearted nod. Then Ramsay looked back at Sansa with that same smirk. "Just remember....I'm going to get you for Damon. And when I do...you better start praying the Tickler shows. Because I will do way worse to you than that monster could ever do."


	30. Impressions

Jeyne was trying to figure out what to wear on her head when there was a knock at her door. Polliver followed the quick knock with opening the door and grinning at her. "Kevan wants you up at the house. Head up there, right now."

He surveyed the awkward girl in her pressed, sparkling white blouse, creased pants and polished shoes. Giving a quick approving nod, Polliver spoke.

"Well, here is an improvement. Very nice job on your outfit, girl. What's up with all those hats? Where did you even get most of those things? That one looks like the one Sandor wears when he paints...it is, isn't it? Guess you will be bringing that back, won't you? Let's see...how about this one, try it on. No, not unless you are going skiing. That one is very pretty, but when will you get the summer bikini to go with it? Give it back to Whore. She gave it to you? Then keep it and hope for a bikini and a beach. How about this, perfect! Look a nice summer cap and it's all white. Perfect, now head up to Kevan's." 

She stalked up to Kevan's house then timidly entered the lobby, her bravado at being Jeyne The Person fading a little. Gilly came in and smiled nicely at the cringing girl. "Hello, are you Jeyne? Kevan is waiting for you in his study. I'll take you there." Jeyne followed silently as the maid led her to the study. Gilly opened the door for Jeyne who slipped past her nervously. As soon as Jeyne entered the room fully, Gilly shut the door quietly.

Kevan was sitting behind his desk and stood up when the girl entered. Twirling his pen, Kevan smiled and gestured for Jeyne to come forward as he slowly came around the desk. Sitting upon the front of his desk, he waited while Jeyne tried to walk like a Person to the chair and calmly sit down. Once she was seated, Kevan leaned forward slightly.

"Dear Jeyne, don't look so nervous. I did not call you in here because of any trouble or behavior issues. Today, your father will be coming to our school. He will be expecting to see you serving, helping out Hot Pie. I expect he will speak with you in private while he is visiting here. But unless Roose wishes to speak to you, his rules with you remain the same, darling. You must be silent and pretend you don't know him unless he wishes otherwise."

Jeyne nodded. Then she turned her eyes up to Kevan, confused. "Sir, if my father is visiting here but not for me...who is he seeing?" Kevan gave a pleasant smile to her but inwardly winced.

"I am sorry, dear. Roose is here to see his son, Ramsay. Jeyne, Ramsay doesn't know you are his half sister. Also, Roose will check up on your other half brother, Damon. Truly, your father has not told either boy of you...remember when your father would hide you away when his other son would visit? This is that other son. Ramsay. Roose only discovered Damon a few years back, I think. Roose must have felt generous, allowing Ramsay and Damon to meet, to be together. Today your father plans on revealing the truth to Ramsay about you. I would advise you not to approach Ramsay on this. Are you alright, dear? It's a big thing to take in, I know. But you must not speak to your father, you must say nothing to Ramsay or Damon until Roose does. Do you feel up to this, Jeyne?" 

Jeyne the Feral wanted to burst out of the chair and hide in the woods until the day ended. But Jeyne the Person nodded and attempted a smile. Kevan gave a look of sympathetic approval. "Good girl. I knew I could depend on you. I must say, you look very well put together, dear. Even the hat works perfectly. I am impressed."

When Jeyne headed out the door on stalking tight legs, she was struggling not to run. Raff was lounging on Kevan's porch and Jeyne walked right up to him.

"My father is here today for two half brothers. He let them meet and live together. Be friends. I never met them, never got to. He visits for them. I have to pretend father is a stranger then see him in secret. I hate him. I hate Ramsay. Hate them both. I can't hate Damon but I want to." Raff squeezed her hand tightly and whispered, "Roose is a cold prick who doesn't deserve a daughter like you anyway. Who cares about him or his other kids? Clearly, he sucks as a dad all the way around. Right?"

Jeyne stared at Raff then said, "You are standing close. Just grabbed my hand. Why? You are always very careful, everyone is careful." Shrugging, Raff responded, "Must be because you seem more person than feral today. Huh. Let me walk you back, we can chat about how today should go." Letting go of her hand, Raff started walking down the hill, Jeyne next to him.

Casting a side glance at the girl, Raff took a deep breath and spoke in a soft voice. "I'm sorry about the chains. I messed up because I was angry at you for your revenge plan. It was wrong of me to not think of what would trigger you. Do you forgive me, Jeynie?" Raff smiled and began to lightly nudge into her arm as they walked. Jeyne giggled and nodded. "Yes, I forgive you."

 

Polliver walked the line of ducklings, the new ones only. Twirling his baton, he intoned, "One day. I give you one day of no nicknames. One day to be loved, hugged and coddled. One day that I won't tell your parents that I think the best thing we can do for all of you is give you to Tickler for dinner. In return I expect one day without pranks, rule breaking and without mouths that runneth over. Can we make this deal, ducklings?"

Unella went over each student with the sharpest gaze and all but Sansa and Loras were given adjustments. She gave them all a last once over while Polliver made them all roll their eyes by going over the rules of good behavior just one last time. Raff and Gregor stood nearby, keeping an eye on Jeyne who was helping Piggy set out tables for refreshments. "Think she'll make it through today without running away or trying to eat her father's face off?" Gregor snorted and looked down at Raff. "You are the damned therapist. But yeah, I think today she can do it. As of tomorrow, Ramsay might be on borrowed time if he fucks with her."

Raff glared up at Gregor. "You are the one last night who challenged her to be a person, not a feral and now she thinks she's both! This morning I met the Jeyne the Person but she is afraid of being the feral again. Plus Polliver won't change the nickname until he sees her act this way for at least a month. She is under a lot of pressure right now. If she explodes while visitors are here...Kevan will kill us." With a chuckle, Gregor patted Raff's lovely hair as the man pulled away with a shiver. "No, Heathers, it will be you that Kevan will kill. You are responsible for her, her mentor and therapist, not me."  With a hiss, Raff spat out, "Don't ever call me that! You can't call me that anymore!" He moved away as Gregor laughed.

Harold and Bob flanked Kevan as he came down the stairs to speak to the children. Both of Kevan's men were dressed sharply as always but a close examination could show how they fought not to sag. Joff whispered to Arya that they looked like deflating human balloons and both earned a baton whack for giggling. Polliver leaned down and commented, "If you think sleep deprivation looks so funny, I'm make sure you two can have some sleep loss, see how funny you find it." 

"My lovely students, what an amazing day! Its great weather and your families are coming for a small visit. They will not only spend some time with you but they can meet your teachers, counselors and you can show them your rooms, the school. Eat with them, walk with them and speak, hug and we shall spend time with them also. Telling them of your achievements or lack of them. So enjoy yourselves but please remember, it is only a visit. They leave and you do not. And I will be carefully monitoring everyone, the safety and comfort of my students is very important. Even more important is that our visitors feel that they are comfortable. I am sure you all will strive to show your best behaviors today."

Unella cast an eye around nervously then sidled up to Gregor. "Where the hell are Tyrion and Stannis?" Sighing deeply, Gregor stared down at Unella. "Why does everyone think I have all the answers today? Do I look like a fucking oracle?" Unella stared without saying a word and finally the man spoke. "If I tell you that they are watching from a distance with binoculars will you stop staring at me?" She crossed her arms and just stood there, looking around at nothing. "I refuse to deal with this. I have the students groomed and ready. I am not chasing down grown men acting like children!"

 

"Sirs? Here you go, enjoy." Tyrion and Stannis took the drinks from Hot Pie and thanked him kindly. Smiling, the boy nodded and walked across roof of the kitchen house, inside the small door and down the stairs. "He will do fine here, I think. Notice that he never even asked us why we wanted drinks up here. He just nodded and made the drinks while we set up our chairs."

Stannis sipped the lemonade in pure bliss before responding. "I carried and set up the chairs. You asked Hot Pie for the drinks. That isn't part of his job, he could have said no. He is a fine lad. This lemonade is better than mine or yours. I can taste the lemon tree itself, I taste the sugar cane freshly sliced. I am in love with this lemonade and shall find a way to bribe the boy to make more." Tyrion peered into the lemonade glass then up at Stannis's blissful face. With hope and some trepidation, Tyrion sipped his own drink.

Tyrion sat heavily in the chair and sagged, moaning, sipping. "This is....gods...Stannis...we shall chain him in my cabin. He can be our personal bartender, we can report him as missing." Stannis cracked a small smile and observed, "He did not return your bottle of vodka. Probably kept the rest for a reward." Tyrion shook his head, "No, I think the bottle is here in this glass, at least in spirit. Don't frown again, dear Sir. I NEED this. My sister is coming, all the demons are coming today. Ready those binoculars, look, I see that huge dust cloud! Here they come!"

Both leaned forward, bringing their binoculars to their eyes, still savoring their drinks on their tongues.

"It looks like a funeral procession. All black limousines and black fancy cars. It's been years since we've had this many rich assholes here all at once. Kevan must be dying to jerk off on every glittery one of them." "Good god, Sir! That drink clearly is far too strong for you. I hope you don't speak that way to the visitors!" Tyrion cackled for a moment. "Can you imagine Olenna's face?" Stannis shook his head and enjoyed his lemonade as the cars parked and their guests got out.

"Still looks like they are coming to a funeral, or maybe they have just come from an Edgar Allen Poe reading. They look like a murder of crows heading for the children." "That is very morbid thought. Thank you for that, Tyrion. Wait, Olenna isn't in black, she is...colorful to say the least and somewhat glittery from here. Elderly Tinkerbell." With a cutting smile, Tyrion looked over at Stannis. "Let me assure you that she is no gentle fairy. That rainbow wrapped and diamond soaked old prune owned her husbands and then owned everything my family didn't. She would eat you alive just for fun, dear Stannis."

"Ah, I see your sister, she looks different somehow. Oh, her hair is all gone." Tyrion almost choked on his drink, grabbing for his binoculars. "What? Stannis, I thought you meant the woman was bald! I almost spilled some of that special drink over a bad haircut! Damn you, Sir! A pox upon you. May all the lemon trees fall in a storm!" Stannis frowned. "That is a rather harsh thing to say."

Tyrion sighed. "I am sorry, that was going too far. I take it back. May you get a foot fungus. Now, why does my sister have such short hair? She was rather proud of that long gold mane, her face is harder than ever. I want to hope it's grief over my poor dead niece and nephew. The only redeeming thing about Cersei is that she truly deeply loves her children. It is the only good thing I'd ever say of her, it is sad that I can't say that anymore. I have her last child here and it's clear that she failed with him too. And my job is to tell her that." He took another large sip of his drink. 

Stannis looked at Cersei, the black dress she wore was designer brand and tasteful, a slight suggestion of seduction to it. Her black high heels were so tall and thin yet something about them looked like weapons. A complete contrast to Cat Stark who walked up to the woman to shake her hand, both exchanging smiles so cold and polite that it made the professors wince. "Ouch. That was painful to watch. Do you think it's strange for them to come back here? I don't think being here together is going to mend any fences for those two. Have to admit, it would be fun to watch them have a mean girl fight."

Stannis stared at Tyrion then tried to take away his glass.

"Sir, somethings will destroy our friendship irreparably! Like stealing my manna from heaven! Give me my glass back or I swear to piss in every pitcher of lemonade I ever come across!" Pursed lips and censoring eyes, Stannis returned the drink and went back to watching the arrivals. "There is Ned and his son Robb. Dressed like pallbearers. Oh, wait, they are going to a funeral after this! Petyr's wife died, remember? That explains the black on the Starks, at least. Your sister is probably in black out of mourning for her children and husband."

Tyrion waved a hand dismissively. "If Cersei was wearing something to honor her dead husband, she would be wearing a dress made from his skin with his penis as a necklace. No, the dress is for her dead children and to protest Joff being taken from her. As for Cat...funeral or not, last time I saw her she was going through a fashion period that I like to call Pioneer Gangster Woman, I see it has changed. Now she is in her Victorian Black Widow look. A black lace collar buttoned to her throat, every inch of her covered, how is the woman not keeling over under the sun?"

"Here is Roose Bolton, that repulsive lizard." Tyrion grinned at Stannis tight voice. "Ah, yes, Father of Year has arrived. He looks like the specter of death trying to decide who to take first. Look how Ned and Robb try so hard to look like they aren't disgusted by the man. It must suck having to call on him to take care of their dirty business. At least Roose acknowledges one of his children publicly, we can give him that at least." Stannis glared at the man with a stern, indignant look. "What he did to Jeyne, what he let Bethany do to her...and Domeric, that poor boy...such potential, the only normal child Roose ever produced." Tyrion sighed, "How Bethany and Roose ended up with a kindhearted boy is a miracle. Sadly, that isn't a family that deals in emotions and morals. He was dead from the day he was born."

Tyrion watched Cat collect her men, rescuing them from Roose. Olenna came thumping forward on a sliver cane with crystal grip. "In the sun, that old crone is a brilliant gem among coal. However, once her mouth opens, she is just like the rest of them, just a bit blunter, but never underestimate that woman, dear Sir, trust me." Grimly Stannis finished his drink. "I trust none of them, Tyrion. I trust you and myself. Now, finish your drink and let's make sure you are dressed properly. We must go meet the concerned family members. We must try and find words that cast our worst students in the best light possible. That will be very hard with Joff." Tyrion groaned. "Don't remind me." "Good god, Sir! Where is your tie and your comb?"

 


	31. If You Leave, You Always Can Come Home

Kevan always loves his rituals, always bemoaned that politics wasn't for him but for his brother. However, what he loves even more than speeches and rituals is former students. They never understand the grip he had in their hearts deep down. As soon as they enter, no matter how they were dressed, no matter their status now, it drops when they enter. The true person flashes forth and their childhood surges upwards as if the mere place transforms them.

It was amazing to see the two chilly women enter then go side by side as Kevan began to speak. They didn't look at each other but the longer he spoke the more they started to smirk, to make small comments and finally, there it was. The side glances to each other and Kevan smiled brighter. He could almost see Bethany standing with them. Roose suddenly developed a slight lean to his body that wasn't there before he entered. He sneered at the two women, something he wouldn't dare to do in any public situation.

This transformation also happens to former staff. Which is why Olenna's many ringed gnarled knuckles rapped overly large jewels into the women's hands when they were too loud. Kevan became utterly expansive at this point, in sheer joy. Robb and Ned stood like oak trees but their eyes blazed with impatience. He never had a chance to have these two in his school, as staff or student. It was no loss, they weren't the type for this school anyway. Strong men can be found anywhere.

Finally, Kevan introduced the staff and let the them loose. The most dignified stampede headed straight for the children all standing in a line. It was such an imposing sight that he noted the children all paled and stepped back a little. A sudden soft snore next to his right shoulder caused Kevan to frown.

"Harold, did I just hear Bob snore?"

 

Olenna sat down at a small table, across from Loras. "Well, now let's look at you and survey the damage, young man." Loras smiled as the old but sharp eyes took all of him in. Loras sat calmly through this, used to her tactics. His smile was genuine, he had no idea how much he's missed her until just now. Which was funny because those last few weeks before the accident, he despised her. "Do I pass your inspection?"

The eyes flew up to his then widened in horror and a trembling bejeweled finger pointed forth. "What...what are those things perched upon your nose?"

"My glasses. No eye contacts are allowed here. I like them actually, thin gold frames seem to suit me. If you think this is bad, you should see poor Arya's glasses. She was given these large, eighties large, pair of violet frame glasses. She will only wear them at school."

Leaning back, folding her hands upon the table, Olenna narrowed her eyes. "And your hair, Loras? Are you running for office or have you decided to join a ministry? Where is that long styled, fashionable mop I have grown so used to?" Shrugging, Loras responded, "I cut it off or rather, Stannis cut it off for me. We don't have styling products in here and it kept getting in my face. I looked silly with a ponytail."

"You could have tried one of those man bun things I have recently seen men wearing. Of course, that would have prompted me to violence."

Loras laughed and offered to get his grandmother a pastry. She declined but then a young man appeared before them silently. "Good gods, are you here to whisk me off to my eternal rest? Because that is what happens when you sneak up upon the elderly, young man! What are you peddling?" Hot Pie smiled and set a small tray of plates before her. "Sorry, Mrs. Tyrell. I wanted to offer you a small sampling of treats. Not pastries. I made this cheese myself, baked the crackers and bought the figs from a specialty store. I hope you enjoy this. Have a wonderful day." 

By the time Olenna surveyed the small dishes, the boy was gone. Loras waved his hand and smiled. "Hot Pie is our cook here. He is truly amazing, try the food." Olenna was wary and declared, "If this poisons me and I die, nothing goes to you, I leave every cent, every brick and every single one of my episodes of Breaking Bad to a free range chicken farm."  Olenna took a small bit of cheese on the cracker and that was that last she took notice of her grandson. At least until she finished every single cracker and fig, the last of the cheese scraped out of it's bowl. "I shall kidnap that boy and chain him to my kitchen, Loras. Tell me, where do they keep the tasers in here?"

Loras walked with his grandmother so she could meet Stannis and Tyrion. "I know they have a bad reputation out there, grandmother, but in here...I really respect both of them. They have gone through great lengths to get me anything I wanted or needed for academics, once they saw that I meant to learn. I mean, what else can I do while I'm here? Meditate and appreciate nature? That only gets me so far...so I have decided to let Stannis mentor me. Find my talent."

Olenna nodded and thumped her cane into the dirt. "So from party boy to the scholar? There is a leap that I find quite stunning. I like it. Let's see where that takes you, dear boy." Loras took his grandmother's arm and began to tell her of the calender project as they headed for the teachers.

 

Cersei barely managed to hug her son before he bounced about her like a demented puppy. He had so much to say that he was tripping over his own words and kept clutching at her. Finally, she got Joff to take a breath. "Son, I cannot understand you. Mother is here for you and I want to hear everything you say. Take a very deep breath and then try again. I will wait and I promise to listen. Now...ready? Deep breath. And now, speak slowly."

 Joff started talking at normal speed then it wound it's way into cocaine fueled chipmunk. Cersei caught enough of it however. "Uncle Tyrion slaps me, him and Stannis throw things at me, call me insulting names all the time! They make me room with a girl, with Arya fucking Stark, mother! And..and Damon rooms with Sansa, he raped her, beat her face in and raped her. Before that, he dislocated her shoulder! This place isn't safe, mom, some lunatic called the Tickler dragged him out screaming, right past us! I want to get out of here before I get killed! They hate me here!"

Eyes glowed and Cersei grew twenty sizes bigger and Joff smiled now. He followed happily as she headed for her brother, the first family member that she saw.  Tyrion was well shielded under Hot Pie's drink, just enough to buzz, not enough to weave. With a pleasant smile, Tyrion beckoned his sister into his office then slammed the door in Joff's face. He twisted the lock shut just as Joff began to try and bang on the door. Tyrion walked to his desk and Cersei slammed her hands down upon it, glaring down at her brother.

"He is your nephew! Your own blood and instead of showing compassion, you strike him, degrade him by calling him names! Still a nasty drunk troll, I see. Nothing has changed for you, has it?" Tyrion offered a pleasant smile and blunt words.

"The last thing that boy needs is my compassion. He is still the same sniveling brat that you've turned him into, dear. And he learns nothing so I cannot give a glowing report of his academics. He sleeps through classes or play pranks with Arya. He skips class whenever he feels he can get away it. Stannis will only give you more of the same. Joff attends detention the way other kids attend after school activities. But here is the good news, Cersei. Here is what did change for him. Since Joff has been here, he has not mutilated, raped or killed any living creature. He has learned some restraint and has discovered there are bigger, meaner things than himself. If he stays here, Joff might settle down more. Might get a mentor, find a talent." 

Cersei snarled but sat down across from her brother. "And what of these other things he says? Boys and girls rooming together? That old dried up cunt Olenna would have never allowed that to happen in my days here. I also heard that Sansa was attacked, raped. I saw the unsightly bruise on that little prude's face. Is it all true? The boy was taken by Tickler in front of my son?" Tyrion shrugged and smiled. "What a lesson that would be for Joff, don't you think? Not what actually happened though. Anyways, concerning the rooming, that wasn't my call. That was the counselor, Polliver. Joff can lead you right to him."  Cersei raised an eyebrow and leaned a little closer to her hated brother. "What did happen to Sansa, Joff can't be totally lying, I saw her face. What happened?"

Tyrion winced and leaned forward. "What happened to that girl is nothing compared to what happened to poor Damon."

 

"It was the silliest thing, Mother. If you look behind that row of sheds, you'll see the dirt bikes. Well, it turns out it's certainly not going to be my talent to be a professional dirt bike rider. Got confused between the break and gas. To the joy of the students and the dismay of the counselors, I went right over the handle bars and landed face first. Took out my face and my shoulder. I'm just glad I had a helmet on." Cat's icy eyes and Ned's concerned ones clashed with Sansa's calm ones.  

Arya watched from the safety of her brothers for what small protection it was worth. Sansa had urged Arya to greet the family first and Arya truly did miss them. So she had gone first and received the chilling kiss of her mother. Cat gave kisses the way a bird pecks it's prey to death. Or the way a vampire eats a necessary meal. A slant of the head and a quick downward peck. The dry lips hit fast and leave before you can feel the tiny freezing wound of it.

"You look well, Arya." "Thank you, mother. I am fine." The ritual was completed and Arya was free to launch herself into a bear hug from her father. A tight enveloping squeeze and gruff words full of love. "I've missed you, Radio. I hate wandering around wishing for my girl to babble at me." Tears in her eyes, Arya started to try and talk to her father. That is when he noticed Sansa greeting her mother, who could not kiss a bruised cheek. Arya nearly fell over when Ned shoved her aside to race next to his wife, to see their bruised beauty.

Before Arya could really get upset over it, Robb was hugging her. Bran rolled up in his new electric chair and accepted a kiss from his sister. "Have you guys missed me too?" Robb rolled his eyes. "I miss not being able to find the remote control. I miss hearing your strange music pounding into my innocent ears. I miss someone messing with my stuff. Yeah, it sucks with you being gone." He laughed when she hit his arm.

Bran smiled. "It's too quiet now at the house. It's great at first to not have girls everywhere...but now it's lonely. And I have no one to tease or prank. Robb is way too busy for me to torment him. And no one else eats the same kind of snacks that you did. It sucks. Can you come home soon? Have you been doing okay here? I have heard stories...this place might be bad."

Arya screamed in her head and smiled at her concerned brother. "No, it's fine here." Robb tilted his head towards Sansa and asked, "What the hell happened to Sansa's face?" Forcing a giggled, Arya leaped into Bran's lap. "You will be jealous that you both missed it. She tried to ride a dirt bike and face-planted! Now give me a ride in this thing, Bran. How fast can you go?"

 

Ramsay and Roose gave each other the same smirk, the same fire and ice glare while they sat across from each other at a small table. Roose kept his voice soft and smooth, without emotion as always. Ramsay had a voice that was more a sarcastic version of his father's but he didn't care who heard him speak. "How are you, Ramsay? Have you changed any while you've rested here?" Ramsay tilted his head. "Rested? Is that what I am doing? Is that what you did when you were a student here, you...rested? Huh. I don't think we have the same meaning of rested."

Roose looked at Ramsay as if he was a slug that just slid across his pastry. "Compared to prison, this is a restful place." Ramsay gave a small laugh. "True, father, very true. Wouldn't want me to be subjected to prison rape. Hey, speaking of rape...do you know that Sansa Stark set up Damon for rape? He got dragged off by the fucking Tickler, father! Did you ever have the fucking terror of seeing the man? We did and Damon hasn't been seen since. Just saying. Now let me tell you of this fucked up place and..." He watched with hard eyes as his father stood up and began to walk towards Kevan.

Ramsay got up to follow and grabbed Theon's wrist. "Come on, this is our chance to find out how Damon is! Then we can tell father whatever we can to get the hell out of here!" Theon sighed but followed. He had sat there like a lump, only to be looked at once by Roose, who then snapped, "I hope to hear from the staff that you are worth what is being payed for you." Theon had felt himself turn red but the man only spoke with Ramsay after that. He knew better than to argue with Ramsay about being left out of a family issue. Once Ramsay got going, it was pointless, dangerous even, to try and change his course.

Kevan gave Roose the most expansive smile that twinkled in the bright sun. "Ah, Roose Bolton! How far you have come since being a student here. And how far you have come to visit your son, another student here! You look perturbed, Roose. Is something wrong?" Roose gave the thinnest of smiles and his voice was full of polite courtesy. "Hello, Kevan. I have noticed Damon is missing. And my son is telling me the most interesting stories, concerning Damon and Sansa. Where is Damon? I would like to see him immediately."

The smile didn't change in the least. "Of course you may see Damon. He is in the clinic, he isn't feeling very well these days. Thanks to your son and Joff. They got into some rather strong drugs and convinced Damon to take them as well. Sadly, his trip was quite bad and they kept pretending to be Tickler, scaring the boy half to death. We had to restrain the poor boy all last night but he is much better today. Resting and unable to handle the stress of this day. But I will be happy to take you to the clinic. Unella is an excellent doctor and Raff is a therapist that is quite fond of the boy. They have given him excellent care."

Ramsay glared at Kevan then implored his father. "That is entirely untrue! He is lying! Damon was framed by Sansa! She gave him the drugs, raped him then smashed her own face in! All to try and-" The hand hit fast and hard along with the voice.

"That is enough. You will not make a scene. I saw that girl's face, Ramsay. What pretty girl would do that to her face? But I can easily see you scaring Damon half to death after drugging him. Not something you haven't done to him before. Remember that Halloween you drugged his candy? Then dressed like a killer clown and chased him until he threw up?" Roose looked back at Kevan. "I remember the way to the clinic, thank you. No need to bother yourself."

Turning away as if he couldn't leave quick enough, Roose headed down the hill. Ramsay dragged Theon behind him, his face contorted with anger and hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Olenna Tyrell, Cersie Lannister, Roose Bolton, Cat Stark: Big Balls by AC/DC


	32. Family Time

"I'm sorry, Mr. Bolton but as you can see, Damon is still heavily sedated. Unrestrained at least, now when he does wake, he mainly cries instead of trying to bolt away. If you shake him, perhaps he will respond. Sadly, what passed easily through Joff and Ramsay didn't go so easily for this poor child. Because he is larger, the boys assumed to give him three times their personal drug doses. Also, they were not careful in their choice of party drugs. This is a medical center that contains many drugs that cause extreme hallucinations at very high doses. It is never recommended for anyone to take such high levels."

Unella gave a stern glance at an open mouthed Ramsay.

Theon simply looked at the floor, wishing to be a thousand miles away.  He felt awful about how the school just set up Joff and Ramsay but there was nothing he could do _but_ feel bad. If he tried to give Ramsay any kind of sympathy those cold eyes of Roose would land on him. Not to mention Ramsay would probably hit him for it. Ramsay was beyond stunned. He honestly couldn't believe so many adults would turn into a mutiny of cunts and set up their own students this way. And how to prove them wrong to his father who already believes the worst of his son at the best of times?

Roose tried to shake Damon and softly call his name. After a moment, there was some mild whimpers and sobbing. Ramsay came closer but his father pinned cold eyes upon him. "Do not come any closer to me or your poor half brother. How could you? Why do my children always end up killing each other one way or another?" With clenched fists, Ramsay snarled, "I had nothing to do with Domeric's disappearance but you'll always suspect me because you resent and hate me!" Roose sighed and smoothed down Damon's sweat drenched hair.

"No, Ramsay. I can't tell you this enough times, can I? I never thought you killed Domeric even though you were very jealous of him. But no, I have always known you didn't kill Domeric. But given the chance and time, you would have. Pity, I chose to legitimize you because I thought you were sane, intelligent and looked like me. Compared to the others, after Domeric, I thought you were my best choice. How wrong was I to assume that, Ramsay?"

Unella gave a grim fleeting smile to Ramsay as she discreetly left the room. Theon wished mightily that the doctor would tell him to leave too. That didn't happen and he tried to meld into the curtains. Ramsay snarled at Unella as she left then looked back at the only man he's ever loved and hated so much. Roose paced around Damon's bed slowly and continued his soft voiced assault.

"I was told that Damon had stopped following you about. That he has become studious, well, as the boy can be. He was pitied and befriended by Sansa and Loras. They and staff had urged him to ignore you and that upset you greatly. And Joff is just spiteful in general. So you figured to teach Damon a lesson with your drugs. You should pray that you never actually meet the real Tickler, Ramsay. There is one, there is always a real Tickler. I am just thankful that Damon didn't meet the real one. As for the rape story that you and Joff have concocted, I assure you, we are not pulling you all out of the school. I think it is a new low for you."

 

Cersei and Cat strolled towards the restroom in the cafeteria at the same time. "I heard an interesting tale about your daughter's poor face and a boy who's currently missing visitor's day." Cat responded calmly, "I heard an interesting tale about your son, Ramsay Bolton and a drug induced Tickler." The women told each other the tales and both left the ladies room with eyes blazing, full of unladylike thoughts.

Cat sat down at the long table and smiled at Sansa. Robb, Bran and Ned were devouring gourmet cheeseburgers, fancy sandwiches and pesto macaroni salad as if they have never tasted them before. Arya was laughing at them but she wasn't saying too much as she was busy eating salt and pepper crusted chicken wings. Sansa was nibbling at a bowl of salad, peeking across the table at her mother. Eyes clashed and Cat ignored the food to speak with her daughter.

"I was told a different tale of how you injured your face. I was told that you were raped by Damon. That he was taken by the Tickler for it. I did notice the rather large handsome boy missing. He was rooming with you, wasn't he, dear? Did he hurt you, rape and beat you? I am your mother, you can tell me anything, dear."

Sansa gave a smile and shook her head. "Mother, that is all ridiculous. I don't know who told you that, but they are lying. Damon got messed up with drugs, Ramsay and Joff talked him into it. They knew he was scared of the Tickler stories so they dressed up and scared him while he was high. He's in the clinic. Go see for yourself. Really, I am perfectly fine and fit, just not a dirt bike rider."

With a small nod, Cat sipped another her cup of coffee. "This is delicious. I must ask for the brand." Sansa laughed and said, "Won't help you any. We have a rather amazing cook and the staff keeps an online account they fund so he can buy special ingredients from anywhere. He grinds, sifts and seasons the coffee beans himself." The woman sighed then delicately put a small sandwich on her plate and a dab of the macaroni salad.

With a very casual voice, Cat spoke as her fork toyed with the food. "I also heard another story, a rather distasteful one. The story was about you setting Damon up for rape. I don't believe it, of course."

Hands tightening on her napkin, Sansa dabbed her lips then crinkled her nose. "I raped Damon? Has no one noticed our size difference? Must be Ramsay or Joff. They hate me, Joff resents Arya as his roommate. Plus I have advised Damon to stop being around Ramsay's influence. I guess I made myself a target without meaning to."

Cat looked carefully at Sansa but before she could say more, a young man appeared with a small tray.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Stark? I am aware that this kind of fare isn't to your taste. I hope I made the minced beef and onion soup correctly for you. There is fresh churned butter and thick freshly baked brown bread. Please enjoy." The boy was gone and Cat's nostrils flared. Even as her eyes were trying to zoom into her oldest daughter, her hand was picking up the spoon. Breaking through the thick layer of melted cheese, the spoon found the tender bits of beef and thick sliced onion.

It was hopeless after the first bite of soup, it was useless after the first taste of bread. Sansa helped herself to one of Arya's chicken wings as the girls relaxed finally. They listened to the family concoct a plan to coax Hot Pie into their limousine later and knew they were safe for now.

 

Roose sat at a table across from Ramsay and Theon.

He surveyed the platters of food, backyard grilled fare and probably made by the same terrible old cook. His nostrils told him differently but Roose was too focused on his son. Damon's condition was shocking and dismaying. Roose was aware that no story he has heard today has been the truth. Which story is the true one, he gathers would be hard to discover.

Roose found it hard to believe that Sansa would destroy her own face, but she was Cat's daughter. He recalls how ruthless his classmates were, Cat was quite the savage herself. If Cat had needed to do such a thing, she would have without hesitation. Yet, Roose could easily see Ramsay playing a terrible joke on Damon by drugging him. He hoped that actually was the true story, the thought of Damon meeting one of Kevan's Ticklers was horrible.

That poor boy, Roose had fostered him, allowed Ramsay to know him, hoping to try things differently. Separating Domeric from Jeyne led to tragedy. Of course, most of that blame lies directly on his dead wife. He hoped allowing Ramsay and Damon to be brothers would create a better ending. Except Damon was dumb, easily led and Ramsay just pulled the boy into every bloody thing he did. How can Roose believe that Ramsay wouldn't react badly to Damon not following him anymore?

So Roose's eyes landed upon Theon, who instantly cringed and tried to pretend he was invisible. Bloodless lips curled into a small smile as Roose leaned forward, ready to pick the boy until he exposed truth. Ramsay grabbed Theon's hand as if in support and Theon swallowed his mouthful of burger then faced the imposing man. "Theon...it seems you have all the same classes as Ramsay. Roommates and clearly close friends. Surely you can cast some light on the different stories I have heard?" Theon paled and stammered, looking down then he steadily looked back up at Roose.

"I don't pay attention to gossip or rumors, Sir."

Before Roose could challenge that absurd statement, a young man stood before him holding a tray.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bolton. I hope you do not take offense, but I made a special dish for you. I do hope I made it correctly, please let me know if I didn't." The bowl was set before Roose, as well as a selection of thick bread and fresh butter. Scoffing at such obvious tricks, Roose started to eat as he stared at Theon. That is when Roose Bolton discovered he has never had true clam chowder before until now. As Roose enjoyed the cheddar cheese and corn biscuits, Ramsay smirked at him.

"No, before you say it, I won't help you steal our cook. Even if you believed me today and offered to let me leave. Well, if I get to leave here, then yeah, I'd help you just so I can continue to eat the food."

 

Cersei sat across from Joff and continued to sip at her coffee.

"Want a plate of anything?" Shaking her head, Cersei smirked. "No dear, I am on a diet. Besides, remember, mommy told you she went to school here. We had a very bad cook and I don't intend to repeat those digestive offenses." Joff shrugged as he ruthlessly stripped chicken wings with his teeth until they were nothing but small bones upon his plate. "Mother, you have to get me out of here. I told you all the shitty things going in this place! It's not like when you were here."

"I should hope not! It is actual much better and I can see that you are healthy. You look tanned, stronger, I like it. I don't believe those terrible stories of you, dear, of course I don't. But this is a place that you must stay in for a little bit longer. Just until we can get Kevan to see that you are doing better. We must do this the right way, honey. I need you to do your part while I do mine. That means just try a tiny bit harder in classes, find a mentor, look for your talent. While you keep showing progress, mother can find a way to get Kevan to release you. He likes to see students become useful. And he won't release a student until he feels they are ready."

Joff would have argued more but he continued eating his chicken, adding some macaroni salad to his plate. A young man approached and set a drink down in front of Cersei, then a small tray. "Excuse me, Mrs. Baratheon-Lannister, I am sorry for disturbing you. This drink is complements of your brother, I made him this same concoction earlier. I hope you enjoy it. Also, I am aware that heavy fare is not appealing to some. I hope this lighter dish will do."

Cersei found herself lost in liquor fueled ambrosia. It only seemed enhanced by the baked crackers and salmon pate. The fresh fruit was exotic and the whipped yogurt dip was too good for Cersei to leave even a little left in the tiny bowl. "Dearest, mommy is going to get you out of here as soon as I can and we will kidnap that cook as well."

 

Hot Pie was hot, tired and sweaty, leaning against the wall for a second. Kevan walked up to him and the boy struggled to stand straighter.

"Excellent work, Hot Pie. I believe you might have accomplished the impossible. You got some of the most dangerous and problem causing parents around to shut up and eat in harmony with their families. Amazing work, boy. I have decided this might be your redemption. Perhaps I was too hasty in my judgment on your loyalty. I shall think upon things."

Jeyne served pitchers of lemonade and coffee, she brought full dishes and took away empty ones. She looked at no one, spoke to no one and not once did she give a single glance to her father. Roose looked at her a few times and at first he was satisfied at how well she obeyed orders to not acknowledge him in public. He noticed that she was acting much more human than feral but he wondered at her shaved head.

Glancing at Ramsay, Roose hoped he was doing right by telling the boy the truth. But being in the same school there is a chance that one or the other would find out anyway. Both were too dangerous to learn the truth without supervision. After they had eaten their fill, after Roose watched Jeyne leave the cafeteria, he spoke. "Ramsay, there is something else, another reason why I came today. I have something to tell you, show you. Let's take a walk, son." 


	33. Daddy Dearest

While the families ate, the staff did the same in their usual spot, even for visitors, they couldn't, wouldn't change their place for meals. They worked too hard for it. It was the only time they could relax, argue, discuss the day or release some anger, tell a joke. It was their time to eat good food and have good drinks.

Hot Pie started to add mixed drinks to his supper offerings to the staff table right after his report. This had endeared him to them enough to talk the staff into making him an account to buy exotic or different items for meals and drinks. The boy was truly learning to work the system and Polliver got the praise while the boy got a third of their measly paychecks. They all received strong drinks during their lunch today as well as their favorite sandwiches.

Raff had looked over and groaned. He saw Jeyne put down the last tray and stalk out of the door, running off.

 "There goes Jeyne. Gods, I hope she makes it through this. Ramsay will do something stupid, she'll kill them both, I know it." Polliver rolled his eyes. Gregor snorted at Raff's dramatic lamenting. "Kevan said she can't see Roose without supervision, we will both be there. I doubt she can take down both of us then kill the Boltons." Polliver grinned. "She might just go hiding instead. If she feels she can't fight or act normal, Feral will just hide until they leave. Then kill Ramsay afterwards." Sandor shook his head at all them in disgust. "How about just offering her some damned support or sedate her enough to get her through it?"

Unella dug into her chicken pesto sandwich with a vengeance that was slightly scary to watch. "This will trigger her. Just hope she doesn't react until it's over. You should both be with her, Sandor is right." They all stared at her, not for her words but her actions. She managed to eat the entire sandwich in three bites and was now reaching into Gregor's plate. His artisan bread with goat cheese, olive and red pepper was gone in three cold hearted bites. Stannis, Sandor and Tyrion all lifted their plates and clutched them tightly. Unella's eyes went to Polliver's plate and her hand snatched Raff's pastrami sandwich fast.

"Raff, when did you put the tracker back in Jeyne's arm?" Freezing, the handsome man who was just a moment ago about to fight a pregnant doctor for his sandwich, responded, "I didn't. I thought you did." Unella stared at Raff then bit hard into his sandwich, then Gregor and finally at Polliver. "I guess the counselors and therapist of Jeyne better go find her." The three cursed but left fast, hoping Jeyne wasn't already somewhere in hiding mode. As soon as they stood to leave, Unella leaned over and stole Polliver's shaved steak, tomato and provolone wrap. Sandor, Stannis and Tyrion shoved their meals into their mouths as fast as they could. 

Regardless, the only thing safe was their drinks. When they finished eating, Unella already had devoured the miniature lemon cakes, a key lime pie and a plate of brownies. Stannis looked at Unella with trembling lips and a quivering nose. The slightest gleam of tears in his eyes. "You monster."

 

Jeyne was pacing near the edge of the woods, muttering then slamming her palms against a tree. Polliver acted as if he were just strolling on by, twirling his baton. He texted Raff that he found her, didn't bother to text Gregor. Humming, so she heard him coming, he walked near her and then leaned against a tree.

"Sweetheart, that's a good way to mess up your hands. Then Unella has a reason to pull you into her office. Careful, your outfit is so perfect today. Everyone is impressed with you, even myself, duckling. It's hard and sucks the way your family has fucked with you...and needing to face Roose and Ramsay. But I hope, we all hope that Jeyne the Person stares them in their faces and shows them up as the best human in the room. Because you are the best of that lot, trust me."

Jeyne shook her head and glared at Polliver. "That's not true! Domeric was the best of us all and he died for it! Ramsay will LOOK and he will LAUGH then act like...SHE DID!" Slamming her palms again, Jeyne struggled to stay, to not just let the mindless feral behavior take over no matter the comfort in it.

"All of us are rooting for you, the whole damned staff. And next report I want to announce that you have earned back your name, but as I told Raff...I need to see it to believe you are ready to lose your nickname. Of course, if you are acting like a Jeyne, it would be silly to keep calling you Feral, right?"

With a wistfulness, Jeyne wrapped her arms around herself and peered up at Polliver. "Give me my name back? At the next report, for real? Everyone is really wanting to see me do good? Are you lying?" Polliver chuckled and twirled his baton, stretching out before standing straight. "No, duckling, I am not lying to get good behavior from you. I am going to trust that Jeyne will have good behavior so that she can lose her Feral nickname."

To Jeyne's surprise, Polliver strolled away without coaxing her back from the woods.

She followed him on stalking legs, her hands curled, but she headed back anyway. Raff was there and he gently took her stiff hands, massaging them, speaking softly. "Don't tense up, Jeynie. They can't hurt you anymore. We are your family now, right? All of us, the whole staff, Hot Pie and Myranda, we all only want to see you grow and become a person that can face anything. This is the start of your real life, Jeynie, remember that. You have come so far, don't you let Roose or Ramsay drag you back down to their level."  

A few moments later, Gregor showed up and after hitting Raff for no reason that Jeyne could see, he gave her a cheerful smile. "There you are! Glad to see that you didn't decide to turn into a monkey! Now, daddy is telling Ramsay about you right now. Then he wants to visit with you. We are going to be with you the whole time, you have your own support team today! Because we know what sadistic fucks Roose and Ramsay can be. So, we are meeting them in the therapy circle barn. Big enough space for Ramsay to jump and wave his arms in."

Jeyne giggled and Raff held her hand as they walked, Gregor on her other side, not touching her, but staying close.

 

Roose walked with his hands behind his back, Ramsay mimicking him. He had told Theon that he wished to speak in private with his son. That kid took off as fast as he could, but not until after he squeezed Ramsay's shoulder. Roose could hear the arrogant boy mocking him with Joff from a distance and he glared at his son.

"Lovely replacement for Damon that you've found. I am sure that by the time I see him again that arrogance will be gone and replaced by...whatever you've decided. He isn't a friend, it's a boyfriend, I can see that, son. I am not stupid but nor do I care. It won't be any different then any girlfriends you managed to have. Luckily, his father won't be after me for damages later. Balon wouldn't dare and he would be too disgusted anyway."

Ramsay smirked and looked up at his father with glittery manic eyes, with his face pulled into polite cheerfulness. "Wonderful bonding time with you, father. It's been so good to see you. Since you don't believe anything I say, you really should just go home now. It's such a long way and I'm sure you'd like to get started. Till next time, then?" Roose sighed and continued on his path with a leisurely pace.

"Such impertinence. No, I am not quite ready to leave, Ramsay. Soon, but not yet. We must talk. You are aware of both your half brothers. You were allowed to meet Domeric and live for a while with Damon. However, do you remember how you were not allowed near other portions of the house until Domeric died? Until my wife died? There was a reason for that, Ramsay." Roose looked forward only and continued, wanting to get this distasteful but needed business out of the way.

"My wife was a very cold and jealous woman. She married me not for love but because Kevan made the match for us, to benefit our families and his own. Bethany understood my ways but never accepted them with peace and grace. Luckily, you and Damon still had mothers to at least attempt to raise you. She was not gracious about your visits and hated allowing Domeric near you. Bethany never found out about Damon. I also have a daughter and her mother died when she was only five. My wife did not take well to having someone else's daughter in her home and I was traveling quite a lot back then. To be honest, I avoided the family dramatics and I allowed my wife too free a reign on the girl. Bethany insisted on keeping the child separate from all of you. However, since you are in the same school as her now...you must meet your half sister. She is waiting to see me in the barn."

Ramsay stopped walking and stared at Roose. "What? I have a what? And this was the clear perfect time to tell me I have a sister? No other point up until now seemed important enough to tell me? How many kids do you have just wandering around?" Roose spun around and stood over his son. "You will come into the barn, you will meet your half sister and then I will leave. And I hope that whatever mess you have created is fixed by the time I visit again. I agree with the staff, you should not be friends with Damon anymore. He is your half brother and you will support him rather than hurt him. And once you've met your sister, you can continue to avoid her too. But I am being a good father by offering the honesty, giving you the respect of the truth. Try to be grateful for that. Now let's go."

 

With a scowl, Ramsay followed Roose into the barn and his jaw dropped for a second time in one day.

Raff let go of Jeyne's hand and she took two stiff steps forward. Her head rose with a snap and her eyes went straight to Roose. "Hello, father." He moved closer as if to kiss or hug her and Jeyne moved away fast. Gregor stayed near the back of the room and Raff leaned against the closed door. Roose looked slightly ruffled but his face smoothed out as the girl kept a foot of distance between them.

"Hello, Jeyne, how are you? You look so much better than the last time I saw you. I am so pleased at your progress. I got your report personally this time and I was happy to hear how well you've been getting. Not a single bad thing, just progression that slowly takes place. Kevan said you might even have your eye on talent or two."

Jeyne nodded and clasped her hands together tightly. "I am happy here. I am learning and have support here. Thank you for visiting me. Have a good trip home. Bye."

Gregor grinned and Raff smothered a laugh as Jeyne gave a cheery wave to Roose. Her eyes looked so hopeful until Roose smirked and sighed.

"Very nice try, dear. I am afraid I won't be able to find you a society husband that can be held by your charms yet, Jeyne. That wasn't a very convincing way to make someone leave." Roose tilted his head, peering at her cap. "And may I ask, why is your head bald? Who shaved off all that lovely hair you hid behind?"

Jeyne stuck her chin up high and peered down her nose at him. "I did it to myself. I watched G. I. Jane and got the idea. I am learning to kick-box, I am learning to use an axe. I will learn to make my anger and feral instincts work for me."

Ramsay shut his mouth then let out a burst of laughter, coming closer. He peered at Jeyne as if he were at a zoo and she was the exhibit. "Oh gods, the feral, dad? You and Bethany were the ones that fucked her up this bad? To make her a little beast? Damn, guess I owe you an apology after all, you really did do better by me and Damon, didn't you? Is that how Domeric really died, Dad? Did Jeyne eat Domeric and you just let me suffer, thinking you thought I did it?"

Jeyne growled softly but stood her ground. Roose turned to Ramsay. "How many times have I told you? I never thought you killed Domeric! Never! Only YOU got that in your damned head. And you will not mock me or my dead wife, son. Or I'll strike you down right here in front of them all. Do you hear me?"

Ramsay gritted his teeth but nodded. "Oh, I hear you, father. Loud and clear. Now that you've shown me just how bad of a father you can be, I feel immensely better about my own life." He gave a jaunty thumbs up and his manic cheerfulness was back. Leaning past his father's slender build, Ramsay gave a wave to Jeyne.

"Hey there, Sis. Nice to meet you! I will remember to send you a small gift on the holidays! Maybe a nice bone or a designer leash with matching collar? Though I have to say, until now I didn't see the resemblance, but you have our father's eyes and your hair was the same color. How lovely for you."

Jeyne tensed but she just looked back at Ramsay. "I did not know until today either. I will remember you on the holidays too, Ramsay. Would you like a live skinned animal or still with its fur so you can do it yourself?" Gregor and Raff didn't hide their smiles this time at all. Ramsay snarled at her then gave a sweet smile and started to walk over to her. Roose looked wary and tried to stay between them but Jeyne gave a smirk as Ramsay slid past his father's grasp.

They stood eye to eye and the three men in the room tensed, ready to launch at the dangerous children.  Jeyne spoke first, softly. "I am not your enemy, Ramsay." He smiled and responded just as softly, just as their father would. "You are my sister. We are family. We aren't enemies. But we aren't friends." Jeyne returned the smile with just as manic and chilly as Ramsay's. "No, we aren't friends. That doesn't have to change either. If you leave me alone, I will leave you alone."

Ramsay tilted his head and got a playful look on his face. "Maybe someday, we can take the time to chat. To see if we can ever be friends." Jeyne shrugged. "Maybe someday. Not now." Ramsay gave a soft laugh that was mocking. "No, not yet. Someday. For now, we are not anything but a shared father. You aren't anything to me, really. Actually, you aren't really anyone at all. Maybe someday you can be a someone, never give up on that, little Feral."

Jeyne growled and Ramsay returned it as Roose grabbed his arm and yanked him backwards sharply. Gregor was just behind Jeyne as Raff came forward. "I think that is enough for Jeyne now. Say your goodbyes, please." Roose glared at Raff while he shoved Ramsay behind him. "I have a right to visit with any of my children as long as I would wish for." Gregor smiled and swept Jeyne behind his bulk with one large hand.

"Not according to Kevan, Mr. Bolton. Damon and Jeyne are on limitations with visitors for their own health and safety. Please visit with Ramsay as long as you'd like, until visitor time has ended. But Jeyne is done visiting now. You may say your farewells. Or you can argue and I will take her out of her without a last word. Your choice, Mr. Bolton."

Jeyne peeked past Gregor and gave an empty strained smile. "Bye father, thank you for visiting me. See you later, Ramsay." Grabbing Raff's arm so tightly that he winced, Jeyne whispered, "I need to leave now, please. I am done here. Escort me out so I can leave like a full person, I want to crawl and run but I don't want that to be the last thing my father sees. Please?" Raff smiled and left the man to argue with Gregor.

He led Jeyne out the door and tried to coax her towards the clinic. "Nope. You want to get that tracker back in me. I don't like it. Trust me that I won't ever run away so far that I can't come home. This is home, where I can always come back to. No more trackers." Raff tried to explain it was for her own safety but she bolted on him.


	34. Dealing With The Sugar Sun Devils

Olenna smiled gently at Polliver as she approached him, leaning heavily upon her cane.

"Attend me, young man! Do not make me chase you all around the lawn in such an undignified manner! Just wait there, cool your heals while I try not to keel over in the heat and hills of Kevan's torture playground. There now, you are a good man for waiting for an old woman." Polliver tried not to sigh and feel harassed. Then he tried not to show shock as the cane came up and twirled fast, madly as if wielded by a flag girl from hell. The rubber end was in his chest, pushing him backwards.

"Loras tells me you call them your ducklings. Cute, I get it, the ducklings in a row. I called them my row of roses, I had four thorns in my class. Three of them here today, in fact. How many of yours are bad ducklings, young man? Why have you helped ducklings be naughty, junior? Putting boys and girls in rooms together is never a good idea. Whether the story of the rape was real or not, it falls on you for those silly co-ed rooms. You should rectify that. And if I ever hear that Loras is roomed with a girl, I assure you that I have tricks with my cane and rings way better than your little baton. Bah, what have counselors come to?"

Polliver stood there, stunned, as Olenna put her cane firmly into the ground and turned to slowly, nearly arthritic in her movements, head across the lawn. 

 

Unella had checked upon Damon then left his room just to encounter Cat Stark.

Unella was taller and wider, more muscular than this woman yet she felt slightly intimidated. The matriarch was pretty in a hard angle way, her hair was red that was dimmed by weak cold sun, her skin was pale, her eyes were a winter's gaze. Cat's voice was polite but it was icicles, sharp and ready to sink deep. "Doctor, please excuse my intrusion. I do hope the young man is going to be alright. I hear it was drugs. Terrible. A pity that Ramsay and Joff would sink so very low. Surprising on Ramsay's part, considering that boy is in here due to following him so blindly." 

With a professional but empty smile, Unella firmly shut Damon's door behind her. "It is and I assure you that we shall deal with it. However, I am sure you understand that I am not able to discuss other students with you." Cat's demeanor changed so fast that Unella barely saw it happen. The eyes turned darker, almost beady, they were inquisitive and yet blank, merciless. Though Cat did not resemble a bird, her neck extended slightly and her head nodded closer in such a way that Unella thought crazily of a raven coming for her. Each word was a small peck.

"That is actually why I am here, Doctor. Because there is a dreadful rumor I hear about my eldest daughter. And there is a rather large boy claiming to have met the Tickler, in your clinic. If my daughter did truly just suffer a fall from a dirt-bike, I would like to see that report. And all other reports concerning her, please. Now." Unella nodded and gestured. "I would have to enter my office for that, Mrs. Stark. You would need to stop cornering me first, if you don't mind." Her words came out like dropped stones. Cat moved gracefully out of the way and followed the doctor into her office.

Cat waited, sitting ramrod straight in a chair as Unella went through her files and finally produced a thick file. "Here you are, would you like Arya's too?" "Since you've mentioned it, yes, please." Sharp eyes scanned every page of the report and then froze. "What is this?" Unella hid her smile well as she kept looking for a file she was already holding. "What is it, Mrs. Stark?" "I see that Sansa tested positive for drugs once. There is a side note that it is the same drug found in Ramsay and Joff's blood at other times after being near Sansa. That there was a question of Sansa dealing? My daughter does not do drugs. She does not deal or steal drugs. This is to be removed, it was an error."

Unella pulled Arya's file forth and gave Cat her most brilliant stare and professional tone. "I am afraid that is the truth. The staff are witnesses, not students that might hold a grudge. As for changes in her record, you'll have to speak with Kevan, Mrs. Stark."  Cat stood up, clutching Sansa's file. "Why would anyone hold grudges against Sansa?" Unella shrugged, "Not all kids like a perfect girl like your daughter." Cat ignored Arya's file and snapped, "I shall take Sansa's file with me to see Kevan. He will return it to you after I have him amend it. Good day, Doctor." Unella smirked and put back Arya's folder and would pull out Sansa's real file later on after the Starks were long gone. 

 

Cersei walked up to her uncle with a fake pleasant smile upon her face, her voice was warm honey. "Uncle, how wonderful it is to see you." Kevan smiled brilliantly at his niece and hugged her, kissing her blond hair. "My dearest niece! The last time I saw you was at the services for your small children. I must say that you look better already, that short hair just suits you somehow. And black is certainly a stunning color and perfectly suits you! Now, I trust you had a very good visit with Joff and the staff that works with him?"

"Oh yes. I had a very detailed visit from my son. Then another one with Tyrion, my brother had admitted to abusing my son to my face. Slapping his own nephew and that dreadful Stannis admitted to throwing chalk, books and erasers at Joff's head. Then I hear that students had been allowed access to drugs. Joff was sent here to get away from substances and those that would deal it to him. Or so I thought. Since my son is no better here, why does he need to stay? I have found other options for him, let me try them. Please, it is clear he won't get any better here, uncle."

Kevan patted Cersei's shoulder and pulled his face into a mock sympathetic look. It warmed him to see his niece visibly fight snarling and yanking from his touch.

"My dear, you love your son with such dedication. But this truly is where he needs to be. Even in rehabs, a person will find drugs if they look hard enough. In prison or a juvenile detention center, he would have tons of drugs available to him. In exchange for dreadful things. If your son leaves here, there is no guarantee that isn't where he ends up. Or worse, Cersei. Joff was lucky to have survived the crash, niece. Very lucky. He might leave here, relapse completely and overdose somewhere, alone, when you least expect it."  

Cersei did hiss then and yank away. "Is that a threat? Was that truly needed, uncle? At least see that my son is no longer offered drugs! See that he isn't beaten by his teachers, abused by his counselors! And why is he roomed with a girl? With that little brat and with the Sansa rumor...Joff shouldn't be with a girl in his room! I can easily see his spiteful teachers setting him up!" Kevan gave a soft chuckle that was as warm and enveloping as a summer breeze. He grabbed Cersei's hand and squeezed just almost too hard.

"My sweet niece and former student! Like you, your son needs a firmer hand than others might. So his teachers and counselors know exactly what they are doing. I agree with you that our drugs must be better protected from thieves, dealers and of course, your son. That will be handled, I assure you. As for Joff's unique roommate, they actually get along quite well. Both class clowns, both have no other friends here. However, I have faith in them that they are not lost causes. At least they have a friend in each other. I rather fancy a match between a Stark and a Lannister, don't you?"

Kevan watched as Cersei paled then tightened her own hand in his, in pure outrage. "I think that is a horrible idea. Luckily for Joff and Arya they are not old enough. The girl alone is far too young to think of such things. Not to mention, Cat Stark would also believe it was a horrible idea. We would stand against you on that one, Uncle Kevan."

Raising an eyebrow, Kevan smirked as he observed Cat storming up the hill holding Sansa's file. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure of that, Cersei. We both know that Sansa is Cat's prize treasure, not Arya. Better to toss the second best as a sacrifice rather than lose her first best."

 

Cat walked up to Kevan and Cersei, her smile just as bright and hateful at Kevan, as a bitter cold moon. "Excuse me, I am sorry to interrupt, but it is a matter of great importance. Would you mind, Cersei?"

With a hard eye at her uncle, Cersei pulled away her hand then glance down at Cat's grip on a thick folder. "Cat, before you speak with my uncle, you should know something. He thinks a match between Joff and Arya would be a good idea. Please tell him that you agree with me that it is a terrible idea for our young children?"

Cat stared at Kevan with bright revulsion and replied fast, "It is a disgusting idea and I won't hear of it anymore than Cersei will. You go too far sometimes, Kevan." Cersei smiled at Cat with something akin to dark favor and Cat gave a quick nod. Kevan smiled and spread his arms.

"Ah, the mean girls club! When together, you were invincible, weren't you? I can almost see both of you and Bethany with your scheming now...of course, Bethany is dead. And both of you lived but lost two children each. I guess meanness doesn't truly pay off in the end as I had warned you over and over."

The women stood shoulder to shoulder against him and their hostile gazes just warmed Kevan to the cockles of his heart. He looked at Cat cheerfully.

"Now, I assume that is Sansa's file. You wish to argue about her drug doing, dealing and stealing? I guess you would like it expunged. I will tell you, Cat, that Sansa does have an excellent record otherwise. Also, I have decided to personally mentor the girl. Does a small thing like that drug snafu matter compared to all else the girl has going for her?"

Cat glared at Kevan. "Yes, it does. Because it simply cannot be true. Because Sansa can never have a record tainted like that. Not and have a good future. And since when have you begun mentoring again, Sir? I am honored that you choose my daughter for such a privilege, but I am curious."  Kevan smirked.

"I find that your daughter is brilliant and driven. Why should I not wish to cultivate such a gem on my own instead of giving her to others to mold? Sansa has talents just brimming within her cunning little mind. I am interested in that, very interested. On the other hand, I have Arya and Joff. Who have only talents of money and name so far. If they do not learn, do not change, then I will find use in that. There will be an engagement and wedding when I say and that will be their one ticket out of here. Unless, talents are found. Of course, if either of you wish to continue on about silly rumors the students come up with...I might have to reconsider giving Joff and Arya a chance to find more useful talents before a union."

 

Ned was slightly smiling as he watched his sons tease and chat with his daughters. He frowned when Roose sidled up next to him. "Don't tell me you want to gossip and tell rumors too? Save it for the ladies, if you please. I only have a short time with my girls, I don't intend on sullying it with trash talk." Roose smirked and dusted a bit of pollen off his suit coat.

"What I have to speak about is no gossip at all. Simple truth and fact, is all. Balon has not paid a dime, not even the measly amount we asked for. I am displeased and so is Olenna. Also, Tywin is displeased at Balon not even keeping up his end of the deal by not tanking his business dealings. The man is useless to us all. Perhaps gaining favor from Tywin by disposing Balon without being asked will be an idea?"     

"I will discuss that with you another time. I only have a short time with my daughters. Then I must deal with that slimy brother in law and pray that my nephew doesn't go on a hiking trip too. When I return home, I will call you and discuss it." Ned turned back to watching his daughters and Roose sighed. "By the time you return, Tywin will have ordered it himself. He has little patience left with Balon. I wouldn't wait. I hope you don't blame me, but I might not wait."

Ned growled out, "You work for me." Roose seemed to consider this then spoke carefully, softly.

"No. I work for myself, I choose to offer my services to you, after all, you are local. But that doesn't mean I don't take contracts out other than your own, Ned. And sometimes, I choose to offer gifts to appease others. Kevan and Tywin like receiving gifts as much as they love making others their pawns. If I choose to go for Balon on my own, that is your loss but it isn't a loyalty issue. I want to protect my children in Kevan's care. And I want Balon out of Theon's life since I have no idea what Ramsay will do with him. Oh, and I want Tywin to consider me as important as say...say, a Stark."

Now Ned was no longer looking at his children, but it was too late, Roose was already walking towards Ramsay.

 

Olenna hugged Loras tightly one last time, hiding her brief stinging tears.

"I truly love you, lad, I do. I am sorry it came to this, to being here but I was right in the end. It was the best option for you. Look at you, how proud I am of you! Making the most of everything here, trying to change and succeeding so well! Everyone had a true honest report and you KNOW I can smell bullshit! But they were truly impressed with you. That stone goddess they call a doctor said you haven't needed any medication beyond the first week here. The therapist says you are regretful of your previous actions, that you are reflective of your future and engaged in your present. Guess that mumbo jumbo means you got your lovely head out of your fantastic ass! That dwarf nearly gave me my first true drunk in some years as he breathed upon me how you were a genius in disguise! Possibly the reincarnate of Lord Bryon himself. I am surprised at that dour Stannis as your mentor, but I guess its a balance for you. Even that brutish mountain of a man had the best grunt for you."

Olenna deepened her voice and grunted out, "He tries very hard. Good mind, at least." Loras smiled at his grandmother and hugged her tightly back before stepping away a bit.

"I don't think physical exercise will ever be my thing. I am also pretty lousy with auto, wood and metalwork. Gregor had me try to chop wood one day and gave up after just a few tries. He changed my schedule right there in front of me so I only had to see him for gym and track. Told me that the sight of me trying manly things made him want to cry like a little girl."

Olenna laughed along with Loras then looked at him somberly. She spoke quietly, without a trace of humor or her usual sarcasm. "I am glad you have found peace here. Glad you are my loving grandson again, I have truly missed you so much. I love you and always have only wanted the best for you. Renly and Marge loved you and only wanted the best for you."

Loras hugged her one last time as if to stifle emotion but unable to help it then walked away fast. He had to get away to hide the ice cold hatred in his eyes.


	35. Lion Hair, Fox Eyes

With a giggle Sara looked up at Belinda. "My teeth rattle with the truck." A distracted smile back and a even more distant response. "Mine too."

First they were put into a small van for a long drive. Then the were put into a large truck and went for a longer drive. Clara, Belinda and the other older ones were wary of where this ride will take them. Granted, they were not in chains, they were given clothing and food, water bottles, even snacks for the younger ones.

At reasonable intervals, the van stopped and Locke escorted them to a lonely restroom at some gas station. He would give plenty of time for them to use the facilities and stretch their legs. They were given blankets and pillows for sleeping. Locke gave the youngest two teddy bears and the older women coffee from a bakery. He was polite and never touched them or acted inappropriate. He also didn't answer any questions and was firm when it was time to get back into the van.

When the young ones were asleep, the older ones would whisper about where they are being taken. It could be they were being tricked into human trafficking. Or maybe they were being taken over the border? The second option was much sweeter but they worried. They were not given any resources yet, just this endless ride. When the truck finally stopped and Locke flung the doors wide, announcing, "The end of our long journey together, ladies!", they were not sure if they were relieved or terrified.

Locke beckoned the ladies out, but for a moment they all pressed into the back. They were terrified that another version of Craster was awaiting them. A silky smooth voice came floating forth. "It's quite all right, Locke. They have good reason to feel such caution. I will take care of these ladies, you are free to go. I have a car waiting along with your pay. Thank you very much." With a last wave to the females, Locke nodded to a man they couldn't see and then he left them.

 

Another man took his spot near the end of the truck doors but a respectful distance. His hair was a lion's mane, barely tamed to his shoulders, a strong handsome face, deep sparkling eyes of a fox. With a charming smile, the man held out a thick folder in one hand and the other was extended to help the ladies out.

"Welcome to Casterly Rock, ladies. My name is Lancel Lannister, I am Kevan's son and at your service. The oldest of you is Clara? My lady, would you please come forward first? Since you are taking responsibility for all of your sisters, I will give this folder to you. It contains birth certificates for all. Working papers for those sixteen and older."

Clara gingerly stepped forward and out of the van first. She nearly snatched the folder from the handsome young man. "Does..does it contains passports or money?" Lancel smiled warmly at her, his dimple making the younger girls nearly swoon as they crawled closer to the doors of the van. "I'm sorry, they do not."

Clara blocked her sisters from getting out and she started to nervously look about. With a slight chuckle, Lancel put his hands in his pockets.

"I understand, you are waiting for the trick, looking for the evil men to pounce upon you. It won't happen, I promise you. My father left your fate in my hands, so to speak, that is true. Father might have been happy to hear that I released you staggering about like field mice in the great wide world to fly or fail armed with nothing more than papers and a bit of cash. I will not do such a thing. I have a better offer for all of you. I promise you it will never, ever involve anything like what had been done to you. If anything, I would like to teach you there are men out there that will respect you. And I want to teach you how to force men to give you that respect."

As skeptical as Clara was, there was truly no other choice she could see. "Promise me, you aren't going to hurt my sisters. That's all I ask. I can do anything..whatever needs to be done. Please, just don't force my sisters back into that again. It's all I ask." Lancel's eyes were kind and yet seemed angry but not at her.

"Clara, I am so sorry that you should ever have to feel that way. Never, you will never be used that way again. Your sisters are going to be safe in my care and so will you. My solemn promise and I never, ever break a promise."  

 

They took one last ride and this time it was a very fancy van. Each of them had a plush seat with a cup holder and tray full of water, small snacks. The younger children boggled at the little screen they watched cartoons on. The older girls kept their eyes on the driver, their handsome benefactor and the long road past unfamiliar trees. Lancel had opened the windows to let them enjoy the fresh, warm air.

Clara asked if they were in the south and Lancel responded, "Very deep south, yes."

A large massive garden seemed to rise around the road and it turned to smooth twinkling bricks that formed a large circle around a mansion. The girls all gaped at the house and Sara hollered, "Just like Annie! I'm gonna live like Annie and I'm gonna SING and own a DOG!" Lancel burst into laughter along with the others. He got out and let the ladies out as well.

"Sorry, darling. You will not live in this house, it already has others living in it. However, I will show you the house you will live in. Not as big as this one, but not teensy either. I mean...now it's true that only toads have been living in it up until now...."

Sara and all the younger ones, including the three year old, Mari, all were clustered around Lancel to hear this incredible tale. As he led them around the back of the mansion, the man weaved a tale of toads that dressed with spectacular fashion and walked on webbed feet, spoke only perfect dictation.

"Now, they are snobs, I will admit it and if you decline a tea invite with them, you can consider yourself blackballed from any further events in this city. You will have to share the house with them, I am afraid. Do be polite if you can, they take up very little space."

Even the teenage girls were tiptoeing closer, enchanted by the storyteller more than the tale. Clara and Belinda shared worried glances but followed along. Then gasped at the three story white house with thick columns seeming to protect the deep porch that went around the house.

Lancel had pointed and said,

"There it is, ladies. I hope the furnishings are to your taste, I decorated it myself for you. What you don't like you can change, of course. You will have paychecks now so you can do as you will with it. There is a small backyard that is yours as well. Of course, on the estate we have a pool, considering our weather. That is open for staff and their families to use during hours I have posted in your employee handbooks. The tennis court, employee cars, horses in the stable, the weight room are also open to you during certain times each day."

Clara and Belinda were nearly deafened by screams about horses and pools.

 

The younger girls flew inside to inspect the house and Lancel walked in slowly with Clara and Belinda.

"The first floor is a full kitchen with a pantry, dining room, living room, half bathroom and den. I have installed a washer and dryer in the pantry for your convenience. The second floor has a full bathroom and five bedrooms. Third floor has three bedrooms more, another full bathroom. I took the liberty of adding extra beds to the smallest children's rooms. Little ones sleep better with company. And I am sure you would love to finally experience privacy for yourself and your older siblings."

Clara took a deep breath as she took in a dishwasher, large screen television, gaming system and more in the living room. She and Belinda exchanged glances and turned back to Lancel with hard eyes.

"And what do we have to do for all of this to be ours?" Lancel smiled, taking no offense.

"Simple, the mansion needs lots of staff and it likes loyal staff that understands privacy. My uncle resides here along with myself. I promise he is a good man with no interest in harassing his staff. My uncle, Jaime Lannister, is a lawyer and rarely at home. Mostly it is me you will see. I want to offer you all classes to get your diplomas and offer you any training for your new positions. I am told that twenty year old Janice is excellent with cars, used to take care of your family vehicles."

Clara shrugged.

"Craster was too cheap to hire help. We did everything on that frozen wasteland of a farm. The only thing he ever did himself was the slaughtering of our meat animals. Only because he liked to cause fear and pain that much. We each learned how to survive for ourselves and him. Marla can grow anything, had even learned how to make a different strand of flower. Becca can organize anything and has amazing sewing skills. Belinda did any and all repairs on our home and I have run a household for years along with raising children and running a farm. And yes, Janice was amazing with anything, tractors, trucks, cars and hay-makers alike. She even had a dirt bike that she restored herself that Craster would let her ride to town for small things like our female hygiene products."

Whistling, Lancel exclaimed, "And to think the man was a millionaire, he had a grip on the throats of every farmer in the deep north. Kevan will be selling your father's property off to several farmers and pocket the profit. He will see it as payment for his good deed in setting you all free."

Bitterly, Belinda spit out, "He can keep every cent, every blood coin of it for all we care! I don't care if we must go homeless, better than touching anything that he had!" Clara patted her sister's shoulder to calm her but secretly agreed. Lancel shook his head.

"See, that is exactly what I don't want for you. You all deserve better than that! You deserve a chance to heal, to grow and learn your crafts well enough to become truly independent. And that is all I offer you. In fact, in the contract you would sign that is a condition. That you may leave here whenever you choose without repercussion. Please, give me a chance to help you become independent and to see a man that won't take advantage of you. To learn that not all men must be feared. As I was saying about your sister, Janice, my auto mechanic needs an assistant. I need a new housekeeper, a gardener's apprentice and more. Each of you match a position I need filled. The girls under fifteen will be enrolled in the local school while the rest of you may take night classes so during the day you might work and receive a paycheck. Real money for real work."

Their sisters called out to Clara and Belinda. "There is so much food in the cabinets and fridge! Ice maker, we have ice whenever we want it!" "Clara, me and Sarah want the big pink room with the bunk beds and big doll house!" "Belinda, come see this! Oh my gods, a huge tub with a real shower in it!"

Lancel smiled and held out the contracts for the girls to look at.

"Tell you what. I will leave these and the folder of your documents with you as well as the handbook. Look it all over and feel free to stroll about and meet the staff. I shall visit with you later tomorrow and you can take a tour of the main house and the school the children would go into to. If you decide to still leave, you may. But the house will be yours to stay in until you feel ready to move on."

Before leaving, Lancel spoke to the younger children.

"Now, remember, take care not to disturb the toads, please. They just got back from an audience with the Queen of the Lilly pads." With round eyes the girls solemnly promised. The teenage girls followed Lancel to the door as if he were a pied piper and they were the rats. Clara blocked them from leaving and tiredly told the girls to show her around their freshly picked rooms.

 

The little girls shrieked while Clara and Belinda were enjoying their first chance to use good ingredients to make a meal. All the females went running to see the girls were not shrieking in terror but in joy.

They all looked in awe at the corner of the second staircase, directly under a stained glass window, in a small alcove. There was a doll house sized coat rack that was elaborately made. Hanging upon it was a small feathered turban and a tiny glittering shawl. Next to it was a long male cloak and tiny red scarf roguishly thrown across it. Helplessly, even Clara and Belinda smiled at the sight of it. 

"Shh...quiet, they audited the queen. They is sleeping. Shhh." Advised Mari as she clutched tight to her new dolly and stared at the tiny toad proof with shining enchanted eyes.  

Not an hour later, the teenagers were giving modeling shows of their new clothing that was just perfect in size. Clara worried and so did Belinda. They didn't believe in miracles. They didn't believe in Prince Charming or heroes.

However, no matter how many times they spent that night reading over the contracts, they couldn't find the flaw. Maybe this Lancel was truly just wanting servants and to help them out. Belinda looked over the print until her eyes hurt then looked up at Clara.

"We don't have any real better options." Clara nodded and sighed. "I know that. Let's just hope this man is as honorable as he says he is."

 

 

 


	36. Shameful Behavior

All the warm hugs and kisses from Ned and the boys couldn't make up for the chill of goodbye with Cat.

She waited until Arya rolled out of the last male embrace before she snatched the girl from them like a hungry witch in a fairy tale. Standing tall in front of the slightly cowering Arya, Cat pierced her youngest daughter with a damning stare. Her hands lovingly swept through the untamed locks on Arya's head and her talons began to dig deep into the tender scalp until Arya whined. A tear spilled as the girl struggled not to react and Ned held tight to Sansa while muttering, "For gods sake, Cat! Can't you let her be this once? Don't let this be your way of saying goodbye."

Cat whipped her head so fast there was a cracking sound and her eyes bulged at Ned. Her voice was a sudden hiss that made the whole family wince. "Hug your daughters and let me take care of worry and discipline as I've always had to!" Without another word, Ned looked away angrily and the boys pretended they were on another planet. Turning her attention back to her distressed daughter, Cat gave Arya a thin smile and her voice was cold as snow and smoothly deceptive like black ice.

"Sweet, rebellious Arya. My dear, you simply must try and do better. Another report and visit like this will not do you any good at all. If Kevan doesn't see improvement or at least a talent soon, you will be deemed useless. Kevan doesn't like useless things and I don't either. He will marry you off to Joff if you don't smarten up, dear. And I won't be able to say no, not while Kevan has your sister in here. Not while he is going to mentor her, not while he is so close to Sansa. And though Cersei might hate it, she cannot deny her uncle's wishes. I understand that you don't wish to live by my rules or follow my path for your life. Well, your wish has been granted, dear. I am leaving you in Kevan's hands. I would become useful or smarter very soon, Arya."

A thin stream of blood came down Arya's forehead while the girl tried not to cry out. Ned cursed and released Sansa to forcibly remove Cat's hands from Arya's head. "Stop it! She is bleeding." Cat might have struck Ned, she looked close to it for a moment then Sansa said the magic words. "Mother, others can see. Please, they might see the blood and ask." With a brisk shiver, Cat seemed to become placid and she nodded frostily at her youngest daughter. "Try and do better, Arya. For your own good. I shall see you next visitors day. You may go tend to your minor scratch now."

Arya fled without a word or look at any member of her family. Robb and Bran looked after her sadly but said nothing. Ned and Cat stared at each other for a moment before the man looked away grimly.

Ned moved aside so that Sansa was in front of Cat. Stiff and insulted, he gestured to the boys and they left for their car, knowing better than to look back. 

 

Sansa stood taller than her mother and her eyes were steel but she showed deference in her face. Then her soft words registered.

"Go on, mother. Scalp me if you'd like." Audience or not, Cat couldn't allow that to stand and her hand came up fast to stroke lightly, lovingly across the bruise, opening stitches with her littlest talon. A tiny gasp but Sansa'simply faced her mother with a fake humble look. "I apologize for being rude, mother. It bothers me when you hurt us."

Cat stepped closer to her daughter to watch her flinch.

"I don't know what this game of yours is but I hope you know what you are doing, dear. I thought having to endure this place would be enough to make you see reason again. This rebel streak doesn't look good on you, Sansa. As I told you half a year ago, your attitude and new thinking that you know everything would lead you into disaster. I had hoped you would finally see reason. That you would understand what led to your downfall, to your sister's and others put here along with you. Sansa, you are partly responsible for deaths of some important people. Two children. Do you not think the other families feel you and your sister have your share of the blame in those deaths? Of their children being here?"

Sansa spoke in a deadpan tone. "Mother, I have accepted my guilt in that accident. I regret that I put my little sister in this position. I will never forgive myself for being part of so many deaths. I am aware of the shame I brought upon our family and I am sorry for it."

Cat's talons dug into Sansa's shoulders as her voice seared into her daughter's ear. 

"Heed me well, Kevan Lannister is not the man to mess with, to try and pull the wool over, Sansa. You are nowhere near his level, honey, you aren't even close to my level, never mind his. Stop your silly games, little girl, before you get truly hurt. I do not wish to lose you to Kevan, trust me, dear girl, please, trust me on this. You do not want his eye upon you. He will lure you right in and I assure you that if freedom was your goal, he is NOT freedom."

Sansa gave her mother a small smile. Her voice was respectful but cold and even.

"Mother, you are not freedom either. And besides, this is my home now. I will continue to get good grades, I will learn from the best teachers and mentors here. Isn't that why you sent me here? For the discipline and the discovery of my talents? Even my achievements do not satisfy you. I am sorry that I cannot please you. Please offer Uncle Petyr and cousin Robin my sincerest sympathies. Since I am not allowed to leave for the services."

Cat might have said or done more but Unella came by announcing that the gates were closing in ten minutes. Instead, Cat gave a final stern look to Sansa and walked out of the gates.

 

If the children thought they would have time to process their day, they were sorely mistaken. Kevan turned to the milling students and announced, "After supper tonight I would like the staff and children to assemble in Gregor's torch circle, please. We have some rather pressing issues we must address right away." The students groaned and so did the professors. No one protested in front of Kevan however.

Stannis and Tyrion filled their plates then sat down at the staff table, grumbling. "Why must we be involved in these antics? We did our parts, this doesn't do anything but upset poor Stannis for days!" Tyrion tried to soothe himself in one of Hot Pie's drinks. Unella sat down and everyone hunched over their meals defensive, clutching forks like weapons. She rolled her eyes at them and snapped out, "Because you are just as involved in the cover ups, you should be involved in all of it."

Gregor stared at her tray and muttered, "That isn't possible for you to eat. You'll make yourself sick." Unella snorted and dug in. "Watch me." They all watched her as they ate. A spinach and cheese quiche, tuna salad with extra pickles, a bowl of soup, three pieces of french toast and a cheeseburger were devoured. Unella proceeded to inhale the chocolate cake that was their desert.  Stannis slammed his fists upon the table. "A pox on you, woman!"

Raff raised his eyebrow. "Why do I have a feeling when I do that ultrasound, I'm going to hear twin heartbeats." Polliver scoffed. "With her appetite? Must be a full litter in there." Gregor paled and pointed a finger at Unella. "No! One! That is it, hear me?" Unella glared at Gregor. "As if I have an option in that?" Then she glared at Raff. "Thanks for that worry. I needed it." He smiled sweetly at her and smoothly responded, "Anything I can do to help a new mommy."

Unella and Raff tensed, staring hard at each other. Sandor moved out of the way just in time, as Unella started to wrestle Raff for his last three french fries. By coincidence, the exact number of fingers the nurse almost lost as Unella devoured the french fries. Sandor started to laugh at Gregor and taunted, "You are going to starve to death before she gives birth to your litter." Gregor knocked Sandor off the stool as Raff and Unella wrestled, Polliver and Tyrion betting Unella will win.

Stannis threw down his napkin, stood up and left for civilization.

 

Myranda was yawning but starting to wake up as she ate supper. Sitting between Jeyne and Hot Pie, she was filled in on the stressful but interesting day. They spoke softly, keeping a distance from the other students. Jeyne apologized to her friends for getting them in trouble over her foolish revenge plot. Hot Pie grinned and told her it was alright, he already was back in Kevan's good graces. Myranda gently smiled at Jeyne.

"I forgive you. I would have still been given the same awful job and would have still done what I did. And the punishment from Kevan is done. The punishment from Harold and Bob won't be a bag of laughs, but I'll get through it."

"What did you do?" Smirking bitterly at Hot Pie, Myranda said, "I bled out a disgusting pig." She gave details in a hush while Jeyne and Hot Pie listened, horrified but proud of their friend.  

The rest of the table was silent for the most part. None of the kids had anything to talk about to each other. They were stuck in their own thoughts, by the looks on their faces, nothing good. It was sinking in that none of them were leaving anytime soon. It sunk in deeply how they felt about their families, how their families felt about them. In spite of the good food, it was eaten mechanically, each child locked in their own torments.

They saw how far the staff would go to protect the school and favor or disfavor certain students. How they would easily cause a rift between their parents and themselves if need be. If they saw fit. Angry and feeling powerless, they ate and slowly left the table.

Hot Pie reminded the girls that they had to attend this farce so they only put away the food, leaving the rest for later. Jeyne and Myranda smirked, not only did they have a break before the drudgery of cleaning the kitchen, but justice was about to be served. Hot Pie grinned and said, "I love watching new students see Kevan's justice for the very first time. These idiots have no idea what this circle will be tonight. And it's about time that bitch paid for what she did to poor Sidebitch."

They tried to stay well behind the others as they all headed outdoors.

Polliver was twirling his baton and yelling orders. "Ducklings, any little feathered friend that needs to tinkle, do it now! Ten minutes and I better see ducklings in a row inside that circle! Flap those feathers and flip those flippers!" Jeyne, Myranda and Hot Pie skipped impulsively towards the circle as the others all fled to the bathrooms.

 

They skipped arm in arm like giddy children on their way to a fair with money. Polliver grinned at them and shook his head. "You three lose your brains?" He noted that Jeyne was allowing her friends to wrap their arm around hers. Looking up, he saw that Raff was seeing it as well. They skipped past both of them without a word, without noticing them. Unella dropped her jaw and Gregor sneered at his intended. "Regression, huh? Sure looks like your feral project is truly dead now."

Skipping past the snarling couple, Hot Pie and Myranda made sure that they skipped past Kevan, who was flanked again by his now somewhat rested duo. Harold and Bob's lips twitched as the odd trio went past. Kevan looked pleased, then he grew firm and snapped out, "Though I am very happy that you are all great friends and I support your loving joy of life...this is not a time for levity, children. Please line up for Polliver as he has no doubt ordered. Thank you.

Polliver suddenly grew a frown and barked out, "Ducklings in a row, move it. Are you all hopelessly deaf now or suffering from short term memory? Get the hell in that line, move, move! Being first doesn't mean you can wander about like brain dead duckies." The three tried hard to wipe smiles off their faces as they hurried to their places. Soon the others showed, some of them moving faster with some help from Polliver's baton.

Once the students were all in a row, Polliver strolling the line with his baton beating a song into his palm, Kevan looked to the staff.

Tyrion and Stannis had looks of stoic resignation upon their long faces. Raff had a sadistic gleam in his eye as did Polliver. Unella and Gregor had spiteful grins on their faces they were trying hard to hide. Sandor seemed to look as if he wanted to enjoy the justice but couldn't.

Kevan noted how each seemed to feel about this ritual of discipline. Most importantly,  he savored the fact that none of them dared to not show, regardless how they felt.

 

Everyone made a circle, including Harold and Bob. No one was asked to hold hands or touch one another, just to stand in a circle. Kevan stood in the center of it and folded his hands behind his back. As he spoke, he made sure to walk slowly about so that everyone got the benefit of catching his eye at some point.

"We have distasteful business to attend to, students. I find that distasteful things are best done in the dark, among only ourselves and done quickly but correctly. So let us get straight to it then. I ask that you all note that Damon has not joined our circle. That is because Damon is in the clinic and will never know of this meeting tonight. Sadly, our doctor had to use a mix of shock therapy and a cocktail of strong drugs to make our poor boy believe everything including the Tickler was all a drug fueled nightmare induced by a story Joff and Ramsay told him after drugging him. And everyone here will make sure that Damon continues to see that as truth. We shall help him understand that Sansa's face injury and shoulder dislocation was from a dirt bike."

Glares and mutters were directed at Sansa. Ramsay and Joff kept going between staring hostilely at Sansa and Kevan.

A sharp clap of his hands and everyone went silent, looking at Kevan. "If any student tells Damon anything but the truths we have given him, I promise that student shall be found and will regret it deeply. Very deeply." He looked grimly at each of them before nodding.

"It is regretful when we must all tell a lie but some of our bad apples decided to make that necessary for all of us to join into their disgusting schemes." Kevan resumed pacing then spun around, spreading out his arms. "But...we DID our part, didn't we? We told the lies we must to keep our school, our students safe. Now, since we did our part in paying for their crimes, I think it's time the criminals paid their price for the crimes. Don't you?"

A rousing cry came from Hot Pie, Myranda, Jeyne and Arya. Loras pursed his lips and squeezed Sansa's hand quick, whispering, "Remember why we suffer now." Without changing her blank expression, Sansa responded back dryly, "Except it's me doing all the suffering, not you."

 

With a nod from Kevan, Polliver grinned then pointed his baton, tapping each duckling on the head. "Oscar, Princess and Death Row, waddle on forward."

 


	37. Measured And Marked

Sansa, Joff and Ramsay all stepped forward. Unella moved to stand behind Sansa, Gregor behind Ramsay and Polliver stood next to Joff, smirking at him.

Kevan gave the three of them an icy stare. His voice was nearly stage theatric and yet hypnotic all at once.

Arya had the stray thought that it was like hearing one of those motivational speakers. Part of you knows their full of shit but another half is nearly convinced because the speaker sounds so damned convinced. Arya felt pretty conflicted herself right now. Half of her wanted to see Sansa's nose finally rubbed in the dirt. The perfect girl was finally caught at something. Plus, the something Sansa did was horrible! Arya knew that Sansa needed to pay for doing that to poor Damon.

The other half of her knew her sister was thrown off balance by the visit. That Sansa did what she did out of being trapped, out of true conviction that it could help her to be free. Arya had no clue what they might do to her.

She cast an eye at Cuntella, shuddering. How can that woman sleep at night? And now she is marrying Gregor, pregnant with probably some deformed mutant that will be afraid of fire. Wincing at a quick rapping of knuckles on her head, Arya looked at Raff, who hissed for her to pay attention. She did and fell under the terrible spell of Kevan's words, torch light and maybe a touch of group hysteria.

 

 Kevan stood before his three naughty students and spoke with a rich terrible voice. A cultured lion that must force his pack to do something regretful but must be done for the sake of the den.

"Traditions are important. When we have a situation that must be handled by our community it is always in a circle. When the entire school is forced to cover up things for poor decisions of a student. When we have to pay a price for that student's actions, that student must pay a price back to us all, to your community."

Sweeping the three of them with the same ruthless eyes, Kevan ordered, "Each of you will remove your clothes. Sansa, you may leave on your bra and underpants. Boys will leave on their boxer shorts. All of you will put your socks and shoes back on. We wouldn't want any of you to step on a sharp rock and hurt yourselves. Strip now, please."

Sansa gasped. She mentally tried to stop herself but seeing her mother today has weakened her. With too little time to prepare, Sansa just slipped and as if she were damned Arya, her mouth opened. "I will not take off my clothing in public!"

Kevan gave a small nod, looking at Unella and Sansa's clothes were being removed. The doctor has spent years learning how to remove clothing from fighting patients. Sansa struggled only for a second then saw it was only making her look worse.

Ramsay started to take off his clothes, staring at Kevan with resentment and hatred the whole time. Polliver moved towards Joff, who shrieked, "Don't touch me! I'm doing it!"

A small giggle escaped from Myranda then she saw Harold and Bob each turn slightly, mirrored glasses hid eyes marking her. She went silent and nodded when Stannis, who was next to her, whispered that there was no reason for humor.

When each of them were wearing nothing but their underwear and shoes, Kevan addressed them again. "Well, stand up straight, chin up, legs apart, arms at your sides, eyes front on me. If you are ready to commit the crime, you had always best be ready to face it if you are caught."

Unella used her hand to sharply tilt Sansa's chin up, Polliver used his baton poke into Joff's spine to straighten his back and Gregor kicked Ramsay's legs apart.

Surveying the three unnerved and half naked students, Kevan gave a slight smile that was sweet with malice.

 

"Traditions are important and so is history. This school is full of both...no matter the years, the different staff and different students. History does tend to repeat itself on occasion. I wonder if it would interest you three to know that your very own parents have stood in this circle? Oh yes, well, not all at the same time, but let's see...it was Cat and Cersei at the same time. Interesting, Lannister and Stark somehow always ended up in hell together time and time again.  But Roose and Bethany were first to face our circle. Back then, we did things differently. We could be firmer, harsher and oh, we were if needed!"

Kevan began to pace around the circle to include everyone in his words. "Oh yes, we made sure that when the price was paid, it was in a bit of bloody coin. In a way they wouldn't easily forget such important lessons. So that the school itself could be satisfied that justice was served." He gave a graceful, almost dancing spin to turn and face Unella. "Who would have been the doctor here then, Unella?" With a cold smirk, she replied, "Doctor Qyburn, Sir."

Tapping his pen against his chin now, other hand in his pocket, Kevan was now striding about and his eyes nearly twinkled.

"That's right, Qyburn. Thank you, doctor. Yes, he had a unique way for us to punish the students. You see, you have to wear your crime, accept it, atone for it...in flesh. Now, back then, we were able to be so much more creative about it. Qyburn would use metal staple to spell the letters out on the stomachs. We would leave it in and Qyburn would keep it from infection for as long as possible. Then remove the stitches or staples just as the skin could take no more itching, burning and swelling. Most times, the word would be still partially scarred into the skin for a long time, if not forever. But, alas, we cannot use those techniques any longer."

Kevan faced the three very pale nervous students and his smile was gone, wiped away. His eyes held an ancient old belief of the rod and they all squirmed slightly as he lighting tapped his pen upon his hand.

"That was a mercy I suppose to my mind, to the whole staff, to our generation. You see before Qyburn joined us, it was my very first season of opening the school, I had used even harsher methods. I used a very fine blade and wrote in lovely script, deep enough so that the cuts would scar for certain. Of course, we are a modern, progressive school and always change to accommodate the times."

A smile brightened Kevan's face like the sun and a reassuring smile grew like a sunflower. His voice boomed out, "A black marker, please!" With a scowl, Stannis produced a marker reluctantly. The way he came forward to hand it to Kevan, reminded Tyrion of a king being forced to relinquish a kingdom. Kevan gave a sharp smirk to the professor and grandly thanked him as Stannis marched back to his place.

Raising the marker high, Kevan flourished it about to all before turning to shine his smile again upon the three students.

"This will not bleed you, it will not cut or scar your flesh. But it is permanent marker and it will stain upon your skin for some time. Hopefully, when it does fade away, the lesson will not. Because if the same circle must ever be held again for you, for the same reason...I will have Gregor tattoo the words into your flesh and that also won't bleed but it will never leave."

 

Kevin had put his pen back in his pocket, the gold winking playfully in the torch light. He pointed the black marker at Sansa, who felt Unella's strong hands take hold of her shoulders. Gritting her teeth, Sansa stared blankly at Kevan, forcing herself to be calm, to accept. It was just humiliation and Sansa can deal with it. The eyes on her was the hardest part, everyone judging her as if they had a right to.

"Let's start with you, dear. What words shall we write upon your lovely stomach? What slurs will mar your perfect skin? What do you deserve, Sansa? We shall examine this question."

He walked away from her, twirling the marker in his fingers, as if in deep consideration of it. Stopping near Raff, Kevan looked up and gestured towards the therapist. "Nurse and therapist of both Damon and Sansa, aren't you, Raff?" Nodding, Raff spoke firmly, staring at Sansa with clear disgust.

"Yes, I am. Damon has been tested and found to be mentally incompetent. He is easily led and manipulated. Sansa tests very high. She is intelligent, clever and has full mental capacity to understand what she does and why she does it."

Kevan strolled over to Tyrion, who closed his eyes momentarily then sighed and looked up at the man. Kevan smiled at his nephew and inquired, "Since Damon has arrived, have you noticed any change in his reading and writing levels?" Tyrion did look somberly at Sansa as he spoke with some reluctance.

"Yes. Damon could barely read at all when he started here. Since then his work got substantially better, he became enthused, driven to try harder. There is really no way that Damon could have learned that well on his own. I asked Damon about this change and he told me he had a secret teacher. He sounded like he worshiped this person. Not in a love sort of way or a sexual way, he appreciated and trusted this person. Wanted to do better for this person to be proud of him, he said." 

Sansa flushed as everyone gave her hard eyes, even her kind professors flashed disappointment at what she had done. Her own little sister was looking revolted, not even looking at her at all. Lifting her chin higher, she fiercely reminded herself to not cry, to keep her hands relaxed at her sides.

Kevan paced around the circle again, tapping, tapping the marker against his hand then stopped right before Sandor who scowled instantly. "Sandor! As our landscaper, estate manager, you tend to become easily overlooked at you tend to our lovely school. An admirable job but rarely noticed by the students. Can you tell me what you have observed concerning Sansa and Damon?" Huffing, Sandor spoke with clear annoyance at having to do so.

"I saw Sansa teaching Damon to read some demented horror kid book while I was working near the window of their bedroom. One time, I was repairing a fence and Damon was telling Loras about how Sansa was his one real friend and begging him to keep it quiet. Heard Damon say that Sansa wanted it to stay a secret. I was in the garden when I saw and heard Damon tell Ramsay they couldn't be friends anymore. Every reason he gave he said Sansa told him. Not that I want to give a sadistic mental case any support, but I heard Ramsay warn Damon that Sansa lies and would hurt him. And I heard that poor big bugger tell Ramsay that he trusted Sansa, that she was the only person who truly cared about him and wouldn't use him." 

Sansa was blinking rapidly to keep the stinging tears away and her face was red, her hands fisted at her sides. The eyes upon her felt like lasers and knowing the hate and disgust the eyes would show...she looked only at each accuser and Kevan. Shame built in waves, hearing it from others was awful and Sansa tried to hold on to her rage. How dare they judge her, she didn't want to hurt Damon, doesn't that count for anything? Sansa has a feeling that Kevan isn't going to allow her a defense.

 

Kevan began to walk back around the circle and used his marker to gesture as he spoke. "So. What does all this lead to? Sansa tutored Damon, built up his confidence, that's grooming. Fully aware that the boy was mentally impaired, Sansa lured him, encourage him to distance himself from the only other influence in his life. Then Sansa drugged him, seduced him knowing the boy was unable to truly consent or deny her. What do we call this in it's base form?"

Giving Sansa a dark scowl, Kevan announced in a damning voice. "In it's base form, I would call it rape. That makes you, Sansa Stark, a rapist."

Sansa bit her lip to keep from protesting, but her body trembled as he uncapped the marker.

Turning to address the circle and the boys, showing the felt tip of the marker to all, Kevan lamented, "Now, I will acknowledge that our normal punishment for rape would be handled by the Tickler. Sadly, he was given the wrong prey. And I will tell you that a very strong urge to give Sansa to the Tickler is within me. I would dearly love to be fully equal by allowing us to watch the Tickler come and drag her kicking and screaming from our circle. But we mustn't. We cannot. It's all part of our price we pay to keep things steady for us all. So this must suffice."  

Sansa felt Unella grab her arms and put them behind her back. She was careful to give no resistance and Unella's movements were firm but not painful, only confining. Staring up at the dark sky and the moon, Sansa felt the cold wet tip of the marker carefully write on her stomach just above her belly button. Kevan was slow and careful then stepped away. "Look at what you've become, dear." 

Taking a very deep breath, Sansa looked down at her stomach and gave a tiny sob.

**RAPIST**


	38. Forced Perspective

Kevan admired the word on Sansa's stomach then said, "Now, if you would just stand here and let the group admire your word while I deal with our young boys."

Saying nothing, Sansa stood tall and thought, at least it's over. They will stare and mock and then turn their attention to Ramsay and Joff. Then it will end. She kept repeating that to herself. A flash in her head of what Kevan had said, about her mother standing in this very circle, undressed and with a word stapled on her stomach. Wondering what word her mother earned helped Sansa ignore her shameful situation.

Kevan walked over to the boys and surveyed them. Both looked back with a mixture of anger and nervous vague respect. Capping the marker and twirling it between his fingers, he spoke sternly.

"Let me make this very clear. I am aware that you boys, as well as Theon and Arya, were drinking and doing drugs. I am aware those drugs came from Sansa, who received them from Jeyne. I will leave those disciplines to Polliver to deal with. That is his domain, that is his responsibility. That is NOT what I am putting you in a circle and naming you for. Oh no...the circle is for serious offenses only. For offenses so grave that I must take my own personal time to come deal with you. So grave that I must assemble both staff and students because of a bad apple's terrible choices."

Theon paled and fidgeted next to Loras, who sternly poked him. Arya felt a bit sick to her stomach as Polliver pointed at her and Theon then drew a finger across his throat while grinning.  

Spreading his arms out,  Kevan gestured to Ramsay and Joff who looked quite bored and unimpressed.

"It was made clear to each student what stories we should tell of Damon and Sansa. It was made clear that only what was relevant to your studies and growth here should be discussed with visitors. This was your one chance since your fall from grace for you to prove to your parents why they should not give up on you. This was your one chance to maybe try and bond with your parent, to gain comfort or give reason for them to be proud of you. Instead, you two chose to use your precious little time you had with them to try and tattle on every little thing you could. Like true small spiteful children,  grumpy, privileged, sniveling brats, both of you just complained, gossiped and tried very hard to find ways to get our school into trouble."

Turning around to face the other students, giving a sad, regretful sigh, Kevan showed his long frown, his eyes shadowed with disappointment.

  "Sansa committed a dreadful crime and we have named her a rapist...in marker. Because even though it was a dreadful thing, she admitted it, she felt some regret and shame for her actions. Above all else, we are a therapeutic school in an age of reckless mercy. So we could show Sansa that mercy. Ramsay and Joff have no regrets, have no shame in their actions. We must work harder to make sure that they understand how grave it is to try and snitch upon their community. We must protect and support each other and this school."

 

Kevan walked about the circle, making eye contact with each student. "This is your home, you are not leaving until I allow you to leave. And I can assure you, it won't be for some time before I release a single one of you back into society, if ever. So we all keep our secrets, we support each other and we keep others out of our business. Ramsay and Joff simply must understand this lesson. First, they must understand that they truly are snitches. So..."

He gave a small sharp nod and suddenly Ramsay was restrained by Gregor while Joff was restrained by Polliver. Both men had the boys arms pulled behind their backs then quickly cuffed. Kevan smiled sweetly at the group then at the boys and his voice was cloying syrup. 

"Do you recall that old saying, boys? Snitches get stitches."

Gregor held Ramsay still but the boy did no more than growl as Unella came to use thick black thread on his stomach. While the woman slowly began the word, he winced, grunted in a few places, but he stared at Sansa, at her word, until Unella was done. Kevan clapped briefly and gestured toward the grim circle then to Ramsay's new word. **SNITCH**

Joff struggled and then wailed a few times as Unella calmly and carefully stitched the same ugly black threads into the word. Kevan shook his head a few times at Joff during the procedure.

"This is shameful, you are a Lannister boy. Man up, just some stitches, we aren't performing surgery on you!" It took Unella longer since the boy kept squirming and twitching away. Joff bore the same word, but his was crooked and bolder, even worse looking than Ramsay's. As soon as the words were stitched, the restraints were removed from their wrists.

Ramsay and Joff were shoved to stand next to Sansa in a line again. All three bore their new degrading label upon their stomachs. Kevan had given Stannis his marker back and was now twirling his gold pen again.

"We have a rapist and two snitches. Now my family, my community, my staff and students, we have measured them, judged them and labeled them. They are forced to admit what they are, it is reminded to them every time they look down. We shall bear the sight of the word on them so we are all aware that this is what they are, we shall keep watch to see they do not stay as these terrible labels in the future."

Kevan got a serious look on his face, a look of a lion ready to eat his own young son for the sake of his pride.

"Now we must do the hardest part for us. We have named them for what they are. So they must meet atone for what they have done. And I have picked those who will administer the punishments with great care."

 

Polliver stepped over so he stood behind both Ramsay and Joff as Gregor headed for Sansa.

In alarm, the girl took a step backwards only to encounter Unella. It took all of Cat's lifelong and painful training for Sansa not to shriek or struggle when the giant man grabbed her braid and dragged her by it. Cheerfully, Gregor informed her, "Don't cry yet, sweetie. I'm not the one administering your punishment, just setting you up for it. But between the two of us, you'll wish it was only me once Unella gets started on you."

Sansa was stiff with fear as Gregor knocked her to the dirt in a rectangle between four deeply driven wooden poles. He took a handful of leather restraints and padded cuffs from the back of his belt and she bit her lips hard enough for it to bleed. She stayed still and stared at the sky above her as she felt the cuffs wrap around her wrists and ankles. She felt the leather restraints threaded through the metal buckle of the cuffs, that fast almost painful sound of leather forced hard past steel.

Taking deep breaths, Sansa didn't make a sound when first her arms were pulled and stretched so the leather was tightly lashed to the poles. Still staring up at the moon, she felt Gregor pulling her legs apart further and further to tether them. She thought she probably looked like a sacrifice left by natives for the beast of some movie. A gasp came out of her when Sansa felt her legs not only pulled as far out as they could go, but then upwards. 

She found her ass was slightly lifted up, then some more and Gregor quickly added an extra leather strap to each leg. Sansa's thigh on each side was strapped to the poles as well as her ankles. Her top half flat in the dirt and her lower half raised and spread. Opened, exposed, except for the thin fabric of underwear and all of them could see it. Don't struggle, don't fight, don't give the satisfaction, Sansa warned herself as she stared up, frozen.

Swiftly, Gregor placed a rolled towel under Sansa's neck so her head raised and she could see right between her legs. To see her horrified sister, to see the glittering hard eyes of the feral, the whore and the cook. She felt her face scald to see her two professors both trying to look anywhere but at her. Gregor blocked the view mercifully for a second as he spread a thick towel underneath her hovering bottom. 

Then he was gone and Sansa tried to look at anything but those eyes that were looking at her. The view was blocked again but this time it brought no relief, only increased fear. Unella was toweringly tall standing between Sansa's legs, holding only a bottle of water and a dirty wrapped wad of cloth that clinked when moved. The woman was brought a small stool by Gregor and she squatted upon it. Unella spoke in a cold matter of fact voice as she quickly worked.

Sansa let a tiny sound out as she felt Unella cut off her underwear as the words sunk deep into her ears and head. 

"It is more often found that a man is the rapist. When society is at it's most base or when we feel justice cannot be achieved for the victims any other way, women act, women react. In most societies, women favor castration in some form or another for the male rapist. Whether it be a removal of testicles, penis or the entirety of those parts. Of course, the women don't use sanitary means to do this, it is a heat of the moment sort of thing. It is raw justice. So what if the rapist is a woman, Sansa?"

 

Unella looked into Sansa's panicked eyes and spoke with a ruthless voice that matched her stone face.

"We know that some cultures believe in female castration, genital mutilation. Now, most do it out of an ill informed ignorant reason, but it is what we have to go with. Our reason is for justice. Usually there is a similar lack of medical knowledge and lack of sanitary means in the areas that most commonly do this to their females."

Sansa was hyperventilating as Unella reached down then began to hold items up while speaking.

"This bottle of water shall serve as our only protection and cleansing of your private areas and my hands. These are the most commonly used items for the removal of the clitoris and minor cutting back of the labia. A sharp piece of metal, this curved piece of glass or here we have an old rusty but sharpened razor. If you have a preference, speak up. Now, another thing that these women endure is the further stitching up to make themselves tighter, harder for men to enter. That way the man has to really nearly rape a woman just to get in her. Some cultures like that sort of thing. It can cause serious issues for the female as you can imagine. How long do you think before your first serious urinary infection sets in? This is a long sewing needle and some twine for the stitching. Shall we begin?"

Cold water spilled between her legs, Sansa felt the shock of it on her vagina, trickling down her ass, pattering onto the dirt. And she broke. Screaming, thrashing as she felt Unella's bare hands touching her. Unella's voice was calm and rode over Sansa's wailing protests. "No gloves either, but I did do you the courtesy of washing my hands before coming to the circle."

Arya found herself trying to run forward, to yell but Sandor's large hand suddenly was wrapped around most of her face. He bent down and rumbled into her ear. "Do you want to make it worse for her? Or just trying to get yourself added to the punishment circle? How will that help your sister? Shut up and stay still. Save your own skin for once. Polliver will be coming for you soon enough. How much more pain would you like to give yourself? Stupid fucker."

 

Sansa felt Unella's fingers harshly pull at her flesh, exposing tender things and then a sharp pain. Tears scalded, bile rose to burn in Sansa's throat and she lost total control, she felt herself urinate as she screeched.

"NO, NO PLEASE! I AM SORRY, I AM SO SORRY THAT I RAPED DAMON! PLEASE, DON'T CUT ME DOWN THERE! DON'T MUTILATE ME! PLEASE, I WILL DO ANYTHING, I AM SO SORRY, PLEASE!"

Another sharp pain, a pinch and tug that was awful, it was causing Sansa to sob like a baby and screech like a madwoman. Then Unella stood up and Sansa couldn't believe the woman's hands weren't slick with her blood. That Unella wasn't holding Sansa's bloody clitoris in her hand. 

"Calm yourself, rapist. All I have done was give you a rather shallow cut on your clitoris that will sting but will heal. And I have only added one stitch for you to have removed. But you will be amazed at how must difficulty that stitch can give you. If you ever are caught doing anything sexually inappropriate again, rapist, I will truly give you the full stitching and remove your clitoris. This is your only warning."

Unella picked up her items and walked away. Sansa was left there, still tethered, her injured flesh for all to stare at, as if she was discarded trash.


	39. Hung Up

Ramsay and Joff both stared intently at Sansa's half naked sobbing spread out form until Gregor got in their faces.

"Hey there, boys. I know that it isn't often you guys get to see a naked woman writhing and weeping anymore...but stop tenting your shorts and start paying attention. Nanny Gregor himself is going to help you both travel the road of where snitches can land. Isn't that just a lovely thing, my two little demented serial killers in training?"

Gregor's face grew into a stunning Santa Claus of merry understanding but his teeth and eyes looked much more like that of the infamous Krampus. He put his hands in the air, splayed out his arms and announced, "I'm going to tell you both a little story! I am not the storyteller or speech giver that Kevan is but I'm not as emotionless as Unella. But I hope you both pay attention, it's important."

As he spoke, Gregor walked towards his usual punishment chair. Polliver steered Joff to follow and Raff guided Ramsay, who was glaring hard at the giant man's back the whole time.

"Before I came here to counsel and care for troubled youth such as you two, I was a man no one ever wished to run into. Those who crossed the wrong people, those who borrowed too much money from the wrong lenders and those who snitched on the wrong enemy, they ran into me. I offered my clients three choices. I can scare, I can torture and I can kill. Any combo of the three was fine by me."

Gregor turned around and tossed Joff into the chair while Polliver quickly added the wrist and head restraints. Smiling, Gregor put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a small black bag.

"Now when it came to snitches, most wanted the snitch killed. But not always, not if the snitch happens to be important or in your case, rich sniveling little boys that have a parent who still actually cares a bit. The snitches that got to live, some were beaten, others branded or just scared until they shit their pants...broken jaws or at least something broken. Teeth yanked out or some nice acid on the face. But one thing that I did to every snitch, was make sure they couldn't use their words to ever snitch again. You need a tongue to speak words, right?"

 

Before Joff could do more than holler, Gregor's thick thumbs pressed hard on either side of Joff's jaw. Screeching in pain, the boy's mouth opened wide and thick fingers dug hard into his tongue, yanking it out of his mouth, pulling on it. Gregor held the tongue with one hand as his other held up a severely curved sharp hook that attached to a very slender chain.

"I can't remove your tongues and I can't slit your tongues straight up the middle as far as I can go. I always did one or the other. But your parents are coddling and Kevan is a merciful man. So we shall go with a much gentler, modified version. And for at least a little while, the snitches can feel what really happens in the big man world when a person snitches."

Joff screamed as the sharp hook dug into the thickest part of his tongue and was worked through the other side. Very slowly, inching and only gently tugging, Gregor drew the silver chain through the hole of pink meat. A careful last tug and Joff's tongue was now leashed and held by the large hand.

"Sorry about going slow and really digging through but I have to be careful, sweet Princess. Don't want to tear your tongue apart, we want this to heal and scar nicely. I am going to have Polliver take off your restraints now. If I were you, I would be really careful about any fast moves." Gregor held the chain taut, forcing Joff to keep his tongue stretched out of his mouth. Polliver removed the restraints and stepped away but Joff didn't dare move.

Gregor beckoned to Joff with his free hand. "Stand up slowly, carefully. I'll help you." With a large hand wrapped around Joff's arm, he helped the boy to stand up, slackening the chain as need be. Once Joff was fully upright, Gregor dropped the boy's arm but started to walk backwards, the chain in Joff's tongue slowly pulling the boy forth. With a whimper and a sob, Joff unwillingly stepped quickly to follow Gregor.

Joff followed his tongue and it's leash to a pole close to where Sansa lay.

He watched in wide eyed horror as Gregor raised the hook and chain to the very top of the post. There was a ring for Gregor to link the hook into and he securely wrapped the extra length of chain around the post until Joff was nearly on tiptoe, clutching the post for support and balance. Joff had to keep his tongue extended, drool already dribbling down his neck, already straining. With a humiliating spank to Joff's ass, Gregor walked away.

 

Ramsay glared at Gregor and then calmly sat himself down in the chair while Polliver put the restraints on. He stuck out his tongue and winced in silence as Gregor did the same procedure. Gregor did manage to get Ramsay to cry out once when he added an extra tug as the boy stood up.

"Tough little shit, aren't you? That's okay, snitch. One lesson at a time. Come on, follow your leash, rabid bitch."

Ramsay's eyes flared with hatred but he followed faster to a pole on the opposite side of Joff, Sansa on the ground between them. Once Ramsay was secured by his outstretched tongue to the pole, Gregor gave his ass an even harder smack. Gregor chuckled at Ramsay's growl and walked away. Kevan nodded at Gregor as the man walked to stand next to Unella in the circle.

Kevan fidgeted with the pen as he walked forward, his face grave, stern. He walked past the grotesque trio of the disgraced and turned to stare at each them one by one. Sansa's pale face and shuddering body, Joff's sobbing and whining, it pleased him. Ramsay was staring at Kevan hatefully, a soft growl deep in his throat. Clasping his hands behind his back, Kevan walked over to Ramsay.

Raising out his hand, Ramsay gave Kevan the middle finger. Polliver muttered, "Oh buddy, never tell Kevan to go fuck himself." Tyrion sighed and shook his head at the stupid Bolton boy and Stannis shut his eyes, groaning.

Kevan moved so fast that Ramsay barely saw it. One strong hand was wrapped around Ramsay's fist, the middle finger still stuck in the air.

Kevan's other hand wielded the pen, the razor end of it bared and stabbing deftly into Ramsay's finger. It easily opened the flesh and Kevan drew it down slowly, opening it to glistening bone. Now there was a reaction that pleased him as Ramsay screamed and hugged the pole with his one hand left, as to not yank his tongue out in thrashing agony.

"Hate me all you choose, boy. But you'll look at me with respect and you'll show me respect or I'll skin you alive like one of your own victims."  

 

Kevan looked at the students in the circle. "I am sorry that you all had to witness this and that you had to be drawn into their crimes. It is almost curfew, you are dismissed from the circle now. These three will be spending the night in their restraints." All of the children fled, even Arya, who was yanked along by Loras and Theon.

After they saw the students leave, Kevan turned to look at the staff.

"Unella, please sew up Ramsay's finger and leave water and lollipop sponges here. Gregor, tie something around the poles, their waists and shoulders in case they faint, don't want their tongues ripped out by accident. Then you two may leave, after all, you have a house to fix up and a wedding to plan, don't you?"

Kevan smiled at their flinching and looked over to Stannis and Tyrion, the smile turned upside down.

"As much as I know you value your downtime and gaming, you'll both be staying here tonight. I expect that your morals and ethics will help ensure that you correctly care for the disciplined children. You will use the sponges to keep their mouths from drying out, see to it that they don't hurt themselves. Watch to make sure no wounds need Unella's attention. Oh, Gregor can leave you some buckets and washcloths in case they soil themselves."

Turning away, Kevan walked over to Polliver. "Get your ducklings in order. Any more drugs go missing, you and I will be speaking on it. Go." Polliver headed off fast to find Theon and Arya.

Kevan beckoned to Raff who walked over, eyes down. "Yes, Sir?" Kevan gave Raff an icy look. "I assume that Jeyne is still without her tracker?" Raff cleared his throat and nervously nodded. "That will be remedied by you tonight. And since Polliver will have his hands full disciplining other ducklings, you may also deal with Jeyne's part in stealing drugs. Now." He watched in satisfaction as Raff ran towards the clinic to get a new tracker.

Sandor sighed silently when Kevan set his eyes upon him next.

"Sandor, that was very gallant of you to stop that girl from speaking. I also appreciate you speaking up tonight in testimony even though it is clear you disapprove of our ways. I think you might not think that way if you got more involved around here. As you have said, being the landscape allows you to see others differently. Let's see if it can help you in other ways. As of tomorrow morning, you are the new mentor of Arya Stark. Maybe if you had to have the same pressure as the rest of the staff with students, you might see things a little differently. You are dismissed from circle."  

 

 Another turn and Kevan faced Harold and Bob. He walked over to stand directly in front of them and he spread out his arms. With a gentle friendly voice, Kevan addressed them.

"Bob. Harold. My two best men, my stand up guys, my twins of terror. You were my two superstars, weren't you? Both of you graduated from my classes over twenty years ago and have been with me ever since. I feel truly blessed in my work every time I look at you both. I know, you are both human and humans make mistakes, we all do. But it has been a very long time since you two have made such a big, very big mistake. I paid a good amount of money for Locke to transport, clothe and feed those ladies. I paid even more when Lancel was too kindhearted and offered them all a place at Casterly Rock! Thank the gods most of them have a skill to put to good use there. And I had to pay even more to cover up two dead bodies, one of whom was a well known rich man. We are just lucky that Craster was so disgusting to all, that no one cares where he went and few knew he even had daughters at all."

Both men offered apologies and Kevan raised his hand which caused both to go silent instantly.

"I know you are both sorry. No need to repeat that. And the cost of all of that is coming out of your paychecks. That part is dealt with. Here is what concerns me, gentlemen. Myranda is very useful to me and she has always been extremely complaint. She is certain that obedience and plying her skill is the way to her eventual freedom. And I have plans that will involve her to be exactly what I promised she will be. So please keep in mind that though Myranda must be punished for killing a client and for not speaking up about Jeyne, I want my complaint, pretty whore back. Remember that little Myranda, my kitten with claws, has always been one of my favorite gifts from you both. I am quite fond of Myranda and want you both to take great care with her from this moment onward. Besides, after caring for her for so long, I can't imagine you two aren't close enough to her for you to know exactly how to reach her."

 

 


	40. Lesser Crimes

Hot Pie watched as Jeyne and Myranda cleaned faster than they ever had before. He winced at the crashing and breaking of a few things as the girls did more damage than chores.

Both tried to wash trays and pans, get the dishwasher to move faster, mop the floors while sweeping them at the same time then the girls fought over who would bring the trash out. Sighing, Hot Pie yelled, "I will bring the trash out! And if Raff happens to sedate me accidentally with a rifle or Bob and Harold ask me if a particular rag smells like chloroform, I'll be happy for it! I can't take anymore drama tonight. I'm too tired for it and that shit I had to witness tonight...ugh..."

In spite of what he said, Hot Pie didn't really mean it. He assumed that if any of the men were lurking about for the girls, it would be clear that he wasn't their target. So he nearly shrieked in shock when a hand covered his mouth and pulled him into the shadows. Hot Pie was pressed against the tree next to the dumpster and he saw it was Raff that grabbed him.

"Polliver wants you to go inside and get drinks for Stannis and Tyrion. They will need it. They have to stay with Ramsay, Sansa and Joff tonight in the circle. Make sure to mention to the professors that Polliver sent you. By the way, I have locked the cafeteria door and I'm following you into the back door and locking it. Use your key to bring those drinks out the back, but not if Jeyne is near the kitchen."

Myranda looked up from her argument with Jeyne over who should try and leave first and yelled for the girl to duck. Jeyne didn't move in time and she slumped to the freshly mopped floor. "Fuck." Myranda flew to the door and found it locked. "Uh uh, nope." She ran to the back door and yanked on it then yelled at Hot Pie. "You have a key, open this!" Hot Pie continued making drinks and said dryly, "Raff has to carry her out of here, right? Well, when he leaves, go behind him and then run."

Raff didn't seem to care overly much as Myranda followed behind him as he carried the sedated feral over his shoulder. "Go on and hide. Just remember, the harder you make it for Bob and Harold to find you, the worse it'll be when they catch you. Good luck, Whore!"

He chuckled as Myranda fled then he hurried to the clinic as Jeyne began to moan, stirring slightly.

 

Bob and Harold walked slowly as they followed the direction that they saw Myranda run. They were silent, walking in rhythm as always, thinking similar thoughts as always. Bob spoke first.

"I am fond of Myranda. One of our best projects. Her attitude and actions, her little rebellions always amuse me. I understand why she was pushed too far, I understand why she killed Craster. We went the wrong way to punish her."

Harold nodded as they walked.

"I am fond of the girl too. One of our greatest gifts for Kevan and she has always reaped great rewards for us. And I have always enjoyed her spark. I agree, we went too far down the wrong road. We tried to let her punishment come from an intolerable environment rather than from us personally. I also hope that Myranda knows we are fond of her, that she is still our special girl. That we intend to make sure that she is disciplined by her supportive and loving mentors from now on."

With a rather wolfish grin, Bob chuckled.

"I agree. Let's go get Myranda and show her that we care enough to be personally involved."

 

Theon and Arya stood next to each other against the wall in the common room where Polliver ordered them to go. They watched as Polliver set two small bottles down on the old scarred coffee table. Then he began to whack his baton in his palm as he paced before the two students.

"My poor delusional bad little ducklings! Don't you know that drugs are bad for ducklings? I mean, I can understand sneaking a bit of liquor or scoring a joint somewhere...it's a thing, a phase all teens go through. Yes. However, that isn't ONLY what you did. Buying and using drugs from the clinic. That is very big no no. Don't you know that drugs are addictive? Dangerous? Oh, my sweetlings, my furry fucked up little friends, we must have a lesson in why we say no to drugs."

Polliver pointed his baton at the children then at the bottles on the table. "One bottle for each of you. It's drugs! Since you like drugs so much, I had Raff whip you up a special drug potion for you two. Drink it down fast then back against the wall. Now."

With true reluctance both Arya and Theon took the bottles and grimaced at the scent. Then downed the bottles, coughing and gagging afterwards. Polliver chuckled as they staggered against the wall, trying not to throw up. "Good ducklings. Don't throw it up or I'll make you just take it a different way."

Waiting to make sure they would hold it down, Polliver smiled at them. "Now, repeat after me, ducklings. Drugs are bad. Drugs make you sick." Theon and Arya both echoed Polliver and he made them say it four more times for good measure. Nodding, Polliver twirled his baton.

"Very good. Now, you will both clean the common room floor, hallways, staircase, this entire room, polish the coffee table, wash the windows, I want every area that is not a bedroom shining before morning. And you may have some trouble with it but I know you will get the job done somehow. Just remember, as I told you, drugs make you sick. Get cleaning and remember, house must shine and drugs make you sick."

Polliver went to the storage closet and began tossing cleaning buckets, other cleaning products to the two kids. "Oh, you'll also be getting detention for being out partying after curfew. Death Row, Princess and Oscar will all see me tomorrow afternoon for detention assignments along with you. Now, get yourselves moving while I go visit Goldilocks and make sure he isn't too traumatized." 

As he walked away he heard at first the sounds of the two kids setting up cleaning supplies. The next second he heard them stampede for the closest bathroom. Polliver chuckled as the two ended up together in Sansa's bathroom. He peeked in and wrinkled his nose. Arya was emptying her bowels noisily into the toilet, misery spreading through the tiny room from it. Theon's entire head was in the small sink as he vomited repeatedly.

"SuperDouche, at least you were lucky and didn't have to shit in the sink. But you will probably do that soon enough and Target will need to puke. Just remember, ducklings, drugs make you sick. Don't forget to get things shiny clean in between your bathroom visits."

 

Loras looked up in mild surprise as Polliver leaned in the doorway, grinning at him. Polliver entered the room and grimaced.

"If I had to room with Death Row and SuperDouche, I would rarely visit my room. You rarely are in here unless they are gone. So I am sure it will relieve you that you will be moving out. You will be rooming with Sidebitch now. I want you to move your shit."

Nodding, Loras stood up from his bed, putting his book down. "I am relieved to switch rooms, thank you. And I don't mind Damon, he is a good guy when he's not around Ramsay." Polliver chuckled easily and tapped Loras's chest with the baton. "So polite and perfect, aren't you? I am glad you don't mind Damon because you are going to supervise Sansa's tutoring of Damon. And you will also help tutor Damon, you will help him get better grades, do well in therapy and most of all, help find his talents."

Polliver shoved Loras hard into the wall with his baton then stood nearly in the boy's face.

"Because, if Damon doesn't find a talent, if his grades go down again or any other fuckery happens with that boy, I will hold you responsible. And you will pay the price for it. I am on to you, Mr. Perfect. Listen to me carefully, you think no one will notice you sneaking the porridge, Goldilocks? You think no one will notice the beds rumpled? Sandor has caught you out of bounds a few times now. I don't know what you are doing, but I know you are sneaking around and I'm telling you now, when you are caught, you might wish you didn't try and play with wild bears. For being out of bounds and out past curfew, you can also join the others in a detention assignment. Go set up your new room and make it all welcome for your new roommate, Damon will be brought back tomorrow."

 

Hot Pie tried hard not to look at the gruesome sights of the three students when he brought the tray to the professors.

He pretended not to see Tyrion's misery or the wet mist in Stannis's eyes. Setting down the tray, he only said fast, "Polliver sent me. A pitcher of my special lemonade made very strong, Sirs. I hope it helps you through your rough evening. Good night." Tyrion yelled after him, "Thank you, lad! I love you, I mean that, young man!"

That made Hot Pie smile then he heard Stannis wail out, "Dammit, Ramsay! I swear you just defecated down your legs on purpose! Nasty terrible boy!" Losing his smile, the cook ran back towards the dorm house. He slammed in just to see Arya lean over while mopping and vomit into the soapy water as Theon nearly knocked him over heading for his room and the toilet.

Loras stormed on by with boxes and a troubled frown. Hot Pie shook his head and headed for his room upstairs, firmly shutting his door and putting a chair in front of the knob. Just in case those two sick kids have to clean upstairs too, he doesn't want them defiling his bathroom. Trying to forget the things he witnessed, trying not to worry madly for Jeyne and Myranda, Hot Pie showered and went to bed. 

 

Jeyne woke up to find herself restrained to a bed in an examination room. She noticed right away that her right ass cheek hurt like hell. Raff grinned down at her and then checked her pulse.

"There you are! How are you feeling, Jeynie? Good, your pulse is fine and you seem lucid. Now, I bet your buttock hurts, right? That's because that is where your new tracker is. I know you hate it but it's for your own good, darling. What if you got lost and hurt in a panic? What if you wandered too far and someone snatched you? We can find you and help you if we can track you."

Raff sat down on a stool and playfully rolled it over to her bedside and he ran his hand over Jeyne's scruffy scalp. "I bet you are wondering why you are still restrained if I finished your tracker. Can you guess why you are still stuck here on that bed, sweet little Jeynie?"

Peering up at Raff, shrinking a little at the sweet voice and the dark look in his eyes, Jeyne spoke in a near whisper. "I...I am in trouble?" Nodding, Raff smiled with full charm and gently pinched Jeyne's cheek. "Yes, you are in trouble. Why are you in trouble? What did you do that I would be upset at you for?"

Jeyne swallowed thickly and ventured, "I am in trouble for getting my revenge?" Tapping her nose in a very playful manner, Raff sang out softly, "Correct but what else are you in trouble for?" "Um...I stole drugs for Sansa?" Raff beamed down at Jeyne as if she performed a good trick. "Very good. That's right. You are in trouble for your revenge scheme and you are in trouble for stealing drugs."

Raff picked up a small plastic cup full of water and lifted Jeyne's head up. "Here, your mouth must be terribly dry. Sip at the water and that will help. Sip, don't drink too fast or you'll choke. There, that has to feel better, huh? Good. I'm glad. Because while we talk about your bad behavior, things are going to begin to not feel so good for you, Jeynie."

 

Myranda was sitting on a large rock, arms wrapped tightly around herself. She looked up as she heard Bob and Harold approaching.

"I wasn't running away, just sitting for a moment somewhere private."

Standing up, Myranda faced her mentors, fear shining in her eyes but bravely facing the moment as always. This made both Bob and Harold smile. Bob reached out one hand towards the trembling but challenging girl. Taking a deep breath, Myranda inched forward and put her slender hand in Bob's.

"We are glad you didn't try and hide. We have always enjoyed your courage, your spunk and even your little rebellions. I think we have made it clear that you are our favorite girl. You need to keep in my mind, sweetie, no matter the bad thing you do, no matter the severity of our anger or discipline, you will always be our favorite."

Shivering, Myranda nodded and allowed herself to be flanked by them. Each took her hand and led her forward.

"We are going to visit our rooms instead of yours this time, Myranda. Our rooms are quite soundproof. Kevan makes sure all the suites in his home are sound proof. No need to bother others, right? We are going to discuss the issue of loyalty, we shall discuss so many things...like why it's bad to murder clients." Harold kept his tone soft and kind, he grinned a little as Myranda shuddered. 


	41. Night of Discoveries

Gregor and Unella walked inside their new house with all the excitement of a couple entering prison to serve a life sentence.

The first room was a living room similar to the ones in their own small cabins. This one was bigger with two tall windows and a staircase to the side leading to a second level. In the driest voice ever, Unella remarked, "Oh how lovely, Kevan made sure it was furnished." They stared at the furry orange couch that had several holes containing several things that seemed to be moving around. Gregor looked at the peeling wallpaper and Unella shuddered at how mushy the carpet seemed.

Gregor sighed and said, "At least the windows aren't broken and the electricity works still." Unella nodded and added, "This wallpaper is awful anyway. At least the kids spray painted only on the wallpaper."  Gregor nodded back and they both took a deep breath. They have never failed any challenging thing before, this house and this marriage, it will work.

An explosion of frantic squirrels burst forth from the couch as if it was a gray fur tornado. Gregor swore at the top of his lungs and Unella shrieked while leaping for the ceiling.

 

Raff spun his stool so he headed for something across the room out of Jeyne's sight. She started to panic, pulling at her restraints a little bit. What if it was needles or something that would go inside her body somewhere? Or a scalpel or so many other terrible things, that Jeyne whined, growled and wanted to fight, to flee, to-

"No. Jeynie, you can't run or fight this time. You have to open your eyes and see then just accept your punishment. Just like any other student, any other young person here. It will hurt you and make you feel very sorry for what you've done. Then it's over and you are forgiven. Just like any person, Jeyne. Do you understand me, you need to trust me. I will never again do something to trigger you, I promise. I never want to hurt you the way those bad people did. Honey, I am not Bethany, Roose or Unella. We both know I really am nothing like Gregor."

Jeyne giggled a little at that, even in her dread, her eyes still squeezed shut, her body still tensing. But she continued to listen to Raff, rather than blindly following the thread of panic.

"I am your mentor, your therapist, I would only hurt and discipline you to teach you something. To show you when you make mistakes so I can help you do better. To become a person that is useful and someone the staff truly wants to be proud of. Do you hear me, Jeynie? I want you to open your eyes and stop struggling now. Breathe slowly and open your eyes."

With a small growl, Jeyne opened her eyes and peered down to see Raff sitting near her bare feet. He was holding up a long thin flexible rod. Showing her the palm of his hands, Raff gave it a sharp whack with the rod. He winced a bit with it, deliberately hitting it hard, to show her the raised red line. Jeyne relaxed slightly and the panic began to leave. She tried to breathe normally but now a more realistic fear of pain was filling her instead.

Raff smirked and began to run the rod lightly over her feet. "Oh yes, it will hurt, but it won't cut or maim you. And your feet aren't so callused anymore that you won't feel it. If you are wondering why I have chosen your feet, I'll tell you. Because it will also keep you from  running away so much. Hard to run on very sore feet. I guess for a little while, you'll have to find other solutions for your problems."

Tapping the rod on Jeyne's right sole the running just the tip of it sharply down the entire foot, Raff spoke sharply. "Jeyne, did I tell you to come to me before you carried out any revenge plots? Did I ask you to come and tell me your ideas for revenge before going ahead with it?" She nodded and Raff ran the length of her foot lazily. "So I did. Now, did you do what I asked?" Jeyne whined. "No, I didn't." 

The rod whipped hard against Jeyne's right foot and she cried out. Another swift crack that drew another yelp against her left foot and Raff traced the rod gently over the swelling sore lines. Whining, Jeyne squirmed and gritted her teeth, watching Raff and that damned stick in his hand. "Now, because of your revenge plot, not only did you get a bad report and get hurt, but you hurt many others. Because you wanted revenge and didn't listen to anyone who was giving you good person advice. Let's discuss that."

 

Unella and Gregor stood in the full kitchen, complete with broken dishwasher, broken garbage disposal, rusty sink, ancient refrigerator and a fully functional oven. Staring blankly at the oven, Unella asked, "Do you know how to cook?" Gregor shook his head. "I know how to use the big grill outside." Unella shrugged. "I know how to heat up soup and I can make melted cheese sandwiches in the microwave." They looked over at the elderly microwave that seemed to be missing a door. 

Gregor stared out the kitchen window at their backyard which contained overgrown weeds which he'd like to strangle his brother with. Some landscaper he was! Unella peeked into the pantry to see two walls of shelves, a washer and dryer combo that would have been all the rage about twenty years ago. A door that led into the basement of the house. With no urge to explore the basement, Unella wandered back into the kitchen.

"Thank the gods we can eat at the cafeteria, otherwise we'd have to live on heated can soup and cold sandwiches for lunch. Supper would be whatever meat you managed to grill. For breakfast, we'd just have to make cereal. I know we both can wing that one." Unella looked with dismay at the three legged table that leaned onto the counter.

Gregor stared at Unella with mild horror. "Only until the baby is born. We can only eat all our meals at the cafeteria until the baby is born. There is no way Kevan will allow us to bring a baby into the cafeteria. And he won't make the cook make baby food. We will have to eat here and feed it here." Unella shuddered and then snapped, "At least you don't have to worry about baby food for a few months! I am the one who has to play cow and let the baby feed on me. And with my luck, it will be born teething."

"It's a baby, not a vampire. I would worry more that it will come out stone cold crazy like you but huge, strong and confident like me." Unella choked on her own words for a moment, her arms slowly stretching forth as if she were going to strangle Gregor, but in slow motion. Gregor watched her arms for a moment and commented, "I feel like I am waiting for a sloth to attack me."

Just before her eager fingers reached him, Gregor turned and walked away, heading into the hallway that led back to the living room. "Unella, stop fucking around and let's get this tour finished." Unella followed after him and her voice was only slightly strained when she called out to him. "Gregor? I really think you should check the basement out before anything else." "Oh yeah? Why?" "Because I would really like to shove you down the stairs, please."

 

Polliver ran into Sandor halfway down the path to the supply shed. He looked up at the drunk man chugging a bottle of Tyrion's best wine. Which was really Kevan's best wine. Raising an eyebrow, Polliver asked,"What's wrong with you? I know you don't like circles, but...did it really get to you that much, dude? I mean, what Unella did was fucking intense shit. Even I was freaking a bit, Raff looked scared, I don't think anyone but Kevan knew what Unella would do."

Sandor shook his head.

"What Cuntella did was fucking sadistic and I feel bad for my brother. For the first time in my fucking life, I feel bad for that mountain of blowflies. Woman's gonna fry him while he's asleep and turn him into a zombie or castrate him on their wedding night. But nah, that ain't it. And those two shitheads deserved their punishments. Found that funny as fuck actually. Nope, that isn't why I am going to drink all night. Stole two more bottles from Tyrion. Tall and Small have bad baby duty tonight, so I just walked right past Tyrion with them. He screamed blue fucking murder at me so hard, I heard Meryn crashing around. Fucker must have been so happy to see those kids and at least have something to jerk off to."  

Polliver chuckled and Sandor tilted the bottle a bit at him. "So why are you out here when every light on the first floor dorm is on way after curfew?" With a cocky grin, the counselor responded. "Gotta get more toilet paper, air freshener and bottled water. Target and SuperDouche are puking and shitting themselves silly while trying to clean the common areas of the house. Why are you drinking and looking that way if you aren't upset over the circle?"

Taking a long pull of the wine bottle first, Sandor grimaced. "Kevan has decided I need to get more involved with the students so I understand the pressures of the staff better. I have to mentor one of your fucking ducklings." Polliver's hands clasped his face and his eyes grew round, a demented grin growing upon his face. "Really? Oh, I can't wait for this...who? Who does Kevan want you to mentor?" Sandor looked morosely at the ground and muttered, "Arya Stark."

He winced as Polliver burst into laugher, holding his stomach. "Target? You are going to advise and find a talent in Target? How will you punish her if she fucks up? Aggressive gardening? Will you discover if class clown is a talent? Oh, gods, can I come like...as a supervisor the first few times because I NEED to know how...how..." Sandor stormed away after muttering that Polliver could go fuck himself.

 

The hallway carpet was torn up, the cheap wood paneling half blistered and yellow. A small den and a closet on the other side completed the journey of the dismal hallway that led right back into the squirrel infested living room. They stared up the old splintered staircase with wobbly banister and then slowly began to walk up it. Halfway up, Gregor's left foot went through the step and he found himself stuck.

Being a doctor, Unella instantly reacted. She burst into huge brays of laughter and leaned hard against the banister. Gregor grabbed her by the arm just as a small part of the railing gave up trying and crashed down into the living room. The wood crashed into the ugly cheap lamp that was the only source of light in the room downstairs. Instantly, the rustling of furry creatures started below them.

Gregor and Unella stared at each other. "Great. This is how it ends for me. Stuck in a staircase, holding a pregnant doctor upright as the squirrels slowly climb up and eat us. My brother will laugh about it until he turns to dust."

 

Myranda has been in the small wing of the house that Harold and Bob share. She has been in the small sitting room part. Never in their bedrooms and certainly never in their walk in closets. Most walk in closets are assumed to hold clothing and shoes. In Myranda's short career of high class teen whore to rich elderly men, she would disagree with that. She has seen walk in closets full of bsdm gear, one client had her enter a closet full of balloons that he wanted her to pop while giggling. Closets that contained clown gear as well as stacks upon stacks of clown porn videos, each sitting upon it's own ancient recorder.

Bob and Harold's closest are something she has never seen before. She wasn't very excited to be in the closets but it was fascinating in the most terrifying way. Harold's closet was full of well lit glass shelves holding pristine condition sex toys. Though Myranda felt toys was not the right term at all. Dildos, vibrators, clamps and more. But none of it seemed designed for the person to enjoy the attentions of these particular sex toys. Clamps with razor edges, dildos too long, too large made at wrong angles. The vibrators seemed to contain a level not only for movement but for causing pain.

Harold came up behind Myranda and pulled her gently against him as he pointed out his favorite new toy he has not yet tried. Whispering with a dark glee in her ear, he explained it. "The man slips it on like a condom and that tiny wire that attaches to this box, he holds it. When he feels like it, the man can press this button and basically its like a taser going off inside of the person. I was told by a frequent user of this product, that if you use the button enough that a good seizure can be produced and it feels utterly amazing."

Bob's closet was also filled with lit glass shelves but no toys. This was only a very mild relief as Myranda surveyed the various jars of ointments, creams and liquids. Wrapping an arm around Myranda, Bob showed her several of his favorites.

 "This one...this will cause unbearable itching that will only be assuaged by aggressive thrusting...but even then...the itch will return until flushed out with specific ingredients. This is the remedy, here, see? This one over here is made of eleven types of extremely spicy peppers. It will burn no matter what, however, cold water or ice being thrust up might bring mild relief. Here is the remedy for that one. This one makes everything extra sensitive to both pain and pleasure, it all becomes intolerable."

Harold picked up a tiny bottle and Bob grabbed Myranda's chin, forcing her mouth open. "Be a good girl and swallow, Myranda. It won't hurt you, sweetheart. It's just an aphrodisiac. It will make you wild and beg to feel good, honey, not bad. Its only the toys and lubricants we've shown you that will hurt. This bottle will just make ashamed that you are going to beg for it and even orgasm while you are hurting and ashamed of being a bad girl that has to be punished."

 

Jeyne was in full sobbing mode now and Raff was feeling like he was finally getting through her damned shaved feral head.

"Getting yourself in trouble with revenge, also got me in trouble with Kevan." WHACK! "When you got your revenge, you hurt others with your reckless actions. Hot Pie would be a member of staff by next season if he didn't keep your revenge secrets. And since Hot Pie got in trouble, Polliver got in trouble with Kevan." WHACK! "Myranda got in trouble by keeping your secrets of revenge, with Harold and Bob, who got in trouble with Kevan. Can you imagine what their punishment to her will be?" WHACK! "Stealing drugs for Sansa so you can have revenge? That helped Sansa rape and frame Damon." WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! "Sansa sold some of the drugs to the other students. Who all have been punished for it."

WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

"I'm sorry! I am so sorry! I never meant to hurt others and get anyone else in trouble! I told Hot Pie and Myranda I was sorry! Please, stop, I will say I'm sorry to you and Polliver and Harold and Bob! I can even go say I'm sorry to Kevan! I mean it, I am very sorry!"

Raff smirked at Jeyne and the rod gently played along the throbbing soles. "That is a very good start, Jeyne. You should apologize because it was your fault and I am glad you accept that responsibility. Now, are you very sorry for hurting Gregor and Unella with your revenge?"

Jeyne burst into frustrated tears and shook her head wildly. "No! I am sorry for everyone else I hurt. But not them, they deserved it. I can't be sorry for that!"

With a sigh, Raff stretched and looked at Jeyne without mercy but with chilling patience. "Looks like we have more to discuss, Jeyne."


	42. Wrong Turn On The Right Road

Jeyne stared defiantly at Raff. "I can't feel bad for them. Beat me all you want." Raff smiled sweetly. "Challenge accepted, dear."

WHACK! "Because of you, they have to marry each other, live in the same house and raise a child together. They don't like each other, they don't love each other, they hate each other. Having sex doesn't mean they like each other, Jeyne." WHACK! "Gregor and Unella are both bad tempered and they are going to be forced to live together, hating each other. Now they will raise a baby they also don't want." WHACK!

"Unella and Gregor had agreed to have an abortion, Jeyne. Kevan won't let them do that unless they leave the school forever. So Unella must carry, give birth to and care for a child she doesn't want and help provide for a husband she doesn't want." WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! "Gregor will provide for and raise a baby he doesn't want and a wife he doesn't want. All because of your revenge." WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

Raff leaned over her legs and pointed the rod at Jeyne's head and lightly tapped it.

"Get this through your skull, dear. This is a baby, a human being, born to parents who are cold, bad tempered and are not a single sweet bone between them. This innocent life might not be loved, this baby watching two parents that hate each other and how will this child feel if Unella and Gregor can't feel any love, just cold duty?"  

Jeyne gasped and stared in horror at Raff. "They might kill each other or the baby!" Raff shook his head and moved back to Jeyne's feet. "No, they aren't going to do that. But you did cause them to form a family of cold hate. That a child will be born into." WHACK! WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

"Are you sorry for what you did to Unella and Gregor?" "Yes! I am sorry they are going to kill each other and the baby! I'm sorry I made a cold murder family!"

 

"NO! NO! NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND FUCKING ANYTHING, DO YOU? YOU FILTHY MISBEGOTTEN BIRTH FROM SATAN'S HELL-BEAST! A PLAGUE UPON YOU! SIT IN YOUR OWN FILTH AND I HOPE THE INFECTION ROTS YOU QUICKER THAN THE SYPHILIS THAT HAS APPARENTLY BLOOMED WITHIN YOUR BRAIN!" 

"Stannis, calm down, sit and have a drink. Let me deal with Ramsay this time around. Calm yourself."

It was to Tyrion's benefit that he was quite drunk at this point but not to Ramsay's. Tyrion simply picked up the long hose and turned the nozzle too far as he pointed it at Ramsay. The boy had hugged the pole as his lower half was swept away but then the dwarf was thrown aside by the hose. Joff then Sansa both were instantly drenched. Sansa wailed loudest as she had finally managed to doze off. Joff tried to curse them all in spite of his outstretched tongue.

Stannis didn't look up from his drink, just muttered tiredly, "Don't forget to only use the hose in the bucket, not directly on the students." Tyrion shook a fist at Stannis who didn't see it. Dizzily, Tyrion stood up, shook himself off and headed for the cup full of ice water and moistened sponge lollipops. He gently and carefully knelt besides Sansa, keeping his eyes averted. "Just wetting your mouth for you, Sansa."

"Thank you, Tyrion. It's very kind of you, but that is my eye. Could you look at my face long enough to find my mouth, please?"

 

"Dying...please...call my father and brother. I'm dying."

Polliver yawned and watched the television, ignoring the white hand reaching for his leg. Another voice and wavering voice. "I am dying too and I don't want to die so far from the sea." Rolling his eyes, the counselor flicked the hands away and stood up. "Both of you will live. Get some more water into yourselves and finish scrubbing those stairs and the upstairs hallway then you can get some sleep. Hurry or you won't get a good hour or so in for some shut eye before breakfast."

Theon and Arya dry heaved over the thought of breakfast. They dragged their pale white bodies towards the back stairs while Polliver got a blanket and pillow. He turned down the light and promptly fell asleep on the couch. Years of experience has taught him how to sleep and yet keep an ear for ducklings at the same time. Soothed by the sounds of scrubbing and retching, Polliver snored.

 

"Wake up! Are you fucking crazy? That is the worst idea I have ever heard of!"

Unella glared at Gregor, who glared back. She slammed the bag of ice onto his swollen ankle and smirked when he winced. "Woman, the worst idea I have ever heard of was marrying you and raising a child together! How come the idea of using students for free labor is fine, but free babysitters or nannies are out of the question? A person who will cook, clean and take care of the baby so we don't have to!"

"Free labor is one thing, Gregor! Having a student inside the house while we aren't, with a baby, isn't safe. Who would we choose? Oh, so many choices, after all. Myranda would just stare at it trying to find the off button! Sansa would sell the baby online if she thought it could help her out, Arya would conduct baby races for profit with it and Jeyne would get frustrated or hungry and eat the baby!"

Gregor grunted and looked around at the spray painted walls of the second floor of their new hell home. "Jeyne won't eat the baby. Might run off with it and raise it in the woods though." Unella glared down her nose at him. "You are not funny. Even among the male students there isn't anyone you can choose. Joff would nail the baby to a tree, Ramsay would nail it to ten trees. Theon would just give the baby to Ramsay. Loras would hide in a closet the second the baby became messy and Damon would hide himself and the baby in a closet because he heard a scary sound!"

 

Polliver heard the door open and a sniffle. That deep quick sniffle that only those who have been crying for a long time develop. Opening only one eye, he saw Raff go by carrying Jeyne, who's feet were swollen and quite red. Grinning, Polliver pulled the blanket around his shoulders and drifted back off. Raff nearly stepped on Theon who was laying at the bottom of the stairwell, a damp cloth over his face. He cursed and stepped over the boy, snapping out, "Best not let Polliver catch you sleeping instead of cleaning, SuperD."

"WHO'S SLEEPING INSTEAD OF CLEANING? DO I NEED TO GET UP?"

Theon moaned and hollered out, "No, sorry...cleaning." Leaving the boy to his misery, Raff climbed the stairs just to almost fall over Arya sleeping near the top step. Swearing, Raff kicked at her and muttered that she almost got all three of them killed. Arya hushed him then curled into a ball on the upstairs hall carpet, settling back to sleep. Sighing, Raff carried Jeyne into her room. Dumping her on her bed, Raff smoothed Jeyne's hair. "Now, you are sorry, I believe you and you are forgiven. Apologize tomorrow to those who should hear it. Goodnight, Jeyne."

Raff walked out of Jeyne's room and quietly shut the door. Then he tiptoed over to Arya and leaned over her sleeping form. He seemed to think about things for a moment then he went downstairs. He walked over to the small snack area and mini fridge of drinks and studied all of the options. A bag of pork rinds half eaten on the top of the trash can was perfect. Silently going past Theon who was back to scrubbing, Raff climbed the stairs and placed the open bag in front of the sleeping girl's nose. He leaped out of the way just in time as Arya heaved and vomited across the floor.

Some the spray hit his shoe and Raff screamed, "AH FUCK!" Polliver came pounding up the stairs to kill someone only to see Raff's disgust and start laughing. "That prank went fuck all on you, didn't it? I thought we established years ago that your pranks only work if I am involved?" He laughed so hard that he had to sit on the top step. "Ah shit, my stomach is killing me. Not used to laughing this hard two times in one night. Hey,while you clean your shoe and Target cleans her puke, I bet I can make you laugh too. Guess who Kevan has decided as a mentor for Target?"

 

Hot Pie stared with aching, red tired eyes at the ceiling as Arya began to scream while Raff and Polliver laughed outside his damned door.

Bad enough that Hot Pie's headphones finally decided to die tonight and he has listened to sounds that reminded him of the worst things. It was very hard to sleep with those sounds and images stuck in his head. Images of barley and been soup left too long and how it sounds poured out. The time his grandfather had the flu and he had been in the old man's lap when the chicken noodle soup made a sudden and startlingly hot reappearance.

Hot Pie had been even further horrified when a smell began to assault his nostrils from downstairs. He scrambled to light a scented candle that Myranda had made for him last year. Having never lit the thing before, Hot Pie had no clue what it would smell like. It didn't matter, anything was better than the smell of shit and vomit mixed with bleach. He firmly thought that until Hot Pie started gagging and running to stick his head out the window for fresher air. Now his room was the delicate scent of burning hair, scorched vanilla at the bottom of a pan which mingled uneasily with the vomit, shit and bleach.

Having thrown out the candle and left the window open, hoping not to asphyxiate, Hot Pie listened to chaos that has now made it to the second floor. He could hear Jeyne sobbing in the next room and sighed. Throwing off the covers, Hot Pie put on his bathrobe and headed out of his room. Passing the laughing men and the heaving while hollering girl, he went downstairs. After getting a bag of ice and a plastic tub, he headed back upstairs, this time heading into the bathroom he shares with the girls.

No one said a word as he balanced the icy water filled tub and fumbled Jeyne's door open. He shut it with his foot and walked over to the form on the bed in the darkened room. Hot Pie set the tub down and then he pulled the sobbing girl up until she was sitting on the edge of her bed. Putting her feet into the icy tub, Hot Pie smirked a bit at her gasp of the sudden cold. Then slowly her body relaxed as the sting lessened. Her sniffles became muffled as Hot Pie shoved a tissue against her face. "Blow. Good. Again." Hot Pie threw away the tissue and brought the box of tissues over to Jeyne's bed.

"I am so sorry. I am going to apologize to everyone. I am really sorry." Hot Pie sighed and nodded. "We had this talk, you, me and Myranda already, remember? We know you are sorry and we forgave you. Everyone else will forgive you too, even if they give you a bit of shit for it first. Don't worry so much about it." Jeyne nodded. "I am sorry for making Gregor and Unella baby killers." Hot Pie had started to doze off standing in place but now he was wide awake. "WHAT?" A roar from the hallway came through the door clearly. 

"HEY! DO NOT GO SHOUTING AT THIS HOUR! THERE ARE SOME FOLKS TRYING TO SLEEP SOMEWHERE!"    

Hot Pie closed his eyes for patience and then shook his head fast. "Okay, Jeyne, I am too tired to really understand. Unella and Gregor won't kill their baby. And even if they did, how the fuck could that be your fault? Don't answer that, please." He nearly cried when Jeyne decided to answer him anyway. "They hate each other and they have to marry. Spousal abuse will happen. My fault. They won't love the baby, they will kill it out of accidental rage. My fault." Hot Pie blinked several times then took a deep breath. "No. I can't. I am too tired. None of that will happen, none of that could be your fault. We can discuss it later. Ice your damned feet and go to bed, Jeyne."

 

Jeyne was hearing the sounds of Arya snoring in the hallway, Hot Pie snoring in his room and she could hear Polliver snoring downstairs. Every few minutes or so she heard Theon downstairs running for a bathroom, groaning. Then worse sounds happen that Jeyne tries hard to ignore. Her feet kept getting sore again every time she laid back down. Easier to sit up and keep them in the water. Besides, Jeyne's own guilt and worst case scenarios were crowding her head. She heard the hushed sounds of others coming up the stairs.

It was a very normal and safe sound to Jeyne. It was only Bob and Harold returning Myranda to her room. Whenever there are punishments or if they have to drug her because of a rough job, this is how Myranda is returned. Jeyne heard the men leave their charge in her room then leave. Jagged sobs came through the walls and Jeyne whined, looking down at her ice water numb feet. Moving fast, Jeyne pulled her feet from the water and gingerly stood on them. Hissing in pain, Jeyne began to take small, mincing steps to the door.

Passing Arya in the hallway, Jeyne went into bathroom and started to fill up the tub, adding the calming scents and bubble bath that Myranda favors. She set out a towel and waited until the tub was full of bubbly water so hot it could barely be stood. Jeyne went into Myranda's room and found the girl standing in the center of the room, shuddering and weeping. Myranda stood as if she had just emerged from an oil slick and can't tolerate the feeling of it. Jeyne took Myranda's arm and carefully led her to the bathroom.

Gently, Jeyne helped her friend remove her clothes and get into the tub. Myranda started to get her color back a little and stopped weeping. Jeyne hissed in pain and sat hard on the bathmat, raising her feet onto the tub edge. Narrowing her eyes at the swollen brick red soles, Myranda commented. "Ouch. Raff was pissed, huh? Well, you paid for it and now it's over except for apologies, I bet. And a little pain from Cuntella and Nanny Smash. And I have learned the exact limits to never again push Harold or Bob to. That is over now too and I am grateful it's over." Jeyne curled around herself and snaked up her legs to peer at Myranda.

"I am sorry. It doesn't matter what Unella and Gregor do to me for it. I am a child killer now." Myranda stared hard at Jeyne then started to giggle. "Fucking crazy ass kind of logic....what the hell are you talking about now?" Jeyne looked at Myranda without a trace of humor. "They will all kill each other in rage and it will be my fault." Myranda sank deep into the bubbles, wincing in so many different types of pain and rolled her eyes up at Jeyne. "Sweetheart, I love you, I do. But I need to recharge, okay? I am not at my best right now. Anything that happens to Unella and Gregor or their spawn is no longer your fault. It's all over but the last of the apologies and pain. Speaking of those things, I have done a real lot of apologizing myself tonight and feeling a shitload of pain for it. So, why don't you go ice those feet while I cry and soak?"


	43. Triage

The next morning all the students were lined in the clinic with Polliver twirling his baton. Two things were different. Jeyne, Hot Pie and Myranda are usually in the cafeteria, having seen Raff earlier. The second thing was that instead of standing at the medication counter, Raff was sitting in his triage room, calling out names. He had leaned out of the doorway, smirking. "You all look like properly fucked up ducklings. Let's see who needs what. Come in when I call you."

Raff shook his head and sighed. "You look like a zombie. Okay, go make a late breakfast of only cold foods. Go to bed until lunchtime. Cold lunches only. Back to bed until supper and see how you feel about using a stove or something. Hand this note to Polliver, he'll pass along that no one is to disturb you today. It was nice of you to ice Jeyne's feet last night, Hot Pie. That's what a good friend does. But, I wanted her feet to hurt that badly, so the lesson sticks. That is why I can't let you out of your cook duties today. Dismissed."

Jeyne shifted her feet and asked if she could sit down in the chair. "No. Here's your medication and you have a full schedule today, I see. Make sure to show on time to everything. Make sure to squeeze those apologies in somewhere. In fact, we have therapy later today, I'd like to hear by then that you've finished them."

Myranda was offered a chair and politely declined it. Raff gave her a fast private examination and found himself truly wincing in sympathy. "Okay, sweetheart. You are seeing Unella first thing today. I am calling it a sick day for you. Along with your regular medications, I'll add a painkiller, muscle relaxant and an ointment that has a numbing agent. Get dressed, take your medications and hand this note to Polliver. Then have a rest on the couch in Unella's office until she gets to you."

Sansa stood as if she were a statue and Raff smirked. "Let's go behind the curtain and do a quick examination, Sansa." The whole time the girl stared at the ceiling or walls and only spoke to answer questions. After she was dressed and back standing before the small desk, Raff wrote out a note for Polliver. "Women after giving birth find a circle pillow very comforting. I have a few that were sent here...they work well for injuries to the genitals or anus. Polliver will give you one for use until you feel better. That cut won't be a problem for very long. The stitch will come out at the end of the week. If it burns or itches uncontrollably come see me right away. Otherwise, use the creams that I am giving you twice a day every day for ten days. I am excusing you from gym for two weeks. For the ache and stiffness of your limbs, use the ibuprofen I am giving you. Today I have your therapy with me after lunch. See you then."

Loras barely cleared the doorway before Raff handed him his medications. "Open your mouth. Good. Have a nice day, I hear it's full and there is detention at the end of it. The perfect boy has received detention? I shall want to discuss that with you later in our therapy session."

Arya slid in the door and then slid into the chair, groaning. Raff lifted an eyebrow. "I didn't say you could sit down, Arya." "I am dying, Raff. You won't let a dying girl sit down? What the hell kind of nurse are you?" Smirking, Raff leaned forward and sweetly responded. "A nurse that knows drugs make you sick.  Do you know who isn't a nurse? Jeyne. She could have scooped up the wrong thing and not know it could kill you. Do you know who else isn't a nurse? Your sister. Sansa could have sold deadly drugs to you and the others, never knowing it. Can you imagine how she would feel to know that she not only dragged you into this school by that car accident but then accidentally killed you with drugs?" Flushing, Arya looked down at her hands. "I know. I'm sorry." "Good. I'm glad that you are. We can discuss it during therapy today. Take this note to Polliver. I am letting you out of academics and physical classes today. But you will attend therapy, a quick exam with the doctor and any detentions you have wracked up. Oh, before you leave, head over to the second exam room. I'll be giving you IV fluids to hydrate you."

Raff smirked at the sight of Theon grasping onto the door frame. He received the same lecture and schedule as Arya. "Theon, if I could request a room change for you, I would. Hanging with Ramsay has brought you nothing but grief. I would like you to start giving serious consideration to a mentor. And I hope we will talk about that more during therapy today. Go sit with Arya and wait for your hydration, please."

Joff glared at the nurse that was far too cheerful for the grievous wounds he has suffered. He was given an examination and Raff wrote his note to Polliver. "You will see Unella for a better look before lunch. I will give you a mild painkiller in some cough syrup so you can attend all your classes. Due to the stress of your limbs and the pain in your mouth you are excused from all physical classes today. You will attend all detentions and therapies. Here are your medications."

Ramsay tried to bite Raff during the tongue examination and claimed it was an accident. Raff smiled nastily and hand slapped hard against the swollen, hastily stitched middle finger. As Ramsay howled, Raff apologized, claiming it was an accident. While the nurse examined the finger, Ramsay didn't do anything but stare at him with menace. "I will add a mild painkiller in cough syrup for you. Due to the excessive pain in your finger, I am going to give you another painkiller as well. Be careful going to and from classes today. In fact, as long as you need any painkillers, Polliver will escort you to and from classes and detentions. You are excused from physical classes only. Unella wants to see you at ten today, Ramsay. Be on time. Here are your medications."

Once Polliver escorted the students out, after Theon and Arya were tethered by tubes to hydrate, the last student came to triage. Unella guided a shaking Damon into Raff's small triage room and into a chair. "He is in good health. Damon will need an increased dosage on his stabilizers, please. He needs some calm productive days." "No problem. Myranda is waiting for you, she needs a better look than I can give. She is getting some extra relief but I'd like to make sure you don't have a better idea on it than me. And the moaning in the other exam room belongs to Theon and Arya. They are getting some hydration, spent the night with terrible stomach flu symptoms."

Unella left and Raff smiled at Damon. "Okay, kiddo. We are adding a little to your medications and I am adding a bit of something to calm you down. I want you to attend all academic classes, your exam with Unella later and therapy sessions with me. I think you are good for physical classes today, there won't be many others students there. No extra activities today, no detentions either. Damon, we should start finding you a mentor. I think you are ready for some more adult guidance. Today I would like you to look closer at the staff around you and see if you feel there is anyone you trust more than others. We can talk about it during therapy."

Damon nodded and hugged himself. Raff leaned over his desk and softly. "Last night Polliver switched some rooming situations. Loras is your new roommate now. And he is just as smart and kind as Sansa was. Until you feel better and have your head straight, I think it's best you don't share rooms with her. Loras has offered to help tutor you and if you wish to still work with Sansa, Loras can go with you until you are feeling better."

 

Polliver was leading a pissed off Ramsay towards the schoolhouse when Jeyne staggered in front of them. Ramsay sneered at her mincing steps but Polliver just grinned. "Careful there, Feral. I almost stepped on you. Don't you have class in five minutes, darling?" Jeyne nodded then took a deep breath before blurting out, "I am very sorry that you got in trouble because Hot Pie got in trouble because I got in trouble." Ramsay laughed at her but Polliver stopped his joking nature and gravely responded. "Thank you for apologizing and really meaning it. That was very new and hard for you, wasn't it? That was a real person thing to do, I am impressed. I forgive you."

Ramsay couldn't contain himself when the strange girl he was supposed to see as a sister looked so proud. Standing tall like a person, eyes beaming like a child, her hands held like begging paws in her excitement, thin, all wrong angles on her and that buzz cut looking hair growing upon her head. He spoke with a slurring tone, but Ramsay made sure he was heard and understood. "I can tell you were kept with the dogs. My favorite dog was Helicent, she begged with her paws like that too. I have a dog sister. When I call you a bitch, would I be correct?" The baton into the solar plexus was worth it to see Jeyne's eyes fill with hurt as she staggered away.

 

Unella shook her head grimly. "Myranda, are you sure you would like to...keep working with Harold and Bob? Perhaps it is time to find a new talent? I mean, young lady, I have seen you in some bad situations before...but this is...unique. Thank goodness that they had remedies on hand but some damage has been done. I am putting in my report that you cannot do any work for Bob and Harold for the rest of the month. Your body needs time to heal and recuperate. Myranda, please consider that this talent only lasts as long as your body does. Eventually, it will take it's toll and that talent will no longer be of use. Please, consider another mentor to help discover a different talent?"

Shaking her head and giving a humorless smile, Myranda responded in a sweet ragged tone. "I only came here because of Harold and Bob. They saved me from a worse fate. This isn't from a client, just a punishment for a very bad action. I will heal and learn from it. And this work isn't forever. Kevan has promised me a better future and it's soon. I just have to make up for this and be even better at my work for awhile longer."

Unella sighed, wishing she could get through the girl's delusional head but it wasn't her job. "Alright then. I have adjusted your medications and I have asked Polliver to get you a horseshoe shaped pillow. Take it with you as you need to for as long as you want. I want you back in academic classes tomorrow without any physical classes for the next two weeks. And you will come for a follow up exam with me in two days. Any further discomfort than you have, please see me or Raff immediately."

 

Stannis and Tyrion groaned as students staggered in for classes. Both men were extremely hung over and beyond tired. The children looked like zombies. Stannis sighed and shook his head. "And all we got for breakfast was cereal, fruit salad, avocado toast and muffins from yesterday. This day is a cruel one, Tyrion. Do you have anymore painkillers?" Tyrion gave Stannis two aspirin and held up his thermos. "Here, a few gulps of this might help. It's how I am dealing with our cruel day." 

 


	44. Forgiving Natures

Tyrion and Stannis noted that Jeyne was more interactive with Damon than usual. They mostly worked silently beside each other only speaking when needed since Damon joined Jeyne for classes.

Today Damon kept dropping his pencil and Jeyne would pick it up every time and put it on his desk. When Damon dropped it for the tenth time he burst into tears. Jeyne got up, got the tape off Stannis's desk and taped the pencil with Damon's hand wrapped around it. Considering the size of the fist around the pencil, Jeyne used up all of the tape. She gave Damon a tissue and went back to her work.

In Tyrion's class, Jeyne shared a book she had finished. "I liked it. It was good. The cat was evil, the actress girl was a stupid girl. She had to get saved by boys. I really liked the cat. The end."  It was rare for her to give a verbal book report. Rarer was her helping Damon when he tried to stumble through a new book of his own. They both would get stuck on a word and frown over it together, sounding it out. One time they couldn't get the word and Jeyne looked up. "Tyrion? Can you help? We can't do this word." Stunned, Tyrion staggered to his feet and eagerly went to help. In the past, if Jeyne truly needed help, she would slink to the desk and slam the book on it, pointing.

With lots of encouragement from Jeyne and the teachers, Damon made it through his classes without too much issue. He was already starting to calm down. Following Jeyne, they went into the library to do their homework. Red hair shined bright from the sun in the window, Damon gasped seeing Sansa. For a brief second that terrible nightmare was back. For the first time he can remember, he wanted to not be noticed by her. He has already talked with Loras who was nice enough if just boring. Damon wanted to just get help from Jeyne, teachers and Loras, maybe.

Jeyne saw the girl too and made a small growling sound. Sighing, she saw no other option. "Damon. We are leaving. Come on, turn around, be quick." Damon let her push him out of the library. "Where are we going? To do homework somewhere else? Do you think we could use the cafeteria and get a snack?" Shaking her head, she kept shoving Damon's back until they were out of the school house. "Cafeteria is closed until meal times. Hot Pie is sleeping in between today." Damon looked a bit disappointed at that. "Common room at the dorm? No one is in there now, I think." Jeyne shuddered. "Not until that place smells better. Target and SuperD were really sick last night. Do you like to sit in the garden? We can work there."

Damon nodded and as they walked, he suddenly grinned and gave her a light punch to the arm that nearly knocked her down. As he straightened Jeyne back up, he spoke cheerily if a bit slower than usual. "Hey, today you are talking and helping. And I like doing homework outside, you came up with a great idea. That's like a big deal for you, isn't it?" Jeyne gave a small quick smile back. "I am being a Person That Interacts and Helps." Damon nodded, watching a butterfly go by and wanting to take a nap. 

"Silly, didn't you know you are a person? Feral is just a nickname and what happens in the past...better to just forget it." Jeyne shrugged. "I am nicknamed that because that is what I was. I am going to be a Person now, it just takes time. Raff said that. Gregor and Polliver said that. I have decided to believe them. Let's sit here and start with math." "Ugh, why that?" "Because it's the worst and my hardest so I want to get it over with. I don't have much time for homework today so I have to rush." Damon started to set out the papers while Jeyne took off her socks and shoes, to let the air at her sore, burning feet. "Why are you in a rush today?" "I need to make apologies. Just as hard and awful as math, so I want to get it done with."

Damon grinned at Jeyne. "Ramsay told me apologies are easy because they are just words, they don't really need to mean anything." Jeyne gave Damon a very serious look. "Words should mean something. Promises mean something. Lies hurt lots of people, Damon. Ramsay is wrong. It was really hard for me to learn that but I did it. That is important for you to learn, Damon. If you are truly sorry for something, that is when the apology matters most. And it should be hard, maybe." A cackle and a shadow ruined the moment. Ramsay's slurred voice and hateful eyes pierced through both Jeyne and Damon.

"I see that you are both making friends, my new dog sister and my old best friend. Feral is full of shit, buddy. She only parrots back what others tell her, what they fill into her empty head. Think of it like training a dog, Sidebitch. The staff isn't teaching her, they are training her to act like a human, like a really good trick. Maybe they can use her as a therapy dog. Are you going to let them fill your empty head like a trained dog too? What great buddies you pick up! Oscar, Goldilocks and your special needs classmate. Do they plan on getting you matching retard helmets?"

"I think perhaps you are the one who needs a helmet. After all, it's clear you have nothing but air in that skull of yours? Wasn't last night enough for you? Polliver is already looking for you and ready to murder you. I'd move if I were you or I'll call and wave to him. And if you try to hurt any of us, I will scream. He will show up with the baton already searching for your empty skull." Ramsay spun around to glare at Sansa, who looked pale but composed. "Should I start yelling, Death Row?" Damon and Jeyne watched as Ramsay stormed away. Sansa smiled at the two and said, "I am sorry, some bullies can't help themselves. Jeyne, would you mind if I spoke to Damon alone for a minute?"

Calling her by her real name both made Jeyne feel pleased and wary. Jeyne looked at Damon and he nodded. "Why don't you do your apologies and when you get back we can finish our homework?" Nodding, Jeyne stood up and with a sigh, looked up at the tall redhead. "Thank you for helping us. It was nice of you." Jeyne the Person minced away as Sansa tried not to laugh. "You are welcome, Jeyne." The girl didn't turn around and Sansa sat down next to Damon. He shifted awkwardly and Sansa was careful not to touch him. "I heard you had a really bad trick played on you by Princess and Death Row. I was really worried when they took you into the clinic on a stretcher. I was so relieved to hear you were okay and back to school. How are you feeling?"

Blushing, Damon looked around the garden, then checked to see if his feet were still there. "Fine. A little foggy from the medicine though. I don't remember much and it's all fucked up in my head. I...I had a terrible hallucination, just needs to fade away, I guess. Still can't believe Ramsay did that...I mean, yeah, he did but...then to come here and mess with me more." Sansa gave him a sympathetic look. "You can avoid him and soon enough he will move on to another target." Damon snickered. "I think he already picked a target. Feral is his half sister, he doesn't like that his old best friend is sitting with her, talking about him...if I'm around I won't let him touch her though. She has never been mean to me. Today she was really nice. Maybe even a new friend. I like doing homework with her."

Sansa smiled and gently took Damon's hand. "That is really nice of you to offer protection to Jeyne. She is really trying hard and so you are you. I think it's great that you work together on school stuff. It will help both of you. I still want to read with you, if you'd like that. I know that Loras will be your new roommate and tutor now. He is a very nice boy and won't lead you the wrong way. And we are still friends too, right, Damie? I love seeing how my superhero is growing, making friends and learning. Don't let what those nasty boys did stop you in any way, superstar."

Damon couldn't believe his head would let him believe this wonderful friend would have hurt him that way. He squeezed Sansa's hand and grinned. "Nah, it won't stop me. Course we are friends, I want to start a new book with you, though. I don't like that scary one anymore."  

Bob and Harold were in their office near Kevan's, at their desks when a knock came at the door. Gilly popped her head in and spoke in her usual respectful but blunt tone. "Sorry to disturb you, Sirs. Jeyne is here to see you. Want her in her or the foyer? She is following me very closely, Sirs. I think she is very eager to see you."  The men looked at each other through their sunglasses then shrugged. Bob smiled at Gilly. "Let her in, thank you." Gilly nodded then disappeared as Jeyne carefully stepped in.

She only looked up at them once but made sure her voice was loud and clear. "I am sorry for making a problem for you by asking Myranda to keep my secrets." Both men looked at each other again then at Jeyne. Harold nodded. "Thank you, Jeyne." Bob smiled at her. "Yes, that was good of you. We forgive you." Jeyne minced out of the room as fast as she could. After Jeyne was gone, both men went back to their tasks. "I wonder how Kevan will feel if the staff manages to turn the feral into a  fully functional person? I wonder what use she'll have to him if she isn't just a charity, if he doesn't see his unique pet acting unique?"

Bob looked at Harold and shrugged. "She is doing much better, still very strange. If she loses her feral attitude and actions eventually...I am sure Raff is digging hard for a talent already."

 Arya tried to get Unella to excuse her from any mentors or detention time and failed miserably. Leaving the clinic, she had one small bright spot. Watching Polliver dragging Ramsay by his ear while beating his ass with the baton all the way towards the clinic she just left. Polliver kept up a steady one sided conversation that Arya just stood there listening to. She was too tired and really didn't care about going to mentoring with the damned grounds keeper.

"What the fuck are you thinking, boy? Running from me, hiding from your therapy time? Hurts my feelings, Death Row. Hurts Raff's feelings. And I am sure you were out hurting someone's feelings' weren't you? Don't bother with any of your fucking lies. Joff can barely speak and I know that your tongue must hurt like hell yet, you keep talking anyway. Fucking idiot, truly, I have little hope for your survival. Wonder if it'll be lethal injection or if Tickler will fuck you to death for your impending crimes? I can see through you, kiddo, you aren't our first serial killer, sweet summer child. And I am telling you now to leave Feral the fuck alone or...."

Polliver's bullying words as he dragged Ramsay became a soft lullaby that sweetly sent Arya into dreamland as she leaned against a fence and shut her eyes. Until the crash of a baton into the wood right next to her head.

"Hey, Target, you are meeting Sandor for mentoring in...wow...fifteen minutes ago. Need me to beat your ass too, honeybunches of biscuits? No, better run faster than that!" Arya ran and hoped her stomach wouldn't start up again over it. She skidded to a halt just past the small bend where Polliver couldn't see her and panted, bending over. Luckily, her stomach was steady and she stood straight up with a sigh of relief. Intending to sneak into the dorm from the back and go to bed, Arya crossed behind the cabins and walked on the back pathway near the woods.

A huge shadow came over her just as she took one step off the path towards the back of the dorm house. Looking up at Sandor's frown, she sighed. "Look, we both don't want to do this. And I am so tired and weak I really won't pay attention. Why don't we pretend we did this mentor thing today and try again for tomorrow?" Sandor stared at Arya as if she were a new species. "I waited for you. That was pretty fucking rude of you to just leave me waiting, wasting my time. Doesn't matter if we don't want to do this mentor-ship, Kevan wants us to do it. My boss and your ultimate damned god right now. Time for you to pull up those big girl pants and start really looking at this world."

Sandor grabbed Arya by the shirt collar and dragged her towards the large gardening shed. "We are going to skip the heartwarming talks, no shock therapy, ain't going to beat you unless you are incredibly dumb and no drugs to fuck with your body or head. Polliver gave me a name for it and it works. Target, you are going to get some aggressive gardening. And we are both going to pray that it works. If it does, you'll come out of it with a talent. If it doesn't work then we try again until it does. If we let Kevan down, we both feel it. So let's go get you all set up for some time being a landscape."     

Unella shook her head in disapproval at Ramsay. "Young man, your tongue is twice as swollen as it should be. Frankly, you need to shut up. I am adding a medication to reduce the swelling and honestly, I am not above sewing your mouth shut if it is for your own good. Get to your therapy with Raff. You might not be able to speak but he can certainly talk to you." Stretching, Unella decided it was time to get some coffee. She washed her hands then left the exam room to put her lab coat in her office. As she entered the small room that was already stretching out shadows of afternoon, Unella jumped, seeing Jeyne sitting on the desk. "Jeyne! You scared the hell out of me! Don't sneak into my office, ever!"

The girl slid off the desk and came far too close, her head tilting inquisitively. "Are you okay? Did I scare the baby?" Unella was trying to regain composure and gave a short bark of laughter at Jeyne's question and extreme concern. "What? No..Jeyne, it didn't scare anyone but me. But you shouldn't scare anyone that way, certainly not a pregnant woman in need of coffee." Jeyne backed up and winced at her feet thudding down. "Are you here because your feet, Jeyne? I know Raff used them for your discipline last night. Would you like me to check them? I will but I warn you, I won't help them feel better or treat them unless it's really bad. And knowing Raff it's harsh but not overboard."

Jeyne spoke in a sudden rush of words, her hands twisting together. "I am sorry for getting revenge on you. I am sorry you will kill your husband and baby and I am sorry that your husband might kill you and your baby. I am really sorry. It will be my fault and I am really sorry I did what I did." Unella was speechless, just trying to comprehend that twisted logic apology. "Jeyne, I appreciate that you came to apologize. But I don't understand why you think that myself or Gregor would murder the other or the baby. That simply won't happen, I assure you. I am very upset with you still but I am going to forgive you. However, you will still meet with us later about punishment." Nodding, Jeyne slipped past Unella and minced away.

Arya huffed as she carried bags of manure to a wheel barrel. "Oh yeah, I feel that mentoring sinking right in. Hard labor is really my thing, I can tell. My sister is going to go off and rule the fucking world, change everything if she can. I'm going to learn how to use shit to make salad and bright flowers." Sandor reached into the shed and grabbed a roll of duct tape. While Arya struggled to get the wheel barrel moving, he came up and put a thick piece of gray tape over her entire mouth. "There. Maybe if you can't run your mouth to distract you, you might actually learn something. Let's try that out for a bit." Arya's eyes told Sandor exactly what she thought of that and he grinned, not caring. "I like you better this way. Silent. Now, let's see what we can find out about you besides what your mouth tells us."

Sandor showed Arya where to start working in the garden near the cafeteria house. "Now, you understand the directions on what to do. Simple, easy work that takes no real thought or hardship. This is when your mind can wander away...or you can use this silent, simple work to good use. That is what you will do today. Every job will give you a chance to see, hear and discover what goes on around you. The stuff no one else might see. I want you to watch, keep your tape firmly on and just observe things around you. I'm only taking the tape off if you need water. It stays on until the work is done. Then I'm going to ask you what you saw while you were working. If the answer is good enough, I'll take the tape off for the night. If the answer sucks because you were daydreaming or being stubborn, you'll have to wear it all the way until supper time."    

Gregor had only Damon and Jeyne for classes today. It had been pathetic since Damon was shaking and Jeyne kept trying to get off her feet. He had them do some sit ups, stretches and gave up. Gregor used the time to prep things at the house for the work needed upon it. He spent a good amount of time setting traps for the squirrels. A sound of someone mincing into the living room and he looked up. Jeyne stood there and shifted her feet before peering into the gloom to see Gregor. "I am sorry. My revenge will cause you terrible problems and it was wrong. I hope you don't kill your wife or the baby. I hope she doesn't kill you and the baby."

Standing up and dusting off his pants, Gregor smirked. "Thank you for apologizing. I'll forgive you and I'll be seeing you in an hour for detention. That's when we can discuss your punishment. I don't plan to kill Unella or the baby and I'm pretty sure she doesn't plan to kill me or the baby. Thanks for the concern though. Now get." 


	45. Feeling Like Nothing

Arya felt very little merit in this sadistic and unfair lesson by this muttering freakazoid hillbilly. She felt pushed to the limit enough to say that to his deformed face if Sandor removed the tape. Except Sandor only removed the tape when he felt like it and by then all Arya cared about was getting to the water bottle. As soon as she finished drinking, the tape was right back on. She traveled back and forth with weeds, wheelbarrows and others passed her as she knelt in the kitchen gardens and then fixed the outer borders on the pathway leading past the different areas of the school.   

 Maybe the real goal was to humiliate or degrade and shame her more. Like her mother would do or some adult shit. Polliver had smiled when he passed her and commented that he loved her new look. That she should wear it more often. Joff stood over her for a full ten minutes in the garden, pointing and laughing, the ugly black stitches on his tongue grossing Arya out. Sandor came by and drove Joff away, said nothing to Arya, just walked off. Once she got really working and others were busy with their own things...she got bored. Her mind started filling up with prank ideas as she mindlessly worked in the vegetable garden. Then something caught her eye, dragged it up and into reality.

Fire red hair against a white uniform caught Arya's attention and she watched as her sister walked, arm in arm with Damon. They walked right past the gardens and never noticed her. Arya couldn't believe it and her mouth was wide open. In spite of that horrific punishment, here was Sansa, comforting and walking with the boy she raped! And Sansa has her own private room plus mentor-ship with the damned owner of the place itself! Fuming, Arya breathed hard and tried to murder the lettuce. Then she stopped and thought about how they didn't see her. What if no one else sees them but her? This bore some small thought.

Arya went back to her work and this time, she started to look around and discovering things might not be so boring after all. Before Arya left the garden she discovered how contraband came into the school. At least the main way, she thinks. No one saw her working silently nearby when the meat truck pulled up. Only a tired Hot Pie and a paler than usual Myranda greeted the driver. They seemed on very friendly terms with the man. Hot Pie was given a six pack of energy drink cans and in return, the cook gave the man pastries and rolls. As Hot Pie brought the meat boxes inside, Myranda flirted with the driver then took him aside which was actually a closer view for Arya. Sadly, the girl was giving the driver a hand job. Afterwards, the man gave Myranda a baggie full of joints, a few packs of cigarettes and the part that boggled Arya the most, he gave her hair products.

Very begrudgingly, Arya began to wonder if Sandor had a point about being the landscape, after all.

Sansa shifted in the wooden chair that was in front of Raff's desk that he gestured for her to sit in. Normally, he has a padded seat there and Sansa could feel the wood right through the damned humiliating pillow. "Today I want to talk to you about what happened with Damon." Sansa turned into a statue, her face was composed and her eyes said, bring it. Raff smirked and crossed one leg smoothly and tossed his magnificent mane of hair. "In a clinical sense, in a logical, cold analytical way, would you say I'm handsome? I am not flirting with you in the least, I am asking an honest question. Just go with it." Sansa stared at him for a moment then uneasily nodded. "Yes, you are very good looking. High class is all over you, too. You could have been a model, truthfully."

Raff sat normally and he beamed at her.

"Thank you. I actually did some modeling briefly in my teens while I was still a wild rich brat. And with looks like these, I could easily get any girl I wanted. Hell, girls I didn't want crushed all over me and nearly got their disgusting brace drool on my designer clothes. I was a fucking pied piper, rich and handsome, smart, good grades, great family lines...I fucking hated it. Couldn't stand it. I didn't want a girlfriend, I enjoyed the occasional pretty cheerleader that would give me a blow job in exchange for a quick dinner at the beach. But my parents made me date boring rich girls that didn't want to be with me anymore than I wanted to be with them.I was just going to be perfect and boring and make my parents happy. Fuck that. So I started to rebel, became big at clubs and parties. All sorts of girls there wanted everything from dates to just a quickie in the damned bathroom. So damned boring after awhile. I needed, craved something else. I was fucking bored, feeling helpless and powerless in my life and transferred that right to those girls. We have something in common, Sansa. We are both rapists. I did it because I needed a target for my feelings, you did it for a reason too. Let's discuss that."  

Sansa stared at Raff in shock. "That's...it's not the same thing at all!" Raff tilted his head. "No? Are you so sure of that, Sansa? If everyone else sees it that way and only you don't...are you sure that you are the right one? It was rape. Just because you didn't physically hurt him doesn't make it any less of a rape. I didn't hurt all of the girls I raped. The first one I drugged and she didn't ever know it happened. Or so I thought. It was a girl I knew that went to a club I enjoyed. She never said a word to me of it, but she stayed away from me when she could after that. Through others I heard she suffered horrid nightmares and anxiety attacks. That was caused by me, even though I was very careful not to hurt her when I raped her."

Wrapping her arms around her, Sansa woodenly nodded. "Yes, I drugged him and made him want to have rough sex with me. I am sorry for it, at least he enjoyed it until that terrible end. Even better is he doesn't remember it." Raff looked into her challenging stone eyes and smirked. "True, he got to enjoy it. Do you know, one of my victims actually orgasmed when I raped her? She wasn't drugged, I brought her to my car and forced her. I only slapped her once when she screamed and I easily overpowered her when she fought me. I raped her and even as she shook her head no, her mouth all bloody, scared I might kill her after, the girl had an orgasm. She sobbed afterwards and it was clear that an orgasm wasn't something she intended. It is biology, Sansa, not an excuse for rape."

Squirming, Sansa looked away then her eyes narrowed as she pierced Raff with her gaze. A predator ready to snatch their prey. "I am sorry for what I did. Yes. But let's remember that the person I chose is also a rapist, possibly, most likely, a murderer too." Raff gave her a charming smile. "Ah, yes! So because he was a rapist and killer in his own right, it was alright to rape him? You did it because you are the judge and jury of Damon? Because you are avenging all those poor victims of his? Or were you doing it simply because it served your needs? Think carefully, Sansa." Shaking her head, Sansa tried to regroup but Raff wasn't giving her time to.

"A rapist feels powerless or out of control in another part of their life. You couldn't get out of here, you couldn't find another way to rise upwards. Powerless and out of control, you saw a boy you could use for your own selfish needs. He was an object, something you needed to gain something for yourself and that was all he was in that moment. But there was more too, a rush of excitement, of such power and control over another?" Raff leaned forward on his desk and put his chin in his hands, eyes beaming, he continued.

"I mean, you have to admit, it's one hell of a rush. And I see that you intend to keep the relationship because he can't recall the truth. Because it's a rush to have such a large lumbering stupid boy to use and manipulate. He is something in your control still and that is such a boost, isn't it? You have won, you have the mentor you want, the room you want, the lumbering worshiper you wanted. At home, there is nothing you control, here you can carve your own niche. It was worth it to hurt Damon, to rape him. My type was innocent stupid teenage girls. Your thing is large easily swayed men. Just like the mother you are trying to run from. Let's discuss that."

Sansa was reasonable, she was stone, ice and clenched her fists hard in her lap, willing herself to silence. Raff spoke softly, almost tenderly, with a dark past look rising forth in his eyes. "Damon will have nightmares for a very long time because of you. He will have flashbacks that will horrify him and confuse him since he thinks they aren't real. He will think he's crazy. Because of you. And he will still trail after you even though you were the one to cause that pain, even though you raped him, bashed your face as he orgasmed, caused the Tickler to nearly rape him, he will still be your loyal lap dog, your punching bag when you need it. Just like your mother-"

"I AM NOT MY MOTHER! I AM SORRY FOR WHAT I DID TO DAMON! I WILL BE HIS FRIEND AND MAKE IT UP TO HIM! I WILL KEEP HIM SAFE, HELP HIM AND CARE FOR HIM FOREVER IF I HAVE TO! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" Sansa stood there, shaking, tears streaming and Raff leaned back, his normal smirk and sarcastic eyes back in place. "Now we are getting somewhere. Have a seat, we have twenty minutes left."

Sandor peeled the tape off Arya's mouth and gave her a bottle of water. After she finished it, he said, "Well? Did you learn anything today or are you wearing the tape until supper time?" Nodding, she wiped her mouth with water to relieve the sting. "I did but I kind of don't want to get anyone in trouble." Rolling his eyes, Sandor asked, "Did you see anyone murder, rape or beat someone? Those are the things I have to report. The rest I probably already know and I don't blabber. I keep my mouth shut and hold information in case I ever need it. That is what I am teaching you to do. So tell me."

Arya told everything from seeing Sansa with Damon to the contraband meat truck. "Good work. I knew about the truck, that is why I set you there. To see if you would notice it, if you didn't I'd know you were fucking off. I figured your sister would put that moron right back into her clutches. No surprise there. Not bad for a first try at it. Guess you don't need anymore tape until tomorrow when we work again. We'll see if you can keep your mouth shut on your own or not. In the meantime, don't gossip, keep your damned secrets to yourself."  

Ramsay stared at Raff with a snarl. Smiling, Raff folded his hands on his desk.

"Let's discuss your misplaced hatred of your sister. I understand it was a shock for you. However, this jealousy and anger towards her is unwarranted. It is painfully clear that your father has never wanted to claim her. Only you are the legitimate son of Roose Bolton. I highly doubt that he will change his will over a feral girl he has tossed away forever. She is never leaving here, Ramsay. Jeyne will either be Kevan's unique feral pet or his claim to fame as having civilized and cured a feral girl. Either way, Jeyne never will leave the school, Roose and Kevan put that right in the contract. So why hate her so much? Hell, sounds like she took the abuse that Bethany might have dealt upon you if Jeyne wasn't there to terrorize. It means nothing to Jeyne that you are related and it shouldn't mean anything to you."

Ramsay wanted desperately to respond but that bitch Cuntella gave him Novocaine in his tongue for the pain. Once Raff had sufficiently covered why Ramsay should leave the dog girl alone, he expounded upon length how Ramsay still has a chance to find a talent and actually leave the school someday. That led the nurse and therapist straight into discussing how bothering Damon and playing games with Theon will only increase his troubles. Thank goodness Raff ran out of time just as he began to expound on why Ramsay might need to always have someone involved in his crimes. If only the stupid therapist knew. Fuck him.

Theon fidgeted in the seat until Raff wanted to shake him. He was pale from being ill but that wasn't why Theon was agitated. He was scared, he looked like someone who has been found out, caught. And it was very true. "Theon, earlier today Unella wanted to examine you and you didn't want her to. Even though it's clear you were ill. She insisted and noted you were very arrogant, nearly enough for her to call me or Polliver, before you let her examine you without your clothing. Lower back, stomach, buttocks and thighs had small burns, bruises, deep bite marks, cuts and my personal favorite, Ramsay's initials carved into your left buttock."

"I wanted him to do those things. I'm kinky, okay?" Raff laughed. "I agree that you might enjoy bdsm but this is overboard, don't you think? And if it was truly consensual, why do you look so scared right now? I am certainly not threatening you, am I? While Ramsay was in math class, Polliver tossed the bedrooms today. And guess who's room wins the prize for most interesting found items? The serial killer cards. The toys and weapons he had, both homemade and smuggled, one of those knives has been missing from the kitchen for a week now. I think you know where that turned up. Talk to me, Theon." Trying his hardest to smile and shrug, Theon responded with such a false airiness that Raff winced.

"He is my friend, my only one and yeah, he's wild and a bit dangerous, that's my problem, no one else's. I am fine and I think I might even be in love with him." Raff leaned forward and put his chin in his hands. "Well, before you came to this school, did you have friends?" Theon shook his head. "Not really. My family wasn't a real friendly one and the neighborhood wasn't either. Plus mother being sick...and my dad wasn't well either....I wasn't really able to make connections with anyone but my sister. She was my friend, I guess. Then I was alone again because I killed her...no one else here wants to be my friend. Ramsay did. He reached out to me, he makes me feel good, he just...gets intense over things. I mess up a lot and set him off."

"Do you think just because Ramsay didn't have a romantic relationship with Damon that he wasn't manipulating him? Are you aware of how much Ramsay manipulates you now? There are others you can make friends with if you chose to. Ramsay made that difficult to happen, he wanted to isolate you. To control you. He marks you to own you and because he is a sadist with mental issues, big ones. Theon, do you understand the danger you are in with Ramsay?" Theon shook his head. "Ramsay says that I am nearly perfect for him. He says that he loves me and I love him. We are fated to be together this way. He is my master and I am his slave and bdsm is consensual! Stop trying to make it way more than it is! Please, just stay out of it!"

Raff shook his head. "I can't, Theon. Unella and I both agree. We usually do not get involved in Polliver's dorm settings but we are concerned for you. I have already sent the orders to Polliver. As of tonight, your new roommate is Arya. Sorry that all the other males are taken." Theon paled further and started to cry. It was only a few tears but Raff gave him a tissue. "Why are you crying, Theon?" "Ramsay will think I caused this. Thanks a lot, you asshole therapist." "Due to the stress you are under, I am going to let that one pass. Our time is up and you have detention in a few minutes, I believe. For your own good, stay away from Ramsay. I cannot stop your relationship, but I can make sure he has less access to you at least."


	46. Detention

Polliver spread his arms out wide, smiling at the students lined up against the wall.

"Ducklings, oh my wayward little ducklings! We have new room assignments! We have detentions to hand out! First, I have tossed your rooms and so many of my ducklings have five days of detention for contraband. The only ones who are excused from this are Sidebitch, Goldilocks and Oscar since they were the only pathetic kids with nothing of interest. Changes in rooming assignments, Death Row and Princess are new roomies and the other room belongs to Target and SuperD. Don't bother quacking, I don't care."

When the quacking came anyway Polliver slammed his baton against the wall next to Ramsay's head for silence.

"Sidebitch, you are the lucky winner today! Watch television, take a nap, read a book or write a sonnet. You are free until supper, my fine feathered friend. As for the rest of you, let's see who goes where! Oh, that's easy to answer! Everyone for now on will have detention at Gregor and Unella's new home improvement horror until it's finished. So keep wracking up those detentions, kiddies. They'll end up with a house nearly as nice as Kevan's with a full patio and pool!"

Stopping his pacing in front of Ramsay, he pointed the baton at him.

"Except for you. It's too dangerous for little serial killers on so much painkiller to be near anything that you could hurt yourself or others on. I am your detention today, Death Row. Isn't that a just a warm bit of delicious for us, sweetums? Why are there so many ducklings still staring at me? Get yourselves waddling on over to the monster house! Move it! Sidebitch, can you not understand the concept of time off? Go check out your new room or go watch a cartoon, something bright with songs to clap to!"

The others were far ahead of Jeyne, her mincing steps were getting harder to take.

Raff came from the clinic and caught up with her halfway there. Handing her a water bottle and a painkiller, Raff smiled at her. "You did very well today. I was happy to hear you apologized to everyone and both teachers talked to me at lunch about how well you did in your classes. Giving a verbal book report, helping Damon out and asking for assistance nicely. I heard from Polliver that Ramsay was trying to bully you and you stayed calm, walked away. Good work, Jeynie, I'm proud of you. Good luck with Unella and Gregor."

Jeyne smiled a tiny bit to herself until the house loomed into view. Taking a deep breath, Jeyne slowly headed for the other kids clustered in front of the house with Gregor.

Seeing Jeyne hobble into the line made Gregor smile and he boomed with cheer. "Ah, thank you for joining us! I was afraid my fancy invitation to our tea party wasn't sent to the right address!" Jeyne muttered an apology and stood next to Arya, trying not to shift on her feet and failing. Gregor smiled at them all warmly. "How lovely of you all to offer to use your detention time to learn something about fixing up a house! Truly, I am feeling misty eyed over it, darlings! Nanny Gregor will guide all of you through it and we have all sorts of safety gear. I suggest you use it because if you don't and I catch you, there is NO safety gear against your Nanny!"

Gregor pointed to Arya and Theon. "Consider yourselves the Squirrel Squad." He pointed at Joff and Loras. "Wreck N Dump." A thick finger stabbed at Sansa. "Stripper Team." The finger turned to Jeyne. "I have a special assignment for you, dear. It's going to be perfect for a girl who is in need of a little correction. Wait there and stop shifting your feet." The others looked at Jeyne like it might be her last day on earth. She turned red and looked at the ground.

Soon they were all thinking it might be their last day on earth too and that's when Gregor beckoned to her.

Jeyne walked into the house behind Gregor, watching Arya and Theon head into battle against an orange couch. Arya seemed more comfortable with it than Theon. "Haven't you ever had to deal with a squirrel in your house before?" The boy shook his head. "I used to get rats. Squirrels always look shifty." Sansa was peeling off wallpaper in the hallway. Jeyne heard Joff and Loras arguing about who was moving the washer versus the dryer. Gregor yelled "Morons! Both of you carry anything heavy together. I said that, remember? And Joff, don't you dare take that back brace off, or I'll twist your spine for you!"

She followed Gregor to the staircase. "Don't try and hold the railing, it will collapse. A girl like you should be able to find your balance, even with sore feet." He was right, Jeyne waited until no one was looking and ran up the stairs using her hands more than her feet. Unella was in the main bedroom wearing a messy bun, streaked in dirt from head to toe. Looking up from where she was shoveling trash into a barrel, Unella muttered, "I would rather you brought me something more useful for this place, like, say, a blowtorch." Gregor pulled Jeyne into the room and tried to shut the door. It fell to the ground with a crash that made Jeyne jump and Unella swear.

Polliver steered Ramsay to the couch and tossed him down on it.

"We are going to have a very special detention tonight. I have spliced together a little show for you!" Groaning, Ramsay watched as the grainy footage started. Clips of executions specifically of murderers from the early ages all the way to present day. In as specific detail as possible, even a few taped botched ones so bad that Ramsay flinched. One time Ramsay tried to shut his eyes and yawn, just to have Polliver whisper, "Ever see that scene in Clockwork Orange where Alex has his eyes kept open by those metal devices?"

Ramsay's eyes sprang open and he continued to watch them finally reach the day of the electric chair. That is when Polliver served burnt popcorn and Ramsay sneered at the man chuckling at his own joke.

Jeyne stood bravely in front of the eventual spouse and child killers and awaited the pain.

"Those students downstairs will only work here during detention hours. Not you, you are going to work here everyday, weekends too, until this entire house is fixed up. No excuses unless I or Gregor personally give it." Jeyne nodded and waited for one of them to produce whatever dreadful weapon they would use upon her before she works. Instead Gregor gave her a smile and announced, "Let's start you off with something easy. Like helping Sandor with the over-clogged septic tank." Within a half an hour, Jeyne was wishing she could have just taking a beating with the pieces of the banister or something.

Things went smoothly for a while in spite of Theon's startled shrieks every now and then. Until Arya screamed, "Stop, stop! That nest isn't that same, I think it's...EVACUATE! FAMILY OF SKUNKS COMING-ARRHHHHGGGG!"

"Now, you have to admit that was a fun movie, right? Yeah. Okay, so let's play a game. It's just like your serial killer game, in fact, it is your actual game but I made some adjustments and additions to your cards. These are only the serial killers caught and convicted. This section here, this one is full of killers with partners that turned on them, killed them or gave them up to authorities. I will read them each out loud to you and then let's see how well you do! Ready? Good! Oh, look, here is one of my favorites! The Candy killer...he had two accomplices and one of them shot him over a victim of theirs."

Ramsay wished for his tongue to still be full of numbing agent. For the first time ever, Ramsay didn't feel like playing the serial killer game. The fact that Polliver besmirched it by touching it, changing it and making it no longer Ramsay's game, it would assure one thing. Ramsay would never play that game again. He will have to make a new kind of game instead now.


	47. Family Bonds

Sara and Mari were both running up to the big house in bare feet and mud stained clothing as the fanciest car pulled up. Not that Lancel doesn't have lots of fancy cars, but they've seen all of them. Got to ride in most of them too. This one was different, it was the color of gold and the doors went up like a spaceship. To their disappointment an astronaut didn't get out. Instead it was just an older pretty man with a boring suit and briefcase. Then Mari and Sara saw the golden hand and the man became interesting again fast.

He must be scared that they would bully him because he leaped against his car when they both ran forward towards him. Sara stopped then, thinking of reading Peter Pan in school recently. Peter Pan's enemy had a hook for a hand. Sara grabbed Mari and shoved her behind her own small frame then gave a frightening frown to the man. "If you give us candy, puppies or kittens, I will steal them and run screaming. Do you know who's gonna beat the daylights outta you?" The man stammered then ventured, "Lancel?" Mari peeked around Sara to announce, "Our sisters, silly! Then Lancel!"

Nodding, the man smiled and leaned back against the car uneasily as the three year olds dirty fingers came closer. "Well, now I am simply afraid you might steal my hand and my car! I should scream for your sisters and Lancel to save me!" The girls giggled. "I gotta show Lancel that I gots an A on my math test today! But we has to sneak in the front cause if Clara sees us in back she won' lettus in! We's too busy to take baths and no one'll let us wash up in the pool." The man seemed to consider this problem with them. "What if I go in and bring Lancel out to you? That way you won't make the house dirty and you won't have to worry about getting clean?"

Mari clapped. "Okay!" Sara shook her head. "Don't know you." The man grinned and crouched down, speaking in a confidential tone. "Want to know why I can ask Lancel to meet you outside? Because I am Jaime Lannister and I live here too. Just not as often as my cousin Lancel does. Has he mentioned me yet?" Sara nodded. "Oh yeah, he said you has a metal hand. But this is one's gold." Jaime grimaced as the little one finally managed to put her grimy hands upon his gold hand. A voice came from the porch and Jaime sighed in true relief.

"Girls? I see you've met my cousin Jamie! Please back up, you have scared him into submission. Look at the great lawyer, a great Lannister man on his knees, begging my tiny amazons for his life!" Jaime stood up as the girls flocked to Lancel who put a hand on each of their heads. "Not begging for my life, Lancel. I was however about to be relieved of my hand, if not my car. I was also threatened with a beat down by other sisters as well as told if I had candy, puppies or kittens, they would steal them! Are we employing child terrorists now, dearest cousin? What have you been up to while I was off doing boring work for my father? When I left two months ago to console Cersei about Joff's entrance into your former hell home, I don't remember being mugged by small children!"

Lancel went to speak but both girls clamored for immediate attention. "Scuse me? Scuse me? Is IMPORTANT, LANCEL!" With a quick gesture of patience to Jaime, he leaned down to smile at the youngest who bellowed. "What is important, Mari?" The little girl grabbed Lancel's hand to pull herself higher to whisper a very loud and juicy proclamation in his ear. "Toads went to SPACE! I founds a ASSRONAD HEMMETS! TWO!" Sara frowned, then looked at Lancel with a prim and serious face. "I sawed bottles too! Belinda said toads musta bin drunk in space! Is that bad or good?" Jaime laughed but Lancel seemed to give it thought. "Well, if they were humans, it would be very bad. But they are toads so I think it's good and safe for them. Now, Sara, did you have something in that grubby fist of yours to show me?"

With a huge smile the girl nearly shoved her now smudged beyond legible paper in Lancel's face. "I gots an A!" Jaime watched in fascination as Lancel hugged the filthy girl and the other one too. Lancel stood up and Jaime shook his head. "Since when you did you become such a father figure? Did you adopt a bunch of needy children from some war torn area or something?" Sara piped up. "Lancel isn't our daddy. An angel killed our daddy!" Jaime tilted his head but then something even more interesting happened. Lancel kept the same smile and the girls showed utterly no fear when he turned and said to the little ones, "Time for silent children. Go play now, girls." Even though there seemed no threat, both children nodded and turned to wander off instantly.

"Holy hells, Lancel! I wish you were around Joff as a child! Hells, maybe you are truly the next ruler of that school your father has!" Lancel smirked. "Of course I will be. My father wouldn't have it any other way, would he?"

Jaime met most of the sisters as he got settled in and had supper with Lancel. He waited until the women were all beyond the hearing of the dining room before he spoke of them. "Lancel, I was shocked when my father told me of your latest venture. I still say you are the first and only bleeding heart to come out of your father's school. And only Tyrion was ever labeled a Lannister bleeding heart before you. Difference is, my brother was sent in that way, you came out of there that way. Let's just hope you actually get your money's worth out of these girls."

Lancel put down his fork and gave his cousin a dark look that slightly unnerved Jaime, as did Lancel's way too soft but outraged voice. "Let's hope I get my money's worth? Do you have any idea what these girls have been through? All of them from oldest to youngest? Even you heard rumors of this Craster, right? The youngest, Jaime, consider that? Consider these females giving birth to watch their father molest their own-" Jaime put up his golden hand and interrupted him. "Stop! I will fucking throw up on your fancy new plates! I get it and that's fucking horrendous! I'm sorry, I didn't mean it the way it came out. Of course, what happened was terrible and helping them is the right thing to do. But...shouldn't they be in someplace with therapy...a battered women's shelter or something?"

"Not and keep their first names, not and be safe. This is the only way I can really help them and I intend to keep them safe until they feel ready to be on their own." Lancel looked ready for a challenge and that worried Jaime a little. "Hey, got it, calm yourself. I won't interfere in your projects and you stay out of mine, we've always worked that way, right?" Lancel took a deep breath and then nodded, his smile blooming forth slowly. "I am sorry. It's a sore spot for me, too many fathers just get away with any abuse they want. Too many authority figures to always keep the children down as objects to create rather than tiny humans that crave love and nurturing to mold them into the right kind of adult."

That night Jaime watched Lancel go visit with the girls at the barbecue pit. They all were gathered around Lancel, roasting marshmallows and listening intently as he told a story. Shaking his head, Jaime started to drink and go watch a football game.

"That angel that saved you by killing your very bad father, she is trapped like you were." Lancel told them with a somber face. Janice, an inquisitive thirteen year old who was jaded far beyond her years, leaned forward. "Those two with her? Are they her pimps or her daddy and uncle? I was worried that they'd kill her. Something about them was so way off, like scarier and creepier than father and that's saying something." Lancel gave a tiny smile but it was a sad one.

"Harold and Bob. They are very cruel and dangerous and the angel is controlled by them. Forced to have sex with old men. There are so many cruel adults out there, not all are cruel like your father or like Harold and Bob. My own father is one of those other kinds of cruel. He runs a school full of cruel staff to torment angels in many different ways. It was my own father that orders Harold and Bob to take your angel on those terrible jobs. My father likes to dig into the cracks of his students until he can break them open and fill them with whatever he needs. One angel learns to have sex to learn secrets, another learns to spy a different way, others forced to marry in order to leave, others learn to kill or steal or do anything to leave. Some never leave, some stay and think that is good enough. Some die there because of abuse or  neglect. They use violence of any sort needed to get what they want out of the trapped angels. Physical, mental, sexual abuse, anything at all and if my cruel father doesn't find a talent, a use for an angel, that angel tends to disappear."

Lancel looked around at the solemn but teary eyed faces from Clara to Mari. The younger ones understood very little but they understood cruelty and trapped angels like the one who saved them. Giving the girls a glimpse of his own tears, he bravely continued speaking into the heavy silence.

"I barely saved myself from my cruel father. That's why I had to save you when I saw the chance to. Because I know what it's like to be surrounded by cruel adults that strip you away into pawns for their own sick uses. I have not yet been able to save those poor angels at the school, but I will. I was able to save you and that gives me hope. Hope that maybe together, as a family, a real one, not like the ones with cruel adults, maybe together, we can change things. We can find a way to seek justice for those angels, to strike back at those cruel adults. Let them all know we won't stand for such treatment anymore. That angel of yours, she was hurt because of what you did, they almost killed her. They won't let her live much longer, I don't think. It hurts me to think of how she will die. But she knew the consequences when she did it, Harold and Bob were always very clear about such things."

Half the girls were openly sobbing, others just somberly watching Lancel's anguished eyes. Suddenly, Sara cried out, "Gilly! Oh, no! Our sister Gilly is'n angel now! Save Gilly! With terror, hurt and wild resolution in her haunted eyes, Sara bellowed in a voice clogged with tears, "Imma gettin even the TOADS!" Clara reached for Sara to hug and hush her but then Mari brayed sobs. "Bob n Harold gonna hurt Gilly?" Lancel picked up the tiny one before the sisters could and set her on his knee, kissing her forehead gently. "Not yet they haven't. She is very useful to my father and that pleases him. As long as she is pleasing, my father has no reason to hurt her. I am sure she is very obedient at all times." With a pale troubled face the nineteen year old Tammy shook her head and bit at her nails. "No! See, tha's why father sold her off to the man! For a night wi' a girl for him to punish in place of Gilly! Gilly never listen'd, got the worst beatings of all!"

Lancel hugged the sobbing three year old on his lap and gave a reassuring gentle smile to them all. "Listen, you survived your father until you were saved by an angel. Gilly will survive until we save her and I promise you that I will help you save her. We can save all of them, I think. I have some secret weapons already in place." Clara looked nervous and asked, "Like...a gun?" Lancel gave a soft charming laugh and patted Clara's hand. "No, dear, don't even think such terrible things. I would never put any of you in such kinds of danger that warranted a gun. No, I meant weapons as in other things. Information can be power, so is proof of information. Soon we can have enough power to make the school collapse on the cruel heads and let the angels free. Then we can all turn to other cruel adults and let them see we shall not suffer them any longer."

 


	48. Birds Of A Feather

Even without the addition of the traveling to Riverlands and back this time, the ride home after the school visit felt much longer. An eternity of watching the moon pass over the predator black eyes of Cat. Their loyal bodyguard and driver Jory had the soundproof and blacked out partition firmly in place. Ned sat next to his wife and Robb and Bran sat across from her. It wasn't clear who was most uncomfortable of the males. No one dared to venture any conversation for most of the ride back, lest it bring the woman's bitter gaze upon the hapless speaker.

Cat was bloodthirsty, it was clear and none wished to be her pound of flesh over the girls. Not that anything bad had happened at all. That was clearly the true issue was that the girls both had been doing fine. Sansa was back to perfect looks, toner, tanner and cheerful, happy to jabber about everything. Even Arya had average grades, no more than a scattering of detentions and a mentor that praised her gruffly to them. Arya also looked tan, muscular and most surprisingly, not a chatterbox. She spoke and cheerfully but with careful thought. Allowing herself to listen to others more and all but Cat seemed impressed.

What all three males thought and not one would say was that what drove Cat crazy was the girls weren't scared. They didn't flinch from her gaze, they didn't wince from her talons and her words didn't bring fear to their eyes. She has lost them to Kevan and it was driving her crazy because Cat never loses. And the other thing none of them would ever say to her as long as they wanted to keep their tongues was that they were GLAD the girls escaped. They would also never admit they felt some jealousy that they couldn't do the same.

That is why when the car began to head for the fishery rather than home, none of them were really surprised. Ned sighed and softly tried.

"Cat, not while we have Bran in the car, please? Why don't we drop the two of you off and Robb can come with me to see Balon tonight if you want." Cat's head nodded towards him fast and her beady eyes pierced as her words came to peck hard. "To do what? Both of you would come back tonight to see Balon and ask for the money he owes the Lannisters? To beat him and threaten him some more? Has that worked the last three or twelve times? The Lannisters lose money on him and he is a waste. Bad enough we all pay for his son and now we get Tywin snarling at you over Balon's lack of productivity and he tells you to fix it! So I am fixing it! Before Roose does, dammit."

Ned threw his hands up. "Cat! Roose mentioned it that once at the first school meeting when he was upset! He didn't follow through, did he? And at the school visit today, he spoke with us and said nothing of it." Striking back fast, Cat's voice a beak catching a mouse, cracking it's spine in half. "Roose said nothing of it tonight because he plans to follow through. He gave you his one warning, Ned, last month. I am not allowing him to take the glory of bringing the deed to the fishery to Tywin. That old bastard will give Roose the running of it, it should be us! If he does this first, we lose our place to him and that isn't something I will ever tolerate. Bad enough I have to bow down to Cersei and now Kevan! Bad enough that you have to kiss Tywin Lannister's ass! Roose will never get ahead of this family!"

It was useless and no other words were spoken until Jory parked at Balon's home. Cat stared at Bran with stony eyes. "Stay in the car. Put on one of your games on your cell but no texting or calling anyone until I return. Ned, you are on guard duty, Robb will assist me inside." Cat and Robb put on their black leather gloves as they headed for the back door. 

Roose was also troubled by the same things as his former classmate. His second visit had been quite troubling indeed. It seems all three of his children prefer the school to the arms of their real father. He expected Jeyne to be distant, Ramsay to be hostile and Damon to be friendly but perhaps distracted from his mental state still. Ramsay had been polite and cheerful which made his counselor with the baton burst into laughter. Roose waited for Ramsay to drop the act but he never did. He was answering questions with vacant but respectful responses. The boy's eyes worried him greatly, they were pure rage but the rest was all pure charm. According to his teachers his grades went up slightly but he still got a good amount of detentions. 

The doctor and nurse both felt grave concerns with Ramsay. Roose did too and wondered what the hell the boy was up to now? He was told that Damon and Theon had been removed from Ramsay for the most part. They suspect that Ramsay bullies Damon, threatens Jeyne and that he still continues his abusive relationship with Theon in private. No matter the coaxing or the threat, Roose couldn't say anything to Ramsay that got through that polite smile. His face was a carved mask of happy over a hidden face of hate that Roose could feel blazing off him.

Seeing Damon was the next shocker. The boy looked better than ever before. He was tan, muscular and happy to announce he chose a mentor. Gregor Clegane, of all things. The teachers said Damon has gone up a half grade and is a very diligent student. Damon told Roose of his new friends. Sansa, Loras and Jeyne. Roose was fine with everything but the friends, two of those were very suspect. What truly set Roose's warning bells off was how Damon treated him, like a respected and tolerated visitor. Something about Damon was very distant and then the stupid boy confirmed it.

"Sir, I am not like I used to be. I don't go near Ramsay. He is a bad duckling and I don't want to be that ever again. Ramsay is not changing or learning yet and I need to be a better person now. I don't want to be around him...or you. There is no need anymore. I am happy here and I don't think I am ever leaving so there is no need for us to visit." When Roose tried to pressure the boy, Damon stood up fast and nearly ran to Gregor. With a nod, the man escorted Damon away and nothing made the arrogant giant bring him back.

The last straw for Roose was seeing Jeyne. She had sprouted dark hair all over her head in crazy spikes now and didn't seem bothered by it in the least. Her body was tanner, more muscle than before and she wasn't bone thin. The short girl was slender but strong and her eyes looked right into his, even though he saw how much effort it was for her. Jeyne stood as tall as she could and her hands were clasped behind her, chin up, a fierce grin on her face. Every word was slow, clear and with grave intent. "Hello, father. I am a person now. That means as a person I can tell you that I don't want to see you. I do not want reminders of the past. That is all you are now, father, the past." Roose wanted to slap her but her damned handsome leash holder was right there smirking.

Roose couldn't change what Kevan has done. At least not without any backup from Tywin. If Roose couldn't take control of anything else like his own children, a problem he always seems to have, he can control other things. Like taking care of Balon himself and letting the Starks choke on their pride. Except Roose parked, walked the two blocks through the damned sand just to reach that little shit house and see the Starks leaving it. Roose simmered, hearing Cat's voice snap at Ned. "Now, you will bring this deed for the fishery and Balon's will to Tywin. We shall drop you off near his house and with luck, I'll get the boys home in time to sleep before morning. It isn't proper that they are out so late, no thanks to their father. If Tywin isn't awake when you get there, then I want you to sit and wait all night in the damned driveway if you have to!"

He waited while the Starks left, then made a quick call as he headed back to his own car. "Luton? Take your best men and burn the Greyjoy fishery to the ground as well as Balon's home. Make sure that you do it in exactly the same pattern the Starks burnt down those warehouses last month for the Lannisters. Thank you." 

Tywin was indeed awake when Ned showed up which was a bit of a surprise considering the late hour. More of a surprise was Ned being ushered in at the point of several guns. The elderly man asked how Ned thought that burning down the properties helped increase profits in any way. He asked how Ned thought to presume to act so rashly as to murder and arson without orders to? Ned might have answered but Tywin nodded to his men, not interested in answers. The guns cracked across Ned's skull so the men could take him outdoors. Once they got him out back, the guns all cracked again, this time bullets went through Ned's skull.


	49. Hurting To Heal

Two months is a short amount of time in the adult world and an eternity in a child or teenager's world.

For Unella and Gregor it was a dreadful clock spinning towards their wedding and parenthood. The house went quicker than they thought it would and each improvement felt like another nail into a coffin. On the very same day Gregor and Unella almost came to blows over whether their wedding vows would contain the word obey, they got the worst news. Raff had been in full gales of laughter when he announced they were having twins. He found himself running for his life. Gregor got drunk, Unella raged and cried in the woods for hours. Raff won the betting pool.

Kevan informed Gregor and Unella that as soon as the house was done, he expected to marry them. Later that evening they had panic/hate sex and afterwards Unella asked bitterly, "Do you think it would be unethical of me to brainwash a student into burning the house down for us?" Gregor shrugged. "Do you really want to start from the beginning again? Kevan would marry us in the ashes and make us start shoveling to build it back up." The next day Unella caught a glimpse of Harold and Bob knitting pink yarn and she walked over. "Are we getting new students, gentlemen?"

They smiled in unison and Bob replied pleasantly, "No, these are booties and mittens for your twins, Unella. We will make matching bonnets and blankets as well." As the doctor ran away, Harold shrugged. "I am sure she didn't mean to be so rude. I hear that pregnant women are often emotional."

Two months in the lives of the students was a hard driven lifetime of tough lessons drilled into their heads. Some of the lessons were good and some were not, but lessons were learned regardless.

Arya learned how to be invisible and gain secrets then give them to Sandor. She also would decide which secrets to offer him. That wasn't part of the deal, of course, but Arya couldn't give up everything. Sandor himself taught her that by his own actions which as she has learned, can be louder than words. She kept Theon's secrets for him though if he hadn't begged her so desperately, she might have told someone.

It wasn't more than a week before Arya became interested in what Theon was doing alone in the room when he thought no one was around. Sneaking into the room ahead of time, she hid in the closet, making sure to leaving it open a crack the same way she had that morning before they left the room. Arya intended to just spy silently and keep the information, whatever it was. She lasted until Theon dug the razor into his thigh and started sobbing quietly while the blood flowed onto the trash bag Theon had sat on. When Arya burst out of the closet to staunch the blood and yell for help, Theon freaked out.

He slapped a hand across her mouth and started to beg and plead.

"Please, don't tell! They will blame Ramsay and he already won't cut me or leave any marks anymore. I have to beg him just to fuck me now. He won't hurt me the same way and he was the only one who could do that for me! I couldn't even hurt myself enough, I tried to hurt myself enough to keep seeing what my father did to my sister! I tried to hurt enough so he couldn't hurt me, I tried to hurt myself enough to pay for killing my sister instead of saving her! I never could and Ramsay can, I need him, I want him to hurt me and I love him so much, no one understands that! I begged him to hurt me more and more, Arya, because I want to hurt. And now he is mad, he thinks I made them think it was his fault! Ramsay says I am not loyal, like that fucking retard, Damon! Now Ramsay is talking to Joff, not me! He will only see me if I beg him for days first and then it's only for quick sex. If he doesn't hurt me then I have to hurt myself, okay? Please, you can't tell, they will think it's Ramsay! If Ramsay gets punished for me hurting myself, he will hate me and then I'm going to beg him to kill me."    

That was the day that Arya discovered she might not be as much of a stone heart like her mother or sister, after all. She refused to think of Theon's blood on her hands and firmly swore to keep his secret. However, Arya made him promise to limit his cutting and be very careful with it. Besides, Arya reasoned that it was safer that Theon does the slicing rather than a crazy boy like Ramsay.

Two long months Hot Pie worked before the teachers tested him and gave him a diploma. So much sweating, cooking, catering to the needy staff, biting his lip no matter what. Just as he felt he could endure no more, that Polliver had been full of shit, maybe, it happened. Kevan called for Hot Pie to his monthly report and gave him the good news.

"Congratulations, Hot Pie! A diploma has been achieved, your behavior has been excellent. Not a single detention, not a single bad therapy report. Glowing recommendations from every single member of staff! Even your fellow students have no quarrels with you. In fact, most of them seem to view you as staff already. Jeyne and Myranda remain your closest friends and yet you do not allow that friendship to impede with your loyalties or duties. I am impressed, boy."

Kevan raised his eyebrow at the flushed boy with such hopeful eyes. "Well, I suppose it's time for you to start your training to be staff next year. Once Unella and Gregor vacate their cabins, you might as well pick one out." Hot Pie saw a challenging twinkle in his eyes but he had been well coached by Polliver. "Take anything Kevan offers you with happiness. Do not ask a single question, do not ask for a single thing more than he gives you."

With a large honest smile, Hot Pie gushed, "Thank you so much, Sir! I am honored and I promise not to let you down! I will work twice as hard to prove myself to you and honor this school! I am so grateful to you and Polliver. The whole staff has helped me and this school has been the best thing to ever happen to me. I really mean that, Sir!" And Hot Pie did mean it. Kevan saw that and it was enough for him to award Polliver with a staggering credit at his favorite online gaming store.

Jeyne has learned that steps forward are painful, long after her feet stopped hurting. It was hard to always be a Person but she tried and never gave up. She worked hard to be an Attentive, Respectful Student in class. Jeyne made sure to be Good Homework Buddies and Helpful In Class to Damon. Even Gregor and Unella had told Raff that Jeyne was Hard Working And Willing To Accept Punishment. It was very hard, she was tired and Jeyne had trouble learning how to do the tasks that was expected of her. But she would learn and complete the work no matter how long it took her.

The very hardest of all was to ignore Ramsay and Joff when they mocked and taunted her. Sometimes when they think no one will catch them, they like to throw rocks at her. Jeyne is forced to run away on all fours to get far enough away and their laughter burns her. Their hatred of her is something she has decided to see as a test. If she can control her temper and be a Person That Does Not Engage, then it is another step forward. So Jeyne ignores them, runs away on all fours and cries in hiding, but doesn't lose her temper. She doesn't lose her Person. No revenge plots, no biting, snarling or even a reaction, not a word. A Person will be less boring than a feral and the boys will lose interest in her.

There were some really bright spots, the big rewards that kept Jeyne going in spite of what she endured. After Polliver had to remind Jeyne four times that her shift at hell improvement was over and it was dinner, after he saw how well she did handling Ramsay and Joff, a miracle occurred. With extreme casualty, Polliver started to call her Jeyne, like a Person! Jeyne had embarrassed herself by gasping, jumping up and down then running to tell Raff who warmly congratulated her. That night, Hot Pie made a small cake for Jeyne and Myranda gave her a pretty bracelet as a gift.

A really huge thing for Jeyne was being near all the tools. Being trusted to use them and Jeyne trusting herself to use them. At first when Gregor showed her the tools and how to use them, she shrank away. "The girls...nail gun. The sounds...trigger me. Please, I..." But Gregor was firm with her even though Unella had argued loudly with him in front of Jeyne about it. After Gregor finally made Unella storm away fuming, he turned to the shaking pale girl trying to stay a Person.

He put a large hand on her shoulder, swallowing it whole. The hand did not hurt, but it was heavy in a solid anchoring kind of way.

"Listen to your Nanny Gregor, Jeyne. A Person uses tools, they are for building, for creating, not just for hurting or for causing bad memories. I know you can do this. I know that these sounds remind you of that damned fucked up dungeon your father kept for his victims. I know that you would be locked in that cage nearby and you could hear the sounds of the tools, the screams of the victims. I know you and Raff spent a long time talking about that and I know it's hard for you to forget it. Talking about it is a good step forward but so is facing it head on, Jeyne. I will stay here with you while you use any new tool until you see that you are safe. But you are going to do it, Jeyne, even if it takes you all day."

It took several false starts, she sobbed and even threw up twice before Jeyne managed to use the handsaw. Each tool was hard all over again but Jeyne kept trying and Gregor never got impatient or angry no matter how long it took her to learn to use each tool. The day Jeyne managed a chainsaw and a nail gun all by herself without any prompting, Gregor told her she was A Person Capable Of Being Responsible With Tools. When she used tools without supervision the first few times it scared her enough to cry but she didn't give up. Now Jeyne is proud to be able to work as an Independent Person on projects. As a way of thanking Gregor and Unella for the breakthrough, Jeyne gave them a present of her own.

Gregor and Unella were speechless when they entered the house one day to find half of it plastered in blurry printer paper. All full of articles on how to have a good marriage and how to raise children in a happy home. Articles on how to reduce stress and see the red flags of dangerous behavior. There was also a book from the small school library on how to tell the signs of a potential murderer within the home. Luckily, Jeyne had not been expecting any thanks and had already headed for her supper.


	50. Be The Example

Damon was becoming the superhero and superstar that Sansa had predicted. There were good days and bad ones, of course. Days when nothing made him shake but he did anyway and nights that he would dream of Sansa's pretty face smashed and the Tickler dragging him away, after climbing out of the storybook. Sometimes Damon would see Ramsay and Joff throw rocks at Jeyne and he would fight with them. Other times they would not stop taunting him and Damon would fight them more. He got detention for fighting, of course. Damon was always sorry for letting himself down by letting his temper get the better of him.

He hated being given detention but Damon discovered a good thing out of it. The work at Gregor's house was hard but he found peace in it. Damon told Polliver about this and was given the suggestion of asking Gregor to mentor him. Feeling like an idiot, Damon shuffled his feet after knocking on the hell house's front door, head down, practicing what to say. All the advice on how to ask from Polliver has fled his head in his nervousness. If the man said no and laughed, Damon will probably cry like a baby or something stupid like trip on his feet on his way down the steps.

"Gregor had opened the door and waited while Damon froze. With a sigh, Gregor leaned over the boy and spoke directly into his ear. "I don't need a human door, lad, but I thank you for the offer." The giant pulled back and raised his eyebrows as Damon stammered an apology then tripped over his own feet as he tried to rush away. Gregor caught the boy by the collar of his shirt before Damon plummeted off the steps to crack his skull open. Setting Damon back on the porch, Gregor kept hold of the flustered student's thick neck. Speaking in the same calm but merciless tone he offers Jeyne, Gregor let the boy regain his chance to try again.

"Damon, don't run from what you came here for. Never be stupid enough to throw away a good thing. I think you came here to ask me a question. I don't want you to be afraid to ask it. Go ahead, duckling, ask Nanny Gregor. We can stand here all day and night if we have to." Taking a deep breath, Damon messed up the question only once then stammered it out. "Could you be my mentor? I like the work....it calms me, Polliver said to ask you...I'm sorry, it's stupid, I know..." The hand on Damon's neck got tighter until his babble ended. "Thank you for asking me, Damon. Nanny Gregor is always happy to take a duckling under his tender care."

He worked hard for Gregor, Damon worked hard in school too. Jeyne helped him and Damon was starting to become friends with her slowly. Gregor approved of this and often had them working together on the house. One day after Gregor watched the two of them laughing, fucking off, throwing dead squirrels at each other rather than in the trash, he sent Jeyne to help Unella inside while he sent Damon up the ladder to clean out the gutters.  "Damon, do you see that you help Jeyne too? She is trying to act more like a regular kid and she learns by watching what you do. Do you see how you can be an example for someone else? So when you fight...Jeyne learns that is how students fight. When you work hard, help others, Jeyne learns that is what to do. Just like how you watched what Ramsay did and learned from it."

Gregor helped steady the ladder Damon was on as the boy frowned. "Ramsay gave the wrong lessons and even though part of me knew it was wrong....I did it anyway, because he was my friend and I followed him. He was my example, my first real example. I am slow, I know that. My brain don't work the way it should, I guess. Jeyne is slow too, cause of being feral. I am her example and if I fight Ramsay and Joff....she might do that too. If I am a friend, I can teach her good and bad things." Gregor nodded. Damon grinned. "She started throwing the squirrels like it was a normal thing to do. Guess being feral, it is for her. And I followed her example instead of telling her we shouldn't do that." Gregor nodded. "And if I catch the two of you doing that again, what do you think Nanny Gregor will do?" Gulping, Damon offered, "Punish us for it?" "You bet your sweet bippy I will."    

The teachers were always encouraging him and he was starting to really like them. Tyrion can be really funny and Stannis is boring but he is patient and never mocks Damon for asking the same thing over and over. Loras was a really good roommate and he always was eager to help Damon. A deep part of Damon that came from Ramsay's training felt that Loras was cunning, playing false. But Loras never did anything but be kind and helpful. No one ever teased or bothered him but Ramsay and Joff. Polliver always seemed to be popping up on Ramsay and that helped Damon keep his calm, not start fights so much, lest Jeyne or another watches and thinks it the right thing to do.

Damon still enjoyed having Sansa help him the most of all. He also enjoyed going on walks with her, Sansa always asked so sweetly. Whenever Damon was free, the bits of time off he had, was spent following Sansa. Damon knew that she used him as protection from Ramsay and Joff, as well as a look out while she was with Loras. He didn't mind at all. Friends help each other and don't need to ask why. She told him that. Look how much Sansa has done for him, even staying his friend after he turned so crazy. Plus Sansa knew every vile thing he has done in the past, Ramsay had told her one day with bright malice. And while Damon shook in shame, Sansa took his hand. She told him they were still friends that he wasn't that awful boy anymore.

Damon still shied away from Unella, he didn't know why, but he was secretly terrified of her. Even her voice seemed to cause him a sort of ghost pain in his head. He obediently showed to her appointments and never once disobeyed an order from her. At the hell house, if Damon had to be near her, he was full of twitchy respect. Gregor seemed to understand and shoo Unella away whenever Damon was around. He muttered that they would have to work on that someday but it was too soon. Damon didn't like Raff but Gregor insisted that it was important to share in therapy. If Raff told Gregor that Damon didn't speak or became sullen during sessions then swift painful discipline came.

The blistering pain of a strap raining fire upon Damon's palms was nothing compared to Gregor's words as the lashing was mete out. "I am dismayed, I am disappointed and ashamed that I fell for your lies. Nanny Gregor was thinking that you wanted a mentor, that you respected your Nanny and wanted a way out of the hell Ramsay pushed you into. Was I wrong, Damon? Was I making a mistake to allow you my precious time, lad? I am hurt, Damon. Is that your talent, to trick others into helping you just so you can laugh in their faces like Ramsay would?"

Damon would sob then and apologize, begging for Gregor not to give up on him, that he was sorry to have failed him. Gregor would stop the strap wielding then and grab the boy's wet, red face between his hands. "Do not fail yourself, do not give up on yourself. Every time you resist letting a staff member help you, it's you giving up on yourself, it's the Ramsay voice telling you that you aren't worth the pain of growing into someone better." It took time but Damon started to try and trust Raff enough to talk with him. He haltingly told Raff of the things he would do with Ramsay, would tell him the lessons drilled into him by the Boltons and inch by tiny inch, the inner Ramsay voice started to fade away. So did the Roose voice once he admitted to Raff and Gregor that it was in his head sometimes.

Ramsay tended his rage like Sandor tended the fucking gardens. He let it bloom and allowed the fault, the blame, the deceit to grow like weeds, choking Ramsay with the helplessness of it all. At the very root of it is his father, naturally and he dreams of the day he can murder him. Father made Damon and allowed him to belong to Ramsay just to let him get ripped away. He made Jeyne and let her become a freak to embarrass the Bolton name way further than anything Ramsay ever did! Not only did his father toss him in this hell hole but he then throws Jeyne in his face for good measure. Then when that fucker Polliver decided to rip Damon out of Ramsay's room, when they all told Damon to ignore his own blood! Ramsay's father agreed with them, the fucking traitorous cunt!

Even that, even that was all expected, the staff would be cruel and stupid, his father would be sadistic and unreasonable and traitorous. The slap, the true slap in Ramsay's face that hit even harder was Damon's blatant disloyalty, how quickly he abandoned his own brother, his own best friend. Damon didn't try to fight for the room back, he didn't even make much effort to attempt seeing Ramsay outside of their dorm rooms. No, Damon discarded the one person who cared for him, who carefully trained him to be Ramsay's right hand, really.All for a fucking redheaded bit of fucking pussy. Oscar was clearly using Damon from the start and Ramsay tried to warn Damon, he was blown off. Rejected outright, with Damon quoting Sansa every second!

Ramsay tried to tell the staff about what that Stark bitch was. He was punished for attitude when Ramsay was right the whole time! When Damon was attacked and framed by Sansa, when Tickler took him, Ramsay was not allowed to see his own half brother. Damon came back and incredibly, went back to Oscar and added a giant ape mentor, boring and shady Goldilocks, to his new shiny Ramsay free rainbow dream life. The worst insult from Damon, the moment Ramsay knew it was time to give on his half brother was when he saw him with Jeyne. For Damon to dare to reject Ramsay for that little feral freak, to cast away Ramsay for that dog sister? The insult and jealousy were eating into him like acid. That was when Ramsay started to view Damon as an enemy.

The staff wasn't content to just rip Damon from Ramsay, no, they had to make sure he was truly adrift. They wanted to take all his toys away and make him suffer their fucked up time out. But Ramsay always could tell a bitch. Damon had certainly been his Sidebitch, desperate for a friend, a brother and eager to let Ramsay manipulate his thoughts and choices. Theon screamed of bitch and a different kind than Damon, it was a salve for Ramsay's ego and pride. Theon was a masochist, a self mutilator as well, such a perfect combo! The bitch was desperate to be hurt, humiliated and starved for affection underneath his arrogant bravado. Ramsay played the lovely boy like a fine tuned instrument and quickly grew fond of Theon. He saw potential in a new partner, one twice as submissive and willing to fuck, suck, bleed, burn and bruise. Anything at all Ramsay wanted.

Theon would crawl to Ramsay with a razor in his mouth and beg with huge eyes to be cut. He was fearful, worshiping, obedient and was near perfect when the staff ripped him away too. It was hard to believe tearful, frantic, loving Theon would betray him but Ramsay steeled himself just in case. Theon was constantly told lies, told how bad Ramsay was for him. To add insult, they even roomed him with the other Stark bitch! According to Princess, Target is harmless and wouldn't try to steal Theon. But Ramsay is not reassured. He watches carefully even though isn't allowed near Theon in private. Theon doesn't find another person to follow, he doesn't try and ignore or reject Ramsay. Instead the boy tries to sneak to leave Ramsay notes, begging to see him, declaring his love and devotion. Ramsay waits until Theon seems nearly suicidal before he will consent to a secret meeting.

He caresses, licks, sucks and bites at whatever mutilation Theon has done to himself as he fucks him hard. Theon will plead for Ramsay to hurt him, to make new wounds. Ramsay refuses, he won't leave any marks that could be pointed back at him anymore. He degrades Theon, he accuses him of not loving him and watches the boy dissolve into tears even as Ramsay brings him to an orgasm. The continued loyalty is a small comfort but Ramsay knows it is a matter of time before the staff finds a way to brainwash Theon. When he tells Theon that someday he will betray him, that the others will rip him away for good, Theon begs for Ramsay to kill him rather than let that happen. And Ramsay fights the delicious temptation of it. He did tell Theon honestly, if it comes down to it, he will kill him before he is forced to be a traitor.

Damon taken away, Theon ripped away and all Ramsay has left is Joff. But Ramsay knows a bitch if he sees one and Joff is just another kind of bitch. A self entitled rich sniveling sadistic fuck that is a pussy at heart. A whiny mommy's boy who can't understand why everyone else doesn't see just how special he is. Ramsay spent years watching his father speak to Lannisters, Tyrells and Starks with a deference and respect that was utterly unreal but believable. He watched how his father moved things without them seeing, climbing up with silent deceit and excellent acting. Joff was nothing compared to dealing with Cersei or Tywin himself. If his father can handle those rich cunts, then his son can easily handle Joff, the youngest, cruelest and dumbest of them all.

He would let Joff rage and encourage him. Ramsay knew just how to stroke his ego and play in the spoiled bitch's emotions like a violinist.

"Its wrong is all I am saying. I mean, everyone has to know that a Lannister boy, the LAST pure Lannister heir should be treated differently. I say it's jealousy, even the staff is all made of low level assholes except for your uncle, really. And he is a traitor to you, this whole place is a nest of traitorous cunts."

"As a Bolton, we always knew our place was to support the Lannisters, we also knew how to show respect and deference. Don't see the Stark bitches giving you your due and they damn well know their stations in life!"

"That feral cunt, that freak is so nasty she's hidden from actual freak shows..biting you! She could have taken your whole finger, ripped out your throat, bit off your face or given you a damned disease! And they let her just run around like that. You got injured and punished all night in a fucking hole and all she got was a fucking haircut. What is a half animal girl compared to a Lannister?"

"How dare that whore Myranda, reject you once and taunt you, laughing. As if a whore has the right to deny you anything! She was lucky you didn't treat her like a proper whore should be treated!"

"That sniveling cook, he thinks he is important now, I saw how he sneers at you, deliberately giving us the worst of the food, along with nasty looks! As if he wasn't a piss poor trapped cafeteria worker who wouldn't be able to afford your damned socks."

"I think it's time we show them all who they are really dealing with, Joff. I will be your back up, if you'd let me. A Bolton serving a Lannister, right?"


	51. All The Pretty Things

There were two brass frames hanging on the entrance wall into the small schoolhouse that no one paid attention to. One featured a smiling Loras, the other featured a smiling Sansa. Both pictures had a small plaque under them that announced they were students of the month. It was considered by all that those pictures will stay there until their graduations from the school. Already heading into the second month, the pictures have gained a little dust. 

Loras and Sansa as students have certainly not gained any dust, if anything they glowed, they shined and glittered even in their blank white uniforms.

Stannis and Tyrion found themselves laughing over their laptops together. While they were ordering adaptive work for Damon and Jeyne, they were also searching for advanced work for Sansa and Loras. Stannis found someone who laughed at his jokes, would discuss the history of mathematics from the dark ages upwards. The boy actually wrote a long essay with a lovely dry sarcastic wit on a recent black hole theory that snapped up Stannis's full attention. It wasn't even an assignment!

Tyrion had admitted to his fellow professor that he wished to chain Sansa to her desk the way Polliver had wished to chain Hot Pie to the kitchen. The girl had an amazing talent for research, her poems were pure structural bliss and the girl wrote a small comedy that had him chuckling for hours. Sansa had an interest in history, mythology and art. He got Kevan's permission to take Sansa and Loras on a field trip that Stannis would chaperon. They went to an art museum, had lunch at a maritime pub and took in the planetarium before the long drive home from the city.

Stannis had to admit to Tyrion he felt like chaining Loras as well. He was afraid it was another student to lose to Unella. The boy was leaning towards the medical sciences a bit, already he has had to consult Unella on questions Loras had. Loras never asked directly but he also went to the doctor with other questions that Unella didn't mind answering. Loras would sometimes offer to help with filing in the medical offices or even do the mild orderly work. Yet the young man never abandoned Stannis and was eager to take any extra tutelage or hear any stories that Stannis had to offer.

In fact, to his mild shock, Stannis actual felt nearly parental to the studious boy. When they were at the museum and Loras was briefly unwell in the men's room, Stannis actual felt true concern. He found himself pacing nervously when Loras went into the bathroom and didn't return within a normal few minutes. Feeling like an utter fool, he embarrassed the poor child by entering the bathroom slightly and calling to see if he was alright. Poor Loras sounded so flustered when he responded about some mild cramping. Stannis immediately muttered for Loras to take his time and fled to a bench nearby. He sat and studied an abstract art without really seeing it.

His report to Kevan was glowing, everyone's report on Loras was nearly glowing. Unella had mentioned how Loras showed some basic interest in assisting at the clinic. She had no problem allowing him a few hours during the week. She did note that she felt Loras did not have the same interest that Raff had when she mentored him after Stannis. The few detentions right after visitor's day were the only other mar to it. Kevan was pleased with Loras's progress and Stannis was told to await his reward for this excellent second report in a row. 

Tyrion's report on Sansa was just as good except told in a more eloquent wording. As her other mentor, Kevan could attest to her excellent conduct and dedication to learning all she can. Tutoring both Damon and Jeyne now, projects with Loras, mentoring with both Tyrion in academics and Kevan in management, not a single detention or incident since just after that first terrible visitor's day. Sansa had come forward to ask both Kevan and Tyrion if she could atone in her own way. By making sure that Damon always had a tutor and someone to guide him in social issues.

This was fine by Kevan but he added, "I believe that Jeyne is working with Damon at the same level, you shall allow her the assistance as well, if she wishes it."

Kevan informed Tyrion and Stannis together that evening that their dream of a gaming room shall happen. Whichever cabin that Hot Pie does not choose for his own may be theirs. "However, I feel it would be selfish to allow a whole cabin for only two grown men to fantasize wars in. It shall become a community gaming room that you shall restore and design yourselves. It can be up to you what hours staff uses it, what hours that the students may use it. Students can perhaps earn time there by doing well in your classes!"   

Gregor and Unella were distracted, the professors were enchanted and Kevan was having fun getting to play mentor again. Raff and Polliver were the only ones who truly notice those Student of the Month pictures in the dusty hallway. Those perfect pretty things, that pretty doesn't reach their eyes and they know it. "They show to every therapy, they act like they are engaging but they are evading. I see those damned secrets but I can't seem to hit the right nerve on them yet." Polliver twirled his baton and grinned at Raff.

"I watch them go on their walks and projects together, sweet as fucking pie and I swear I will expose them for the true naughty ducklings they are. Do you like how Oscar has Sidebitch as her new muscle and look out? I swear to the gods, I feel like we are trying to crack a mini student mafia couple. No matter how long it takes, we are going to crack their little mysteries."

Loras had a special trick to his smile and so did Sansa. He had laughed when she confessed to him that her mother made all the children smear Vaseline on their teeth to force the right kind smile. Loras had told her that his grandmother taught him and his sister method acting and facial muscle exercises. They laughed politely and lightly at that with a companionship they resented having. Loras had not lied, that was how he was taught to smile but truthfully, Loras had a better, more special trick to it. He pictured two things in his head and his smile sprang forth, leaking charm.

He would see the imagery of Kevan and his staff splayed out across the gardens and pathways. Corpses everywhere, including Joff, Ramsay, more if need be. Whatever it takes to get to the second image of his lover, his true, real mentor and advisor. Smiling, telling Loras how much he loves him, how he has avenged him, proven his true loyalty to his beloved leader and hopefully husband someday.

When Loras had to face his grandmother both times for the intolerable visitor days, he visualized his grandmother strangling on poison as he sweetly told her the truth. How much he despised her and everything she stood for. That it was Loras's fault that Renly and Marge were dead for truth. When the days of acting perfect started to strain, when Loras found himself fighting tears, he would have another trick for it. He would run into a bathroom at school or the dorm and jerk off to a very specific fantasy. Olenna would be writhing on the floor, her broken cup of poisoned tea next to her. As the old bitch begged him for help, Loras would smile and lean over her very close.

"Renly and Marge were already dead, you shriveled old bitch. I gave them an overdose of very pricey and too potent drugs and wine. I added a little poison to their wine just to be sure. It was fast and merciful, not like this, with you. Because I did love them, I did, but I hated you more. Here is news for you to die with, granny! I had Renly and Marge, cold and dead and forever lovely in that car. I was driving them home to you and then I was adding you to my pledge of love and devotion. I was going to use your deaths as a way to get into the school. That accident saved your life a little longer, bitch. How dare you tell me who I must marry, forcing me into your lifestyle? All me and my sister ever were to you were pawns, pretty dolls you could sell to the highest bidder. I never will forgive you for making me have to choose between all of you and Lancel."

Loras would orgasm then as he envisioned Olenna's face as she heard him then died. He recalls that soon they will all be exposed or dead and he is ready to be the perfect pretty thing again. Meeting Lancel during their museum field trip that he and Sansa had suggested had helped Loras go on. He was suddenly being fucked by Lancel, who licked the tears off Loras's face. Sweet reassurances as Lancel managed to create magic with his cock and words as his hand took away the cell phone full of medical files and pictures of staff abuse upon students. When Stannis ever yelled in, Loras got such a shock of fear it sent him hurtling into orgasm while he tried to answer the stupid professor.

As always, Loras was left wanting more and being ordered to do more. It was the way with Lancel and Loras accepted that a few years back. He had whispered to Lancel about how Sansa tried to use her uncle to leave the first month of their stay at the school. Lancel had frowned over it but then his smile smoothed out and he hugged his adoring boy.

"But she did what she had to, to reach Kevan as a mentor? My father only ever spoke of enjoying one true mentoring challenge. Cat Stark. Sansa just had to make a plan that would fail but catch his attention. I would say that Sansa truly went to full lengths to achieve her goal and that excuses her minor panic at trying to leave. I know that spying on Unella's medical files and experiments, Raff's journals and staff abuses probably gets boring. But I won't put you, my truest love, in such a dangerous situation as spying on Kevan himself and retrieving his files. I value you too much, it kills me to leave you in such a den of vipers as it is. Just a little longer now, sweetheart. My precious superhero. I have the girls now and you have Gilly, their beloved sister. I will have them place a call to their dear sibling soon. Perhaps while Sansa is at the big house she might take the time to acquaint herself with Gilly?"

Sansa has a vision in her head too. She doesn't like it but there it is and she can't change it. A vision of china doll that looks like a person, acts and speaks like one but had a fine crack. It gets larger, longer and she watches her shell crack and fall away in jagged pieces until the rotted monster shows itself to the shrieking world. Sometimes she wonders what Raff would say about that if she told him. Since the days when Sansa would dress up as a princess and drink fake tea from plastic cups, she hasn't been real. Her mother created her as an expensive pretty doll for sale someday, her father bought her dolls to remind her of this. Uncle Petyr whispered in one of her delicate porcelain ears and her mother in the other.

But she was a good girl and did good things. Dressed up pretty, learned everything she taught, blindly followed the paths forced into her narrowed, secluded vision.  Sansa befriended whomever she was told to, she went to the parties she was taken to, took the classes she was given and it was all boring, it was stifling. The miracle occurred then, a new teacher at her school. Lancel Lannister of all people, starting offering an extra curricular activity on journalism. Sansa and Loras both needed to always find one more credit, one more rung on the ladder and took his class. That is when her eyes finally opened and Sansa learned the world had color. First in class then in coffee shops or campus lawns, then in Lancel's own posh apartment.

She learned that she had a voice, opinions, emotions and a cage door only she could force open. Lancel was her shining example, he escaped the school, his father and has found a modicum of freedom. Now he wants to save others and it starts with Sansa and Loras. She doesn't love Lancel the way Loras does, no, it's still a close personal relationship in it's own right. He held her hand, let Sansa cry and feel safe, Lancel gave her a way to tell of the rot in her prestigious home. The true cold hard truth of what goes on inside the chilly repressed abusive space. Lancel gave her validation, he helped give her a purpose and a long thorny but real road at freedom and revenge.

Sansa does resent that Loras has the easier safer role to fill for Lancel. However, she understands atonement for her sins far better than Raff would ever understand. After all, Arya should have been dead when their car accident happened but Sansa had weakened unlike Loras in the end. Killing Rickon and Jon should have done it, however, everyone ended up suspecting Cat of their disappearance instead of Sansa. Lancel had warned Sansa that it would be hard to get into the school. Arya was always following her about, driving her apeshit, snooping and never shutting up. But the night Lancel had picked for his devotees to make their sacrifice, Arya kept getting stoned and blurting out how she always admired and loved her big sister. And Sansa didn't poison or overdose her little sister.

So she must bear the worst of the work, the dangerous work of dealing with Kevan himself. To snoop within the snarling lion's den itself to atone, to show Lancel she was devoted! Sansa's main dream is to be able to slit her mother's throat after they take down this school. That fantasy in her head makes her glow and she is just as pretty as a picture.


	52. Personal Space

Myranda wasn't aware that she was having an issue until she had one. The punishments from Bob and Harold were always god-awful in some sickening creative way. However, due to that, she was rarely ever in need of correction from them. She was always a fast learner and seldom crossed over the limits where her actions would matter to them. A few detentions or average grades don't matter to her mentors, a huge grade drop or sudden problems with staff or students would cause them to care.

Since they weren't part of the daily interactive staff, Myranda has the relief of not having to face them soon after the punishment. This had been the scariest and worst one she has ever had from Bob and Harold. She suffered, she groveled and was aware of how NOT to upset them again. Craster was dead, Myranda secretly wasn't the least sorry and never would be. Then end. No problem. No sweat.

A few weeks of pain, of medications, a specialized pillow and no need to see her mentors. Myranda felt the other students had to see their mentors all the time and she was lucky to not have to. Everything was fine, she was doing her average work and causing no issues with anyone, doing her chores like always. Due to her injuries. Myranda could have a full month off from fucking old guys and boy, was that great!

She was riding chilly, no issues whatsoever even when she blew the meat guy. This wasn't new, it wasn't even all that time consuming, she has done it before. And Myranda performed just as well as always, got what she wanted in return for it. Nothing was wrong except she was still sore and bit high strung maybe.

Until Joff and Ramsay decided she owed them something then Myranda discovered Jeyne wasn't the only one with anger issues. They tried to lure her into pleasuring them which made her mock them. The two moved on to insulting her at every opportunity and Myranda gave back insults just as fast. Pulling trash out of the can and spreading it on the cafeteria floor that Myranda freshly washed came next.

Myranda fumed but started to clean it after telling them to fuck off and that was that.

Or it would have been if Joff hadn't decided to grab her ass while she bent over to push trash into the barrel. Jeyne had been in the back of the kitchen doing dishes and Hot Pie had been checking the garden for anymore fresh berries when the roaring began. Myranda had such a soft sweet voice, it was not manufactured, it was just her voice. Apparently there was also another voice to her and this one was deeper than Gregor's, louder than Polliver's and with as much authority as Kevan's.

"DO NOT EVER FUCKING TOUCH ME! DID YOU PAY ME? HUH? I WOULDN'T FUCK YOU FOR A MILLION DOLLARS AND FREEDOM! IF EITHER OF YOU WHORE KILLERS TOUCH ME AGAIN, IT WON'T BE THE FUCKING TICKLER YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT! YOU THINK JEYNE CAN HURT YOU? ASSHOLES, YOU HAVE NO FUCKING CLUE WHAT I CAN DO TO YOU! GO ON, TOUCH ME, CUNTS, I WILL END YOU! YOU WON'T BE THE FIRST MALES I'VE HAD TO KILL, NOT EVEN THE HARDEST KIND TO KILL! TRY ME, BITCHES!"

Hot Pie and Jeyne came flying to see Myranda wielding a mop handle and both boys on the ground clutching their groins. "Okay, you got them, now stop, Myranda. Staff will show any second after they way you yelled!" It was as if Myranda didn't hear Hot Pie's reasonable voice at all. Ramsay sneered up at her and Joff whined, "You'll pay for that, whore! I'll-"

Joff's words dissolved into squeal and Ramsay's sneer changed to a pained wince as Myranda proceeded to beat the living shit out of the two of them with the handle.

Jeyne growled as Ramsay kicked Myranda back but Hot Pie grabbed the feral as Myranda just went right back to beating her victims. "No, Jeyne! Think of how good you've been doing! If you get involved you might lose your Person and bad things happen then. Think of how hard you've worked, you'll lose all of it if you start fighting again!" Hot Pie heard the door crash open and he threw himself and Jeyne against the wall as Polliver and Raff entered.  

Instantly, Polliver's eye went to see who was involved, who was against the wall. Raff looked relieved to see Jeyne against the wall rather than involved in the fighting. However, Jeyne did holler, pointing, "The boys threw trash, they TOUCHED her! They started it, not Myranda!" Except Myranda still wasn't stopping even with both men ready to dish out hurt. Instead, in front of them, she delivered a skull cracking blow at Ramsay's head that the boy rolled away from just in time.

Polliver gave a laugh then walked towards Myranda. "Okay, that's enough, Whore. I'm gonna give you a free pass since I'm sure they provoked you. Put down the mop while I take out the human trash." Hurling the mop handle at the boys as hard as she could, Myranda stomped away. Polliver kicked at Joff and poked at Ramsay with the baton. "Up, up, up! Congratulations, ducktards! Both of you have won a two week detention of hard labor at the monster house including weekends! And that is after I finish up a little more ass kicking on your way to class! "

Myranda tried to ignore Raff as she stormed towards the woods. She was just done and needed to clear her head, even if it meant skipping class. "Hey, don't ignore me, young lady. Last chance, come to my office or I text your mentors to deal with you." Fuming, Myranda stopped and turned around to face Raff. "Don't text them. I'm coming but don't touch me. I feel really upset right now and I just need to have my personal space. Even whores get the right to have personal space when they aren't on the fucking clock!" 

Raff nodded and put his hands in his pockets. "Fine, we will walk as far apart as you need until we reach my office." Keeping her distance just out of his reach, Myranda walked with him towards the clinic. Once they were in the office, Raff sat in his seat and leaned back, folding his hands. "So you aren't normally rattled by a random grab and douche bag behavior. I have seen you deal with such things in the past with way less public and random violence. What about this time upset you so much?"

It was impossible for Myranda to stay seated and she sprang up to pace the tiny office space. "I don't want anyone fucking touching me! I don't want anyone to mess with me. Until I have to work, I am NOT WORKING! My mind and body got all fucked up and until I feel better about the world, everything can go fuck itself! I just want to be left alone to do my damned school and chores. Unless it's Hot Pie or Jeyne, I don't want to speak to anyone. And I am sick of Joff and Ramsay thinking I am here for their fucking pleasure!"

"I saw your injuries after your punishment from Bob and Harold. They have always been known to react harshly to disciplinary issues. Is that what you might be really angry about?" Raff was surprised at how fast she spun and her eyes landed on him with fire. "Fuck you. I am angry because two cocksuckers just tried to feel me up, destroy my fucking day and play get the whore to fuck for free. That is why I am fucking angry."

Narrowing his eyes, straightening up in the chair, Raff spoke clearly and softly. "I understand how angry you are. But you will not continue to swear at me and treat me with disrespect. Ramsay and Joff will be disciplined for their actions and Polliver was kind enough to let you walk away unscathed. In spite of the fact that you were the one causing physical violence." Myranda barked a bitter laugh and sneered.

"I beat their asses because they grabbed my ass like it was hanging out there for them. I was picking up their fucking mess on my fucking clean floor when they grabbed my fucking ass. They deserved it and I'll do it to anyone trying to touch me without my damned permission. Unless Bob and Harold ring that whore bell, no one is fucking touching me. Is that clear enough? I am sorry if you find me rude, Raff. But today I am not feeling like a very well behaved whore."

Joff and Ramsay iced their bruises, while the blond brat whined. "Look what that whore did to my head! That fucking cunt should be grateful I didn't just rape and kill her! And did she get in trouble? No! We did. She injures us, causes ME damage and goes happily on her fucking way! I get hard labor? Why should I pretend as if I'm some sweaty, grunting workman because of a WHORE?"

With a smirk, Ramsay soothed Joff's upset. "Just remember, we were hoping to provoke that kind of reaction. We needed to get enough detentions to get closer to our revenge on Jeyne. She and everyone else has to become used to seeing us that close to her without too much trouble. Just enough bullying so it doesn't look suspicious. Then one day, everyone will be comfortable enough to leave us alone with her for an hour or two at the hell house. And that is all we will need."

Joff looked a bit unsure. "Yeah, but that cunt is really dangerous, I mean, she almost killed me! At the house, I've seen her use all those power tools." Ramsay fought not to roll his eyes and smack the weaselly shit. "Jeyne didn't nearly kill you, she bit half your finger off. Besides, we are going to take her by surprise, knock her out then restrain the bitch before we wake her up to play. Then you can get all the sweet revenge on her that you want. But we have to be patient and take our time in order to get that chance. But we have other games to play, others to take down while we wait out our time to nab the feral for your revenge."

With a nasty leer, Joff announced, "I'm going to get that whore back too. I want so badly to mutilate her, I even want us to hunt her until she crawls, begs us to put her out of her misery." Ramsay smiled. "I promise our revenge on Whore will happen too. I can't wait to steal the bows and arrows from archery so I can watch you bring her down and if you'll allow it, I'd love to teach you how to flay her alive. But first, we start smaller, let's go after their weakest link to begin with and someone who also needs a lesson in fucking humility. Let's start with that cook and play with him while waiting to go after Feral and Whore."

Arya and Theon stared first at Sandor then at the dirt bikes and helmets. Shrugging, scratching the back of his head, Sandor muttered, "Gregor asked me to cover your gym class today. I don't teach gym, don't really feel like doing sports, don't know yoga and shit, plus, figured you two were probably sick of the constant physical labor. So today I'm teaching you two how to ride dirt bikes. Objections?"

Sandor barely finished speaking before the two were scrambling for the bikes, strapping on the helmets. Theon caught on fast and was trying to get fancy with it, knocking himself onto his ass, laughing. Arya had a little more trouble but after two temper tantrums and getting her head whacked by Sandor, calmed herself, tried again. Soon both of the students were racing each other on the dusty back roads while Sandor enjoyed cruising along nearby with his own bike.

They all stopped near the small pond and Sandor pulled open his backpack. Theon and Arya eagerly took the water bottles and small bags of snacks. "I am going to start teaching a few classes. I want both you of to join them. Dirt bike classes, archery and basic self defense. I spoke with Gregor and he is also going to let me teach his kick boxing class. His mind is on...worse matters. Hell house and hell wedding plus hell baby are all on his shoulders. Kevan has approved me to teach these classes and you two can join right away...if your grades stay up and your detentions go down."

Theon and Arya started to knock each other into the pond after they ate. Both had readily agreed to join Sandor's new classes and he truly was looking forward to it. He hasn't taught much, certainly never mentored before. Sandor has discovered he likes that little brat who is learning faster and faster from him. He also likes the arrogant fucked up Theon. What Sandor hates, is the feeling of the gun he is concealing. Hiding a gun, hiding his worries, Sandor wonders about his orders today.

It wasn't alarming to be told that Gregor is giving up some of his scheduled classes up to Sandor to teach. Gregor is overloaded and must concentrate on getting his house in order. Having a sudden visit from Harold and Bob to Gregor's hell house where they were chatting was very alarming. With their creepy twin smiles, they informed the men that the school was going on lock down mode. They suggested that Sandor carry his gun and to take Theon and Arya somewhere out of sight. 

 


	53. Locked In

Sansa wasn't aware of who called or what the issue was but as she filed, she could hear Kevan's voice raised from his office. Then Bob and Harold came past the file room and went into Kevan's office. 

She has not managed to do half as much as Sansa thought she would in the last few weeks. At least in the context of spying, gathering critical information. All files that Sansa had access to were all boring, legitimate papers, ledgers and contracts. Not that she hasn't learned many other things. Kevan has taken the mentor-ship very seriously to Sansa's surprise.

He was careful to teach her how to file, how to type out different kinds of contracts and even had Sansa take notes during some of his meetings. Kevan taught her which vendors they chose and why. He was teaching her managing, marketing and bookkeeping. Stannis adapted all her math and computer courses to assist her in this. Sansa felt stuffed full of information but frustrated that the real information she wants is kept so hidden.

There wasn't a lot of time to be able to search on her own. The house was huge and only occupied by four people and yet Sansa always ran into someone.

Bob and Harold would just emerge from nowhere with their terrifying blank politeness. Sansa was well warned by Lancel of these two and knew that they must never suspect her of anything. Once they got curious on something, they won't let it go and Lancel warned her that any students that have died on campus by unnatural means always saw the twin terrors as their last horrific view.

Sansa had received her latest message through Loras. She was jealous that he got to actually spend a little time with Lancel. Watching Loras in love was agony and Sansa was only relieved she didn't have to share a room with the dramatic queen. Her love for Lancel was truer and purer without any desire of sex, without complications of needy emotions. It was simple, he freed her, saved her, unshackled Sansa's mind and soul.

Lancel was her leader, her guide to life and her salvation. Sansa is prepared to die for him and the cause of every angel, every superstar and hero that has been defined, defiled and destroyed by cruel adults. Those who use children like chess pieces, like carved statues endlessly dying in a war that cannot be truly won. And Sansa will find a way to do what is needed or die trying. Kevan, Bob and Harold, her own wretched mother, they will be taken down and the children will be the only survivors of the war this time.

Gilly was not easy to befriend or to find a weakness in to exploit or manipulate. In Sansa's short life span, she has met many kinds of people. But never, ever before has she encountered a Gilly. Everyone has ambitions, goals, aspirations, some fantasy to try and grasp for at the least. Not Gilly. Sansa wondered if the girl was a hidden plant by Loras. No, the blind worship in the girl's eyes for Kevan was disgusting, but real. Sansa shuddered, how easily this simple minded idiot has been blinded by Kevan's little sick cult.

But even idiots can be fooled, even they have things they want, crave, need at some cost. And even devoted followers can want some simple pleasures that they could be enticed with. Not. Fucking. Gilly. The girl was proud of her job, she thought Kevan shit rainbow colored ice cream and her world was boring and perfect. Sansa wasn't able to even get the damned Gilly to sit for a cup of tea with her! Gilly was always on her working time when Sansa was around and the very second the girl wasn't, she disappeared into thin air.

Loras laughed his ass off when Sansa hissed all this to him but it wasn't funny to her. Sansa would try and find ways to be where Gilly was, she would ask the girl to make her tea or something stupid. The Gilly was polite, helpful and didn't mind chatting but never stayed around once the task was complete. Sansa would actually be in mid sentence to the girl when she would put down the tea and simply walk away to finish dusting. One night Sansa had a dream that aliens had dropped Gilly from a spaceship. It only made Sansa more determined to get through the battle scarred tank she has dubbed The Gilly.

Sansa stopped thinking of Gilly when Harold came out of Kevan's office and walked over to her. His smile was perfect and utterly not reassuring in any way. Her heart stopped beating for a brief second and she struggled not to look scared in any way. "Sansa, Kevan sends his apologies but he must cancel your mentoring time today. Would you come with me, please?" The man offered no reason of why he needed to escort her or where he wanted her to go. Sansa paused only a second, as any student would and Harold widened his smile.

Taking a deep breath, Sansa nodded and forced herself not to cringe when the man put a heavy hand on her shoulder. Without speaking, he walked her deeper into the house. They went upstairs to a small parlor and Harold gestured for her to enter it. "I am going to have Gilly bring you some tea and snacks. If you would like, she can offer to show you the library on the third floor. Kevan has asked that you stay in this room or the library until his small urgent issue has been resolved." Sansa twisted her hands as if nervous then blurted out as if embarrassed, "Can Gilly stay with me, if I want? In case...I need something?"

Harold's smile was so patronizing now that Sansa wanted to knock his teeth out with a hammer. Of course, it was the type of smile she wanted him to have. Of course a rich pampered girl would cling to a servant during possible emergencies. So she blushed and lowered her head a little as Harold responded. "I am sure that Gilly won't mind a bit. She works very hard around here and deserves a little break. Tea for two then." Sansa thanked him then waited for tea and The Gilly, wondering how to proceed.

Sansa was sure that whatever was happening, Gilly won't know about it. There was no option of trying to sneak to hear anything, not with Bob and Harold roaming. She just has to accept that this urgent problem doesn't affect her, she has no control over it. All Sansa can do is use this chance to try and examine the tank of Kevan's small army. Walking to the window, Sansa looked out at the grounds below, scanning for an out of control Jeyne or Ramsay perhaps. She froze and only her eyes moved, to track the sight of Tywin Lannister entering the gates of the school.

All of his men stayed behind, he went in alone but as soon as he cleared the gate, Gregor was there. He frisked the dignified and livid looking man before allowing him to storm past into the house. Gregor was never more than one step behind Tywin but the man didn't seem concerned about the giant looming over him. Sansa ran to the door, to the heat grate, back to the door, trying to hear anything. Only the sounds of voices, angry ones but then footsteps coming up the stairs.

Gilly had been lost in the latest musical that Kevan has loaded onto her cell phone. Humming to the musical about the woods and the fantastical things that happen within it, she was preparing vegetables and meat for the slow cooker. Harold came in but she didn't see him and he moved slowly, carefully so he was behind her as she swayed and trilled while chopping onions in time to the music. He leaned very close and while one hand shut off her music, he spoke gently into her ear. "I don't know anyone else in the world that can chop onions and not cry." The girl jumped and slammed the knife down, to spin around.

She stared directly up at Harold, who was intolerably close and turned her fear to fire. "I do not cry without a very good reason. Onions aren't a good reason to waste my tears. How may I help you, Harold?" Gilly didn't flinch as Harold put a hand upon her braid and played with it. She has grown used to the strange men that still made her skin crawl. They like to touch her, never sexually but in a very unsettling way, they enjoyed using closeness and touch to put others at unease. Gilly has accepted this and is reasonably sure that they would never truly molest or hurt her. Therefore, nothing to truly fear.

"I am sorry to disrupt your normal schedule, dear Gilly, but Kevan has a small emergency to tend to. Therefore, we all must adapt. Would you please mind seeing to the comfort and care of Sansa upstairs for us? Keep her in the sitting room or bring her up to your library until we tell you otherwise. Have tea and cookies with her, keep her company." Gilly nodded and didn't ask a single question though her alarm was clear in her eyes. Harold pinched her cheek lightly and his voice was a cold, smooth affection that made her skin try and move to another planet.

"Thank you, sweet girl. I know we can always count on you. Since I have caused the disruption of what I am sure was going to be a lovely supper, I shall replace it as an apology to you. Today your only duty is to tend to that student and keep her upstairs, quiet and calm. She is not to leave, under any circumstances unless myself, Bob or Kevan come for her. Give her food, tea, books, share your movie collection if you wish, anything the girl wants as long as she stays put." Gilly hates conflict, drama and has no idea how to handle social situations.

"Of course, Harold. Sansa will be kept entertained and upstairs until I am told otherwise." Harold smirked as Gilly stumbled over the last word. He and Bob found it amusing to watch her stumble over self improvements. She wondered if they did that to that poor feral girl that comes here, trying so hard...Gilly answered her own question. With a quick last lingering touch on Gilly's hair, Harold turned and left the room. Giving a quick shiver, like a dog trying to shake something off it's fur, Gilly began to make tea and set out cookies.

A cheer had gone up among the ducklings lined against the dorm wall. "Yes, yes, very exciting, a rare fuck off kind of day! But its a specific kind of a fuck off day and I expect everyone to enjoy or endure it equally!" Polliver swung his baton and it pointed at Ramsay and Joff. "The options are exactly this. You may go anywhere you wish as long as it's in the dorm house. Hot Pie will be making pizzas and other crap for all you greedy little ducklings and you may eat it here in the common room. Any questions can be gently but firmly inserted up your asses. Waddle on, ducklings, go climb the walls and chew the plaster or something."

Myranda raised an eyebrow but didn't join in the muttering of the other students. She had no urge to hang around Loras, Ramsay, Joff or Damon and headed for her room. She stopped, sighing, to look back and see Jeyne wasn't following her but heading past Polliver to speak to Raff who was lingering in the doorway. "Jeyne! Why don't you come upstairs with me? I'll file and paint your nails or we can just nap." The girl turned and nodded. "I will be up in a minute." Shaking her head, Myranda watched Jeyne head for the handsome therapist. She went upstairs and figured Jeyne would follow after getting a lecture or a baton whack for her troubles.

Raff smiled as Jeyne came over to him, she was wringing her hands nervously. "I am behind, I am scheduled, I have work to do at the hell house. Gregor and Unella will think I am not a Responsible Person." With a reassuring hand on her head, Raff soothed the tiny, determined girl. "Slow yourself down, Jeynie. Gregor and Unella know that you were told to stay here today. They are busy too and have no time for detentions or house repair right now. Why don't you visit with Myranda and I'll call you for some pizza later?"

 


	54. Those Little Conversations

Sansa's smile was charming, inquisitive and her voice was light, polite. "So, what you do you enjoy? Books, music, movies? I never see you leave this school but I have never seen you down the hill. Surely, you have free time to pursue your own interests, Gilly?" She sipped her tea while Gilly finished eating a cookie and gave Sansa a flat but nice smile back.

"I have nowhere I want or need to go out of here. Plus, I am not a student, I am a servant so I really don't belong down the hill. I am taking classes already in private for learning. Kevan has shown me musicals, I like those and he sends my phone a new one each week. I have some movies of my favorites, too. Reading is fun, that is what I like to do when I have time to myself. I have all my adventures through the stories."

They discussed musicals and books until Sansa wished to toss herself out of the window. "I know you have a whole bunch of sisters. They live with Kevan's son, don't they? I think Myranda was mentioning it to her friends, Jeyne and Hot Pie. I sort of overheard them. Have you heard if they are doing okay?" Sansa wondered if she was finally getting somewhere when Gilly's face animated. She spoke of her sisters, their quirks, ages and funny stories of them.

After hearing so much about each sister, Sansa leaned closer. "I am lucky that I have my sister here with me. I miss my brothers terribly though. I understand how it feels to be separated from your family. Listen, Gilly...if you know your siblings are with the Lannisters...why don't you call them? And you know, I think you would fit in really well with my friends down the hill. You can come down and eat Hot Pie's cooking and read books at our library. I mean...did Kevan specifically ban you from calling your sisters or visiting down at the school?"

Gilly finished her tea and shrugged. "Kevan did not forbid me from those things, no. I am not very good with making friends...I am happy staying right here. But I would like to speak with my sisters again. Sometime I can ask Kevan if he thought it would be alright to do so." Sansa smiled and nodded. "I understand. By the way, do you have any pictures of your sisters on that cell Kevan gave you? I would love to see if they match the descriptions you gave me!" With a bright eager face, Gilly pulled out her phone and unlocked it. "Yes! Kevan had his son take a picture of all the girls together so I could use it for my screen. Here, see?"

Sansa took the phone and looked at the picture then quickly pressed a number, grinning. Paling, Gilly grabbed for her cell and Sansa moved away. "Yes, may I speak with Belinda or Carla, please?" Gilly fumed and tried not to panic. Sansa grinned and playfully, softly held out the cell phone. "Don't you want to talk to your sisters? Live a little, would you? Kevan never said you couldn't call them, right? So you aren't breaking any rules and I want to hear more about the girls, you can't tell me more unless you talk to them and learn their new adventures."

With a mix of reluctance and excitement to speak with her sisters, Gilly took the phone.

Kevan sat with folded hands, his pen playing, dancing lightly upon his knuckles as he watched his brother. Tywin's jaw was so tight, it seemed in danger of fracturing and his eyes blazed with frustrated anger. The man was pacing before the desk, Kevan was mildly amused to see him so agitated. Shaking his head, Kevan chided him, fully enjoying himself in spite of his own concerns.

"I have told you before, you are far too cranky and impulsive to deal with late night decisions. Had you waited until morning to speak with Ned, perhaps you wouldn't have killed him so fast. How could you not have seen how Cat Stark would react? Did you think she would cower before you and beg for another chance? Did you think she would send Robb to you for kneeling and debasing? Truly?"

Tywin's fists tightened at his sides but he acknowledged his brother with a slight nod.

"I might have overreacted with Ned. I lost a significant amount of money on that fire! And it was presumptuous to assume I wished for Balon to die and in that manner! Not that it matters at this point, what is done, is done. I know that those Starks are too proud, that woman is far too proud to crawl or cower or beg. However, I thought she would have enough sense to not cancel all work with us and try to dare challenge me! Two of my warehouses burned last night! Then three of my men turn up dead. She cut all ties with Roose Bolton as well. Cat and her sons are hidden in their home surrounded by her damned men. They are planning services and I'll be damned if I'll go and offer her sympathies. She will demand her daughters attend the funeral, of course. The second they do, she will find a way to kidnap them unless you heavily guard them. That woman wants her family cut away from us, the second she has them, they will all disappear until she is ready for a war."

Kevan sighed and twirled his pen idly. "The girls will not be going anywhere. I will not allow them to leave this school under any circumstances. I am no monster, of course, their grieving mother and brothers may visit with them here. I am sure Cat will be calling over it soon enough. She and her sons will be frisked and see their daughters in a weaponless room with men stationed around doors and windows. Then they may have a few minutes of privacy with the girls and that will be that." Tywin grunted and sat down on the couch nearby, refusing to sit in a chair like a naughty student before the headmaster.

"I wouldn't put it past Cat to try and slit the girls' throats rather than let you keep them hostage here. She isn't a stupid woman. Her time is short and she knows it. I will give her the time for her services and then I am hunting her and her sons down. Those girls are going to be the last of the Stark name and line, everything will become theirs and they are ours." Kevan shook his head with a small smile. "No, brother. The girls are mine, not yours. They belong to this school and I will not allow them to be a part of your war with Cat. This is a safe place for them to grow and learn until they are adults. I am not letting you or the doomed Starks rip them from their small protected world."

Tywin stood again and walked over to lean on the desk. "Kevan, keeping the girls here simply isn't enough. Cat will try anything to retrieve them, you put your school, all the students in danger until I have managed to kill her and those boys. There are all the damned Tullys! Even if we manage to keep every damned relative away or they all drop dead, everything goes into a trust fund for the girls. They cannot access it until they are adults and I am sure that we are not named in the wills to run things for the ladies! Everything they own will be run by Petyr most likely until they turn eighteen. I need those girls locked down into our family line and I need control of their inheritances."

"My brother, you ask too much of me sometimes. You want me to arrange to have two minors marry? Do you have any idea how Joff and Arya would react to that? I can assure you that it would cause both some issues right now. As for Sansa, she shows great promise here and you want me to do what? Marry her off to her own professor, old enough to be her father...or my son who is publicly gay. Have you gone mad, man?"

"Kevan, I have supported and funded every idea you have ever had! I have never interfered in your school and I don't wish to now. But please, do you understand how important this is?" Tywin spoke for another few minutes upon the subject of his desperate need to gain control of the Stark fortune and Kevan finally put his hand out and pleaded, "Enough. I hope you appreciate what I do for family duty. I will compromise with you on that. Is that all? Are you done with the ranting, brother?" Tywin seemed slightly relieved that his brother was willing to help at all.

"Sadly, there is a little more. Since Balon is dead, Euron Greyjoy has returned to the city. He wants to establish his own place here now, on the ashes of his brother's land, in fact. Euron's lobster and fishing business is booming and his drug trade as well as his human trafficking trade are also quite profitable. I want him gone and fast. We both know how dangerous the man is and he is far too hard to try and kill. He has offered to leave and take his trades elsewhere, provided he is given his nephew and anything left of Balon's estates."

Kevan stared at Tywin. "I do not sell off my students. Theon does not leave this school. Even if you and the others stop paying for his stay here, same as Hot Pie or Myranda, we shall find a useful talent for him to use here. Euron may speak with me all he'd like but he isn't taking Theon. And he won't be visiting here or speaking with Theon until after I am assured that Theon is ready for such a thing. I will not have the boy backslide further in his fragile mental condition over any of you. And I am warning you, brother, if Cat, Robb or Euron show here to visit, they will not suffer any harm near this school. Keep your bloody revenge away from the students, if you please and away from my school."

Raff and Polliver drank and played cards with Damon and Loras while the girls napped upstairs, Ramsay and Joff immersed in some horror movie. When their movie ended, the two professors entered with the unconventional dinner. Stannis carried disposable trays full of freshly baked pizzas and Tyrion carried the casserole tin full of loaded nachos.

"Hot Pie is cleaning up and then has to cook food to send up to Kevan's house. He has never had to cook for them up there before, poor boy is beside himself. We left him to work in peace. I suggested he have one of his own drinks. Silly young man actually said that he wouldn't even sip at it as it would knock him to the floor." Tyrion chuckled over the thought and took a large gulp of that special lemonade.

Raff called the girls down and everyone landed in the common room to eat. Ramsay harassed Jeyne by holding up crusts and offering them to her if she would beg like a dog. Without looking away from his conversation with Stannis, Raff called out sweetly, "Jeynie, why don't you get the remote control and pick the next show for us? Good girl. Hey, Ramsay, guess who just failed their physical health report this month and needs extra gym time scheduled?"

Joff, Ramsay and Damon all stared at the screen in horror as a musical with a singing witch caught Jeyne's attention. Tyrion looked up and smiled widely at Jeyne. "Andrew Lloyd Webber is always a good choice, young lady! Excellent, turn it up a bit so we might all enjoy it. I'm sure the boys are in dire need of some exposure to a good rousing musical." Tyrion presented a pitcher of Hot Pie's spiked lemonade for Raff and Polliver to sample.

Stannis proposed they all play a role playing game or a board game. Jeyne was glued to the musical, standing in front of the screen, looking up at it and her fingers moved in time with the music. Ramsay and Joff chose to go to their room rather than play any games with staff or bear anymore of the musical. Myranda, Loras and Damon found themselves trapped in a game with the professors, their counselor and the school nurse.

By the time the musical was half over, Jeyne was humming and utterly lost in the woods of the musical. The staff was hopelessly buzzed and being utterly destroyed by Myranda and Loras in a high stakes Monopoly game. Damon had lost interest in both the musical and the board game and was napping on the couch. No one saw Ramsay and Joff sneak out the back door.

Hot Pie was trying to catch his breath as he started to tiredly clean up his mess from his raging panicked chaos of cooking. It figures that the one night he gets to cook for Kevan Lannister, it was pizza night! Not only that, he had less than an hour after making the student and school staff their pizza. He had nearly killed himself to throw together a quick yet impressive meal for the big house.

While he had thrown things together, Unella and Gregor had come in long enough to eat their own pizzas. As soon as the food was finished and put in trays, Gregor and Unella carried it up to Kevan's house. Hot Pie was hoping to do it himself so he could see if they enjoyed the food but it wasn't to be. And since the school was on lock down, Hot Pie wasn't going to be seeing Myranda or Jeyne for clean up assistance tonight.

Sighing, he had gotten to work on dishes and mopping. He hoped there might be a chance of heading back to the dorm and getting to relax with Jeyne and Myranda. They have all been so busy that they haven't had a chance to see each other out of cafeteria work times really. Hot Pie took a rag and started to clean the counter then heard something. A click, a whooshing then a crackling. Pausing, the cook peered over the counter into the kitchen but saw nothing.

The sound was still there and Hot Pie knew that sound quite well. He went into the kitchen and over to see the front left burner with it's blue flames turned all way up. Fear ran up Hot Pie's spine like maddened panic dogs and he turned to run but only encountered Ramsay's fist. Then he was on the ground, tasting blood in his mouth and holding his aching jaw. He looked up at Joff and Ramsay smiling down at him.

They dragged him to the stove and Ramsay used a fist in Hot Pie's hair to force his face towards the flames. "Should we make you look like Sandor or just a bit worse than that?" Joff snickered but Hot Pie squealed loudly as the flames were close enough to nearly singe his eyebrows.

Ramsay growled, "Scream again and I'll melt your face like butter. Now, I don't like the way you are disrespectful to my friend Joff. And you don't treat me very nice either. I know you are from a poor home and low class so you don't understand how important someone like Joff is. But now you do, now you understand to be more respectful. Right?" 

"Right! Yes! Please, accept my apologies for not being more respectful! Joff, Ramsay, please allow me the chance to make up for my rudeness. I can make anything you could want!" Hot Pie was internally thanking Polliver for teaching him the detestable lesson of groveling betters for favor. He was also thanking Gregor for burying him until he learned to watch his smart ass mouth.

He stared down into the flames and hoped, prayed, these upper class bullies enjoyed the idea of a groveling cook more than a crispy, blinded one.


	55. High Stakes Games

Gilly enjoyed hearing of how well her sisters were all doing. The pool, horses, phantom toads that scatter their belongings about in between adventures. Sara had given great detail on this while Mari yelled helpfully from the background. "I founded COWBOY HATS AND BOOTS! Then, then, Mari, I'm telling her! Mari saw bathing suits and tiny sunglasses! One time! I am telling her! One time I saw ham gliders! Yes, they IS called that, Mari!"

Sansa listened politely with a smile of longing and gentle amusement while internally she died just a tiny bit more.

Eventually, the children released the phone to the older sisters and Gilly heard of school, horse back riding and swimming. When Clara finally got the phone, Gilly said reluctantly but firmly, "Clara, I'm sorry, one of the students hit the number and I couldn't just hang up on the girls. But I really don't feel comfortable chatting long during my work hours. Also, I am not clear on whether I am allowed to be talking with you. You are all under a new last name for a reason, this might not be safe for you."

Sansa blushed and looked as if she was slightly embarrassed at her little prank. Mentally she envisioned The Gilly tank exploding into bursts of fiery clouds.

"Oh Gilly! Wait, don't go just yet, let me chat with you just for a second. I assure you, we have never been safer than we all are right now, sister. Also, Lancel has flat out told us we can speak with you. I just wasn't sure if you were allowed to make phone calls. I wish you were here with us, we all belong together. I wish I could make you as safe as we are, as blessed as we are." Gilly frowned at Clara's worried voice. 

"I am perfectly safe too. I am just as blessed. Maybe we are separated for now but I am content and glad that you are happy too. You all deserve every bit of happiness you can get. But don't worry about me, I am happy here, I like the work, I like the quiet and if you remember, I was always the loner of the group." Clara didn't sound any less worried. "Gilly, you aren't even sure if you are allowed to make phone calls to your own sisters? You never, ever leave the house except to walk around the lawn. That is why I am concerned. Lancel is Kevan's son, he told us that he can try and see if his father will release you to him. It might take some time but-"

Gilly sat straight and shocked in her chair, responding fast. "No. Don't have him do that. I like it here, I want to stay where I am. You never listen to me. Please hear me this time. You always try to do what you think is best for all of us. I know that and I appreciate it. But I am on my own now and this is what I want. I am loyal to Kevan Lannister and I am happy living at the school. I need to hang up now, I miss and love you, bye."

The girl hung up her phone and put it in her pocket, her face troubled and mutinous. Sansa knew she lost this round and had to regroup. Gilly turned and looked at Sansa rather sternly. "Please don't ever do that again. You are a student here and I am Kevan's housekeeper. Playing pranks on servants is funny is the upper circles, that's at least what I heard." Sansa had given a humble apology full of sincere, humbled eyes. Gilly had politely but coldly accepted the apology.

They stood in awkward silence, watching Tywin Lannister leave from the windows. For the first time in history, two girls were actually thrilled to see Harold show up. "Sansa? Thank you so much for waiting here. Kevan asked if you would like to join him for dinner? I would be happy to escort you there." With a smile, Sansa walked over to Harold and ignored how her skin tried to stay behind. "Of course, thank you."

Gilly breathed a sigh of relief and started to clean up the tea items. Freezing, while bent over to pick up a few crumbs on the floor, Gilly spoke. "Yes, Bob? How can I help you?" A small chuckle from behind her and Gilly began to finish her quick sweep up of the crumbs. Standing back up, Gilly turned and Bob was taking the crumbs from her to toss into the small wastebasket. Smiling at her, Bob put his hand on Gilly's thick braid and slid down it, as if studying it's texture.

Gilly gave a shiver she couldn't help but looked into those mirrored glasses with a small polite smile. "Darling Gilly, we all appreciate the extra work you've done today. Please save this for later and come with me." Nodding, Gilly allowed Bob to hold her shoulders and lead her downstairs and into the kitchen. The lights were dim and there was a lovely set up for one. A small serving tray held lasagna, salad, Italian soup and a bottle of wine. "Harold promised you supper, I believe. Please enjoy."

Sandor was cranky, he was fucking starving. So were Theon and Arya, tired, hungry and cranky, that is. He didn't get the text to go back towards the main school area until it was near dusk. Racing, they tried to fly back, both kids were pissed at Sandor. They had asked a few times to head back once they saw how late it was getting. "Hey, it's you that better explain why we missed our other classes!" "Raff is gonna murder us, we missed medication line and group therapy, fuck! I don't want a damned hot water and chili pepper enema or something because we played on bikes!" "No, instead of enemas, we are gonna get stuck with a million hours on hell house detention!"

Finally, Sandor had yelled at them in frustration just before he received the damned text, of course. "Shut up! Sick of your fucking whining, the both of you! No classes or therapies are happening! You aren't missing anything so shut the fuck up. School went into lock down just as we got here earlier. The protocol is to stay where we are until it ends. That is what we are fucking doing. Ride, whine or cry just far enough way that I don't have to hear or I swear I'll smack your heads together." 

Arya tilted her head and gave a smirk to her mentor. "Is that why you are wearing a gun? I saw it earlier, at least the shape of the holster. My parents and oldest brother carry concealed guns sometimes. I know what it looks like. Theon knew it, too, he said something to me first. For some reason, he was afraid you might shoot us. Are you out here to kill us?" Sandor rolled his eyes and glared at the brat.

"Why would I have waited this long and allowed myself to starve, force my ears to fill with your whoops, hollers and whining all day? I would have lured you out here and shot you while you took your first ride out. Idiots. It's to protect you both from any possible danger during a lock down. Don't ask me why we are on lock down, I don't know. Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you. Now shut up."

Theon and Arya sulked until Sandor heard the buzzing, saw the text and gave a long sigh of relief. Both kids let out a cheer that rattled Sandor's eardrums when he announced they could ride back. They got to the dorm and rushed in, since the text from Unella just said that pizza was sent to the dorms. They all rushed in and nearly burst into tears. A few scattered nachos, some crusts and a sad, lonely piece of circle cut pepperoni slowly curled up to die on a plastic plate.

Sandor glared at the professors, Polliver and Raff, all sitting with Myranda and Loras still deep in their game.

"Monsters, all of you. We are fucking starved and you ate everything." Shrugging, Raff rolled up his eyes in drunken innocence. "We had no idea when you were coming back. Sorry. Try the kitchen, Hot Pie is still there. Ask him to make more lemonade too!" Tyrion and Polliver attempted a high five over the idea as they cheered. Stannis continued to stare at Myranda, who was considering whether or not to buy out his railroads.

Joff had laughed as Ramsay inched Hot Pie's face closer to the flames. "What a stupid thing to offer after you already fed me pizza and nachos. I am not hungry right now. Guess we decide which side of your face to burn. Which eye do you really want to see out of? Or should we just burn one hand off? Can you still cook as well with one hand, boy?" Hot Pie thought frantically as he felt his face turning redder.

"I also make drinks! For the staff! I can give you any drink I know how to make! I have high class stuff too, not the cheap stuff! Please, I swear it! I'll make you drinks, I'll serve you with respect, please, Joff!"

That had done it and Ramsay threw Hot Pie onto the ground and shut off the burner. "You better not be lying, you little fucking low class piece of shit. Do you think someone of Joff's caliber won't be able to tell high quality? You best move your ass, boy! Get the booze and get mixing! If Joff doesn't like the drink, if he doesn't feel it's high class then I'm going to cook you."

The whole time Hot Pie made their drinks, the bullies continued their harassment. Tripping, punching and kicking, random slaps just for the hell of it as Hot Pie frantically tried to make more lemonade. Finally it was done and Hot Pie poured a full pitcher of it over ice. Joff and Ramsay sat at the student dinner table. Gesturing to Hot Pie, Joff waited impatiently to be served. Pretending that it was the staff he was trying to appease, Hot Pie hurried to gracefully serve Joff his first drink.

He carefully poured it into a glass then slid it over in front of Joff, then poured another for Ramsay. "I hope you like it." Hot Pie stepped back and waited, knowing better than to try and leave. Joff made a big deal of examining the glass, sniffing it then finally taking a sip. His face told the truth even as he simply said, "Ramsay, give it a try. I say he did use high quality and it's good. But it isn't the best thing ever."

Ramsay made the examination of the drink even longer before he nodded.

"I agree it's good quality. I agree its very good. And of course, he probably could do better, just like you said. However, we must remember that this creature has probably never had proper training in pleasing the upper classes. We could be charitable and not burn him. What about just two toes in the deep fryer that he can eat like a snack while we drink? Or one finger in the blender, just taking off a pinky won't affect his cooking or mixing of drinks?"

Joff giggled in such a child like malicious way that Hot Pie shuddered. "Please, I am so sorry for how I acted in the past. I promise to always show respect, cook and sneak drinks to you whenever you want. I've learned my lesson, Joff! I will make up for it any way you want. You don't need to mutilate or torture me, I understand. I will treat you correctly for now on, I promise."

Ramsay smiled at Joff. "I say we drink on it, think about it and let the boy sweat it out. He can stand here while we contemplate whether his punishment is over yet." Hot Pie stood there while they discussed several horrific options that involved removing parts of him. He had added a little more liquor than usual to the drink in hopes that they will get drunk and pass out. Hot Pie would have added rat poison to the drinks if the boys hadn't been watching him the whole time.

Instead of getting fuzzy and tired, the liquor just fueled their flames. They stood up and Hot Pie backed up slightly. Ramsay gave a lovely grin, almost tender and Hot Pie turned and bolted. He had the worst feeling that look of Ramsay's might have been the last thing some might have seen before they died. Hot Pie wasn't about to wait around and find out. Even if Joff didn't say Ramsay could kill him, Hot Pie knew they would do more than just beat on him. He wasn't willing to lose pieces.

The heavy glass pitcher smashed into the back of his head, knocking Hot Pie senseless on the floor. He couldn't get his limbs to work and there was blood, so much fucking blood. In a fuzzy thick way, he heard two giggling killers lean over him then he was being dragged. One hand smacked into the blood and dragged a long bloody smear towards the kitchen.


	56. Dinner Conversations

Kevan sat at one end of the dining room table, Sansa at the other. Bob and Harold sat on either side. The table had been formerly set but the food came in the school trays. However, the quality of the food was way better than most school meals ever have a right to be. Sansa was used to Hot Pie's delicious meals and enjoyed watching the magic wield itself upon the three men. Any discussion, news or grilling from Kevan would have to wait until he has finished his meal.

"I love Gilly's cooking, of course. She makes excellent meals that I am always grateful for. But if I didn't have her, I would chain that boy to my own kitchen. No wonder why the staff goes out of their way to accommodate him. I have only ever eaten his pastries before." Bob and Harold nodded, unable to give attention to much beyond their plates. Sansa ate her fill and sat fiddling with her napkin, unable to feel comfortable eating here.

For Kevan to invite her to dinner after having her stay upstairs all day, something was wrong. Whatever it is, it has to wait until the men have finished feasting and Sansa felt a small flash of hatred for Hot Pie. Why did his food have to be so good that grown adults can't take the time to explain important things tho their students? After there was a barely enough scraps for the trashcan, the men sat back and sighed in wonder at the delicious meal.  

Dabbing at his lips with a napkin, Kevan finally looked over at Sansa. "Well now, I hope you enjoyed that as much as we did. Please forgive our animal behavior, we don't often receive lasagna. Now, I am very sorry about having to keep you locked upstairs as if you were a princess held captive in a tower. That certainly isn't the case, the whole school was on lock down while I had a visitor today. My brother came to see me about very urgent and distressing matters. I am sorry to say that those matters involve yourself and your sister."

Sansa felt her spine become steel as her mother had taught her. All Cat's children had perfect posture, since all the chairs they used as children had either small nubs or dulled spikes on the backs. Cat's hand hurt nearly as bad when she would hit her palm hard, flat against the child's chest so that they couldn't get away from the discomfort any other way than to sit perfectly straight and still. Ghost spikes pricked her back as Sansa's chin went up slightly and she focused on Kevan.

The smile that spread across his face discomforted her.

"Ah, dearest. Forgive me, this is no time for smiles or reminiscing. But for one brief moment, you looked so very much like your mother. She mentored with me as well, at least for a short time. And Sansa, your mother did visit the very circle you did except her punishment was a little different. A little more severe, perhaps. I'm sorry, you've probably heard me ramble on about this before. I'm an old man, Sansa, you'll have to forgive me."

Bob and Harold gave understanding smiles and Sansa matched them. She fantasized climbing onto the table, racing over to Kevan and stabbing his fork into his eye. Sansa sat patiently while Kevan took another sip of wine and she thought about smashing the two mirror eyed freaks together until their faces were mush. Kevan sobered once more and folded his hands on the table.

"I am very sorry to inform you, dear, your father passed into the hereafter this week. I have been assured that it was fast and he did not suffer. Please, accept my deepest and most sincere condolences, Sansa."

Sansa just tilted her head and waited for the joke, the punchline. Harold and Bob were each patting one of her hands and Kevan has now stood up, walking over. "My dear? Did you hear me? Do you understand that your father has died, has passed away? Sweet girl, I know it is so much to take in, the grief can be overwhelming. Perhaps we should summon Unella or Raff for you?"

She could actually see as well as feel the new crack running through her porcelain doll skin and she struggled hard past it to speak. "My father died? How? When? Did my mother try to call? My father died?" And her first coherent thought out of a shocked jumble of half formed thoughts was, that cold bitch killed him. Sansa burst into tears and didn't have to worry about her acting briefly as she held her face in her hands.

For a moment, Sansa almost attacked the distinguished old man. When Kevan pulled her out of the chair and presumed to hug her as if it would be actual true comfort, she felt a flash of rage that overcame and soothed her grief down. The anger was good, it allowed her to clear her head, the tears were real but the emotions were as fake as Kevan's now. Sansa hated that she found as much comfort in revenge and hatred as her damned mother.

"Sir, how did my father die?" Sansa spoke into his suit, staring at his gold pen in his pocket as Kevan pulled back but kept his hands on her shoulders. Kevan cleared his throat then looked the girl directly in the eye.

"I hope you are old enough to understand what has happened and how it will affect you. Though having Cat Stark as a mother probably has prepared you for such grim but eventual events of course. I am afraid that your father had a rather fatal falling out with the Greyjoys, which caused him to have a rather fatal falling out with the Lannisters. The Starks have created enemies out of my family, the Boltons and others. Your mother and brother will of course be trying to reach you and your sister. I am afraid due to the dangers of this war brewing, it would not be safe for you or Arya to attend any services. I will allow your family a chance to visit both of you here if they wish, if you and Arya wish it."

Sansa spoke with a soft, sweet and respectful tone but her question was anything but. "So, have we gone from students to hostages, Sir? I only wish to understand if my sister and I are truly safe." Kevan raised an eyebrow and the twins shared a tiny smirk with each other.

"Ah, so much like your mother when she was your age, dear. No offense taken, I understand you are both grieving and concerned. You are not hostages, you are my wards, my students and fostered here by the hand of the law. Your father's death does not change this. However, your mother may try other ways, terrible ways if need be to keep both you girls from staying within any Lannister reach, even one as benign as myself."

Kevan gave a charming smile. "I would never allow your mother or brothers to harm or kidnap you or your sister nor will anyone else reach you here. However, Tywin feels that more might be needed. And as much as I am against his plans, I have to admit it would make both of you girls much safer. I am able to at least give you some options where your sister will have none."

Paling, Sansa gasped. "The threat to marry Arya to Joff? Are you going to make her marry him truly? That doesn't make my sister safer at all! And she is a mere baby and he is too!" Kevan gave a saddened nod. "I really have no choice. Of course, they are far too young and it would be distasteful to have two married minors as students. I have had papers drawn up that both of them will sign and then we will officially announce their engagement to the parties that should be aware of it. The contract will bind them to marrying upon their eighteenth birthdays."

Sansa shuddered to think of Arya saddled with that little pompous sadist and felt true pity for her. Then she steeled herself and looked up at Kevan, who was patiently waiting for her to adsorb all of this. "And what of me, Sir? I assume it's not only my little sister that must be tied to another name besides Stark. Who must I marry when I turn eighteen?" 

Ramsay and Joff each had one of Hot Pie's legs to drag the dazed but desperate cook into the kitchen. Hot Pie moaned, unable to scream through the streaking colors and pain in his head. He tasted blood, he felt coated in it and if his limbs would only cooperate, he could try and get away again or fight back. Joff dropped the leg and ran to the large stove and flung the door open. "Push him inside here, I want to roast him! Let's cook the cook!"

Hot Pie tried to speak past the manic giggle of Joff and his words were slurred. "Please, no, please! Did what you wanted. Why? Please don't." Joff came skipping over and leaned over the cringing cook. "Why? Because I want to. That's all, really. I mean who will care if some low class pig like you goes missing or is roasted alive?" He tried to respond but Ramsay did first after kicking Hot Pie hard to shut him up.

"Believe it or not, Joff, in this fucking hellish place, they would care. They want their tummies appeased and the cook provides that. We know that they ignore social class here, they would blame us, put us back in the circle or toss us off to the Tickler. We can't roast the cook as much as I want to do that for you, we have to do something that won't kill him. His head is bleeding pretty bad but head wounds do that, his words are slurred so he's already hurt. Let's just pick a cooking utensil or two and see what we can play with."

Groaning, Hot Pie tried to crawl away as the two boys started to search the kitchen for interesting torture devices. Joff noticed the boy made it only a few inches before collapsing but he still ran to stomp on him. This caused Joff to slip in the blood and fall down, hollering in pure disgust. He used his new position to brutally slam his feet into any part of the cook that he could reach. Hot Pie curled up and fought not to just sink under the pain and let the world fade away.

As Ramsay came forward with several types of peelers and graters, they heard the front door of the cafeteria open and froze. Hissing, Ramsay whispered, "Go out the back door fast. Get into the dorm house and shower fast. I'll make sure that the boy won't talk and follow behind you." Joff looked like a boy caught in the cookie jar and he whispered back, "Just kill him fast! He will tell, they always tell on me, kill him or I can."

"I won't tell. I won't say anything. I swear." Ramsay leaned over and smiled at the slurred words. "If you do tell, I will kill you. Cook you in your own oven and try to see if you taste any good. Do you think I won't? Even if I had to wait a year or two...I'd get you and when I take a life, I like to really take my time at it." Hot Pie didn't respond and Joff sighed as Ramsay tried slapping the graying boy's cheek. "Good, maybe he's dying or dead even. Let's go, Ramsay."

Theon and Arya had run ahead of Sandor and thrust the door open, running through the dim hallway that led into the cafeteria. They skidded to a halt and stared at the blood on the cheap tiles. "Ah fuck." Shoving both kids behind him, Sandor took out his gun and began to go towards the kitchen behind the long steel counter. He saw Hot Pie and rushed forward, grabbing his cell at the same time.

After hitting the alert for emergency assistance from all staff, Sandor turned to yell at the kids to head back to the dorm. Both were already standing closer, looking in horror at the limp bloody cook. Theon ran off first but Arya grabbed dishtowels and started to try and help Sandor figure out how to stable Hot Pie. Sandor was relieved that the boy had a pulse, was still breathing but it was shallow.

Before the four could react to their texts, Theon burst into the dorm house. "HELP! HURRY! HELP HIM, HE'S DYING, HE IS COVERED IN SO MUCH BLOOD AND I THINK HE'S ALMOST DEAD!" All four of them got unsteadily to their feet and Polliver narrowed his eyes at Theon. "Duckling, who is hurt, who needs help?" Theon waved his hands around as he hollered. "THE COOK! HE IS NOT MOVING AND COVERED IN SO MUCH BLOOD! HELP!"

Theon barely moved in time before being stampeded as they all ran out the door, towards the cafeteria. As the group headed for the school, Gregor and Unella came from a different direction and they all collided. Myranda and Jeyne were just behind the group and the whore went around the jumble of limbs but Jeyne just leaped right over them. Stepping lightly upon Tyrion's back, the feral leaped and only skimmed the top of Gregor's shoulder before she was past them heading to help her friend.

Damon and Loras watched as the jumble managed to separate and head into the cafeteria. Ramsay and Joff came out with wet hair and smirks to sit on the railing and watch the fun. Theon came onto the porch and babbled to them about how Hot Pie had looked. Damon stared hard at Ramsay and Joff. "You did it. Why? He gave us good food and was always nice. What did Hot Pie ever to do you? Did you fucking kill him?" Ramsay smirked and spoke so sugary to Damon that Theon began to sulk.

"What's the matter, sweetheart? Did any of those victims you and I tortured together deserve what we did to them? Did you care then? Why should you care now? And no, if it was me, I wouldn't have killed the cook, just fuck him up. Course, I didn't do it and Joff didn't either." Damon growled but Ramsay gave him innocent eyes then turned to grab onto the sulky Theon.

"Let them all worry about their cook. The staff is gone and we finally have some time to ourselves. Don't worry so much, Theon, the cook will be fine, he's alive." Nodding, Theon allowed Ramsay to pull him inside the house. It's not that Theon wasn't worried about Hot Pie, he was. But when does he ever get a chance to be alone with Ramsay anymore? More importantly, how long has it been since it was Ramsay's suggestion and not his own?

So Theon allowed Ramsay to take him to his bed and bite, kiss and insult him while ripping his clothing off, thrusting inside as Theon cried out and wrapped his limbs around his brutal lover. "I love you, Ramsay, I miss you so much, I love you, I want you, please, hurt me, love me too."


	57. A Proper Lynching

Joff sneered as the entire staff carried Hot Pie to the clinic like a frantic group of starving cannibals finally able to enjoy their meal. Jeyne and Myranda were part of the group, but Arya broke off and headed to the dorm porch to join the others. She immediately saw Joff's look and punched his nose hard.

"Asshole! You and Death Row just had to fuck with him, with someone, right? I hope Polliver fucking buries you. He will come for your asses, don't think he wont! It's not so hard to figure out who did it! And Polliver is Hot Pie's mentor, he's gonna destroy you!"

Joff raised his fists after squealing over his swelling nose and took a step towards Arya, who wasn't backing down. "Don't you ever hit me, you cunt. A Stark is still lower than a Lannister. I'll have Ramsay cut your fucking throat after raping you if I want to. Or maybe I'll just fuck you up now and have Ramsay kill you later." Damon was suddenly in front of Arya, who rolled her eyes. Joff paled and took a few steps back. "Don't you touch me, you fucking Neanderthal!"

From behind Damon came Arya's taunting voice. "Oh sure, you couldn't remember the word to pass the test yesterday, now you can remember it to use it as an insult. Maybe Stannis just has to learn to use all the terms in insult form." Damon glared down at Joff. "If you try to hurt her, if you tell Ramsay to go after her, I'm coming for you. Ramsay told you what we used to do. He loves to tell stories. I will do those things to you."

Sneering but pale with fear of the kind idiot turned hulking nightmare with blazing eyes and a cruel smile that Joff has never seen before, that he backed down. "Fine, she isn't worth my trouble anyway. Now leave me alone, Sidebitch!" Damon lunged forward to make Joff squeal and fall on his ass, then walked away as Arya and Loras laughed. Damon and Loras leaned on the railing on the right side of the porch, Joff sat on the railing to the far left, keeping his distance.

Arya sat on the steps after getting herself a soda. They waited to see if their cook was going to live or die.

The clinic has never been so full or chaotic before. They raged and ranted and Unella swore, hissing to Raff, "The staff is worse than the students! I want everyone cleared the hell out of here now! Get them out of this clinic!" Unella had been beyond pissed to be forced to spend all day hanging around the main house in case Kevan might need of her skills. Just to find out while she and Gregor spent all day waiting to see if anyone needed healing or killing, the rest of the staff was getting drunk off their asses while one of the charges was nearly killed.

She had to give Raff a quick shot of adrenaline just to keep him coherent enough for her while they worked on Hot Pie. Now she shoved him hard and pointed towards the door that kept opening. "Get them out or I'm going to kill all of you personally. Listen carefully, you stupid young punk, if this cook doesn't recover, I won't get all the food I need and crave. Do you want to be the person at all hours of the night running forty minutes to the one grocery store that sells the stuff I want? Then you can prepare it for me, even though just LOOKING at most of the food I eat makes you puke." Unella grunted in satisfaction as Raff ran to clear the clinic.   

Jeyne and Myranda were pressed against the wall near the door of the clinic. Not because that is where they usually go, but they were afraid of being crushed in the panicked crowd. Only their concern for their friend kept them from fleeing the chaos. Raff came to the door over and over to shove different half drunk staff out of the surgery room. Finally, he looked over at Gregor who was the only sober, clear headed person besides the quite shaken Sandor. Raff raised his voice to be heard over the extreme concerns of the cook's health.

"Gregor! We need quiet and privacy to work on Hot Pie! They are all fucking drunk, can you get them out of here? They aren't coherent enough to understand that Hot Pie isn't dying. They think he will have lost all memory of how to cook or that he will develop PTSD over culinary tools. Listen, all of you! Hot Pie has a bad concussion and needs several stitches. Then a week rest or so and he will be fine. Bruises and minor fractures will heal. Did you hear me, you morons? Now get out!"

The murmur and yells of the staff stopped as Raff spoke and all eyes were upon him. It was the perfect time for Gregor to start herding them all out the door. But Jeyne piped up. "Is that a pretty lie so we all leave? Are you SURE he will be fine? His head is okay? Body will be okay?" Raff sighed then replied, "As a nurse I am fairly certain that-" He cursed as the clamor began and he snapped at Gregor and Sandor.

"Please, can you two get them all the fuck out of here? I need to help with the boy and I can't do that while shoving these ass hats out of the room every three seconds!" 

As Gregor and Sandor tried to shove the counselor and professors towards the door, Myranda grabbed Jeyne and they left. As they walked, they saw the small wood pile and with a sweet poison smile, Myranda went over and got the small hatchet. Jeyne grinned and started to growl deep in her throat, readying for the bloody take down of the two assholes that dared to fuck with their friend. 

"Jeyne! Myranda! Young ladies, you will stop and wait!" With an impatient snarl, Jeyne stopped as Myranda spun around to defend their actions. Stannis's long stride took him to the girls faster while Tyrion huffed behind him. "I do understand the boy is your friend, but that is nothing compared to what he is to this school! I demand to be the one to use the hatchet! Sir, I do believe we should get my dueling pistols!"

Tyrion caught up. "We do not have time to search out those ancient things, Stannis! This must be a proper lynching. You and Myranda go after Ramsay, Jeyne and I will execute Joff with extreme prejudice! What if the boy never recalls the recipe for lemonade? Or decides cooking is too dangerous of a profession? Those boys must pay for this outrage! My nephew has finally gone too far this time."

Polliver shoved past all of them to walk in the lead as they all marched towards the dorm house. "None of you have it right. I am going to be the one to murder the little fucked up ducklings. Hot Pie is my boy! I am his mentor and I failed to protect him. I am going to spell that failure out all over their flesh until they are as bloody and as gray as poor Hot Pie is!"

His baton was smacking hard into his other palm, Polliver's eyes were full of promising menace and he was chanting softly to himself. "Gonna whack those mallards, gonna pluck those feathers, gonna fuck up some ducklings till they learn to NEVER fuck with something of mine." With a sigh that nearly knocked them all over, Gregor joined the march along with Sandor.

"No one is killing the two morons. Hot Pie isn't dead, just badly hurt. So we will punish the two we know did it and that is that. Myranda, I'm going to give you one second to get rid of the fucking hatchet." Another sigh and Gregor reached over to whack Myranda's head.

"Handing the hatchet to Jeyne was not what I meant and you know it. Jeyne, stop swinging that thing and hand it to Nanny Gregor right now. Good girl. Now, can you keep control,ladies? Allow the staff to do their job and deal with our very naughty students? Because if you try to attack them, you'll both be in trouble too. Both of you have done so well, I'd hate to see you backslide over these two douche bags." 

Myranda smiled and held tightly to Jeyne's arm. "Oh yes, we just want to watch them get their due justice! Hot Pie is our friend, we won't interfere but we demand justice for our friend!" Jeyne nodded. Sandor watched how calm his older brother was being, he knew the man was trying so hard to learn more patience. Gregor had actually started to see Raff for therapy. Sandor had been cutting the grass nearby the clinic one day and overheard his brother.

"Look, Jeyne is just a fucked up little kid but she has a point. I need to deal with Unella every fucking day for the rest of her life and if I kill her or she leaves because I say, ripped off her jaw in anger, I would be stuck taking care of a kid by myself! And the baby, how do I keep patience with one of those things? So all I want is for you to teach me patience, help me not to force feed a crying baby to a cunt of a wife. In exchange, I will continue to help you mentor Jeyne and let you claim the favor for any talents we dig out of her."

Sandor couldn't help himself, to see a tranquil, near serene Gregor recently has been driving him crazy. So he moved up the line of the tiny lynch mob so he could speak just behind him. "You know, if Hot Pie can't cook, he can't get all those disgusting and huge quantities of food for Unella. And if he doesn't have any of it already saved in the ktichen, it won't be you just getting up all night to go to the cafeteria to get her food. You'll be driving all the fuck way to the store and if they are closed, you'll have to keep driving. And you know what, the other day I saw Hot Pie with a bunch of baby food recipes, he was saying something about wanting to help provide meals for the baby."

Gregor's face darkened and he growled out, "I'm going to kill both of the boys but only a little bit. I can rip off just their arms and legs and Unella can play doll maker, see what parts can fit where." The others let up a drunken whooping cheer and Sandor bit back a laugh.

Joff's eyes widened as he saw the staff heading towards the dorm house with clear menace in their march. Arya got up and went to stand out of the way with Damon and Loras, all of them grinning with mean intent at Joff. "Looks like a proper lynch mob coming for you and Death Row. Bye, bye, Princess, nice knowing you!" Arya waved mockingly as Joff ran into the house, screaming for Ramsay.

Kevan had led Sansa to a small sitting room and sat with her on a little couch, holding her hand.

"Since your little sister has taken the worst of the Lannister males, the rest are the lot you may choose from. I can at least offer you your choice of Lannister men, all bachelors. Please, take your time and think over the options you have but before you leave here this evening, I need a Lannister name. Also, I must warn you, since you are over sixteen, legally you can marry. So though you will remain here as a student, you will be married as soon as possible in name only. You would not live as a wife with your new husband until you graduate here and I am satisfied that you are ready to leave."

Sansa's head was spinning and she wished she had anyone to speak with in this moment. She would have accepted her mother or Uncle Petyr but she wished mightily for Lancel, anyone to bounce her thoughts off of. But it was just her and she had little time as Kevan watched her wrestle with her thoughts. "It would be very discomforting to marry my own professor, so Tyrion is not an option. Jaime is far too close to Cersei and she doesn't like me in the least. That could be a big problem in the future." Kevan sat back and twirled his pen, watching Sansa, saying nothing.  

I could choose him, Kevan himself, how close I would be to everything then. I could kill him personally on our wedding night, present his damned head to Lancel! But Sansa was watching her mentor as she was thinking. There was something, a dark expectant excitement in his eyes, Kevan was waiting, baiting some trap and Sansa sensed it. No, he WANTS me to pick him but it's not for any reason that has to do with sex or the need to have a Stark.

A tingle soared up her spine and Sansa listened to all the voices in her head whispering to listen to those instincts. Sansa remembered Lancel warning her that his father loved to bait others. Loved to set up traps, nearly forcing others into misbehavior just so he can bring them down, it was a demented hobby nearly. Lancel's warning strong in her head, Sansa gave Kevan a lovely smile.

"I choose Lancel Lannister. I know I can trust that YOUR son would be a good man, a good husband to me." Kevan looked half pleased and half disappointed and Sansa felt his trap fall to pieces. "What an excellent choice, dear. I know my son is gay, but he has had girlfriends in the past and I am assured that he is able to fully function. If you wished for children in the future, my son will have no problems there."

Sansa blushed and looked at her hands. "I hope he doesn't resent me because of this forced marriage." Kevan patted her hands again. "Lancel is a very loyal, dutiful son. His only flaw is his heart is a tad too kind, sometimes I feel the boy is too generous to others. But I don't think you will find that a flaw, will you? I shall have to keep a close eye to make sure that you don't overtake my poor kindhearted Lancel."

Kevan spoke with a gentle amusement laced with a sharp warning that Sansa received clearly. But at that moment, Sansa was thinking of the sheer honor of sharing so closely with her leader as his wife! And she was also thinking of how badly Loras might react to this. Sansa doesn't care if Loras and Lancel bugger each other until the end of time. But Loras had visions of marrying Lancel and being his right hand man in every sense of the words.

"I will speak with my son and ask him to come here as soon as he can. I would prefer to have you already married when your mother comes calling. We both know she will and even though you and your sister have the option of not seeing her, she will be allowed to see your records. I will speak with her and show her proof of your marriage and Arya's engagement."

Sansa smiled and patted Kevan's hand this time. "I don't mind seeing my mother and brothers, Sir. I know you will keep us safe and it is the only chance I will get to say goodbye. I have a feeling it might be the last time I see any Stark that isn't Arya ever again." Kevan gave a small chuckle. "Ah, dear. So much fire to you, it is refreshing. You may head back to the dorm house, Sansa. I will see you tomorrow, hopefully with Lancel in tow. Would you like an escort back down the hill or just a late pass?"

"Just the pass, please. I like walking to help me calm and center myself." She was desperate to leave so she could find five minutes to grieve for her father. Another five minutes to rejoice in the marriage to her leader. Kevan stood up and wrote out a quick pass for Polliver and handed it to her.

"You know, dear, I am proud of you. Most girls in your position would have tried to leap a little too high. They would have flirted and tried to have me believe they wished to marry me or Tywin. Which is highly disturbing, considering our distinguished ages. I'm always a little put off by that, it is striving too hard, being too greedy. Perhaps, you are not as much like your mother as I thought. Have a good evening, Sansa. I again offer my condolences on your father's death. Please, say nothing to your sister, Joff or Theon. I would like to tell them myself."


	58. Ruffled Ducks, Swarming Sharks

The mob burst through the door and then crashed into Ramsay and Joff's room. Only a naked Theon, clutching a blanket around himself was there, sitting on Ramsay's bed. He instantly spoke up, afraid they would rip him apart instead. "They left! Joff came yelling and Ramsay jumped up and left. Not even with any clothes." The mob glared at Theon and then Tyrion pointed and hollered, "Five detention periods for sleeping with the enemy! Come, gentlemen, let's find and murder the children!"

Turning, they all began to leave to search for the boys, but Myranda lingered for a moment. Long enough to see Theon nervously drop the blanket and reach for his clothing. Theon noticed and cursed, shoving his legs into his sweatpants. "What the fuck are you staring at? Go away!" Myranda shrugged, with a considering look in her eye. "If you keep that up, your flesh will be all red leather meat and no one wants to be with that but a serial killer. Is that your true aim? To spend your life fucking serial killers until one kills you?"

"Fuck you! Go away! My body and what I do with my life is not your problem." Myranda nodded as she turned away. "True. But it is your problem and it's a big one. If you want any help with it, come see me." Theon sneered. "Gee, thanks, Whore! Now fuck off." Flipping Theon the finger over her shoulder, Myranda went to join the search. She was almost run over by Stannis twice and then managed to latch onto to Jeyne. A cry of triumph was heard then a roar of frustration. "Get the ladder! They are on the damned roof!"

Sansa walked slowly past the clinic and wondered why the lights were all on this late? The blinds were down in the surgery room window but light blazed from the tiny cracks. Sighing, Sansa wondered if someone got the hell beat out of them by Ramsay or Joff again. Ramsay has Joff all revved up and the boy was too stupid to see that Ramsay was using him like a fucking sock puppet. She walked into the house just to see everyone yelling and storming out the back door. As she cautiously walked further in, Theon came flying past her to head out the back in his sweatpants and Ramsay's t shirt, his bare feet slapping hard onto the wood.

Idly, Sansa wondered how Theon will feel when told that his father is dead. He probably won't care much. Except we all pay a cost for our father's follies, my sister and I are thrown onto the sacrificial marriage alter. Sansa wonders what price Theon might have to pay. Wincing at thudding from above and screaming outside, she figured out that Ramsay and Joff were hiding on the roof. That the entire staff was attempting to reach them and murder them. Sansa yawned and gave a quick peek into Loras's room, past the half open door. His copy of Lord Byron's best poems was half out of the extremely neat bookcase collection.

Sansa wandered away towards the front door and slipped outside. She walked the lit pathways towards the gardens, staying well within bounds even for after curfew. Walking among the apple trees, Sansa quickly entered a small garden shed that hasn't been used in years. Going to the shelving units in the back, she shoved them out of the way and opened the small panel. With a quick breath, hating this part the most, Sansa started down the ladder into a bunker. It was made and forgotten about so long ago but Lancel had made great use of it when he was at the school. As did others students before him.

She hoped that this will be the last time students ever need to have such a space. Because she will win the war that others have lost. Carefully, Sansa made her way down the ladder and firmly put her feet on poured cement. A dimly lit room full of shelving units with dusty old cans of items that she has never even heard of. Loras was already down there, holding on to one of their cell phones. Trying for an airy tone, Sansa spoke as Loras just stared at the phone in his hand. She walked towards him, trying not to choke on the dusty air.

"When you ask Ramsay for distractions, boy, does he provide. He is naked on the roof with Joff. What the hell happened while I was gone? And I swear, I will never understand why Lancel thought we needed a mad dog like him anyway." Loras didn't look up but responded in a calm, emotionless voice. "Ramsay is a mad dog but he does his job. He can take the pain, he hates them all enough, he doesn't mind taking the crowd's eye away so we can do the important work. He fucked up big this time, though. They nearly killed Hot Pie. I mean, it got the whole staff after them, true, but that's a target with a heavy price tag."

Sansa gave a small gasp. "That was amazingly fucking stupid of him. They might crucify him, someone might really kill him over that." Loras shook his head as he stood up and put the small cell phone back in it's hidden spot in an old empty can. "Oh, he is going to hurt bad for it, but they won't actually kill him. Kevan wouldn't allow that, Lannisters and Boltons don't die here at Sugar Sun. So I spoke with Lancel while Ramsay was leading the mob around. I hear congratulations are in order for you and condolences for your little sister. She certainly got the shit end of that deal, huh?"

Loras was on her before Sansa could respond, his hands tightening around her throat, snarling, tears running down his face. "I hate you! How fucking dare you steal him? He is mine, loves me not you! Even if you marry him, that won't change! I will kill you before I let you try and take him, you manipulative cunt!" Digging her nails into his hands didn't help, Sansa kicked hard into Loras's groin. With a moan, Loras let go of her and grabbed his crotch instead. "You viperous bitch!" Sansa coughed and slid down to sit on the cot near the shelves. 

While Sansa tried to regain oxygen, Loras sat down next to her, still sobbing, but a bit calmer now. "I wasn't given a choice to say no, Loras. It was marry Lancel or Tyrion or Jaime. Two men old enough to be my father. Whom I lost by the way, which is why I have to marry against my will. Thanks for your condolences on my loss. You haven't lost Lancel to me, I know you love each other. It is a political marriage only."

Loras sniffed. "I'm sorry you lost your father but he was lost to your mother years ago. You, me, Lancel, we are the new generations that shouldn't have to pay for the old. But here we are, right? I know you don't love him like I do, that's why you shouldn't marry him, I should. The very second that they are all dead, Lancel will divorce you and marry me. He promised." Nodding, Sansa hugged the despondent boy and wished she could bash his foolish fucking head in. She thought about Arya and how she will take having to marry Joff. Sansa sighed, her little sister was going to need her guidance.

Gilly had finished her lovely dinner, the food was delicious, bringing tears into her eyes with every bite. Her mood was lightened by the food as she went about cleaning. She was working later than usual, cleaning the dining room, the upstairs tea room, plus her own meal in the kitchen. Tired, Gilly started to head up towards her room. She almost made it to her bedroom before she heard them. Spinning around, Gilly looked at Harold and Bob, close enough to touch. "Yes, Sirs? I am about to retire for the evening. Is there something I can get you before I am done for the night?"

With their identical shining smiles, they each extended a hand to clamp around her upper arms. The grips were firm, not painful but with the lingering promise of pain. Gilly shivered as her skin raised goose bumps that tried to bump the terrible touch away. Harold spoke, his voice pleasant but warm in a loathsome, playful poisonous way. "I'm sorry, dear. You have been asked to go above and beyond your job today. I ask that you bear with us just a few moments longer, Gilly. Will you please come with us?" Nodding, Gilly walked between them down the hall towards their own suite.

Beginning to get nervous, Gilly spoke before they entered the terror twins rooms. She only goes in there to clean and never when they are in their rooms. "Please, did I do something wrong or to offend you, Sirs? It is not usual for you to ask me to enter your rooms." Bob's hand on her back pushed her gently into their domain and Harold shut and locked the door behind them.

Kevan frowned at his cell phone. He has texted all of the staff and none have responded. Where the hell are they all? Must he walk down himself to retrieve Arya and Theon? More importantly, what could be happening that the entire staff is too busy to respond to their director? Briefly, Kevan thought to send Harold or Bob to see what might be going on down the hill. Using his binoculars, Kevan looked out the window just as the breeze brought him the sounds of a lynch mob. His eyes widened to see Ramsay Bolton in his naked glory, dancing a jig on the roof. Joff was also up there, screaming and shaking his fists.

Putting the binoculars down carefully, Kevan straightened his jacket and marched down the hill. 

Ramsay screamed for them to all go fuck themselves when Joff went down like a sack of potatoes. Ramsay looked at the small needle sticking out of the blond idiot then at Sandor aiming again. "Oh shit!" He dropped just as Sandor took the shot and it missed him. "Guess this is over. Hope the assholes got done what needed to be done then." He stretched out and waited, this time he didn't bother to try and use his lighter and Sansa's hairspray to keep them from coming up the ladders. Grinning up at the moon, Ramsay wondered if his father ever felt such reckless excitement over chaos here as a student.

He heard Kevan's voice from below and started to laugh. It will probably be the circle now instead of a staff beat down. Ramsay wasn't thrilled about that part. But hearing the whole staff getting reamed out for being drunk and losing control of their students was enough to keep him laughing. He kept up the hyena laugh until Gregor showed up and growled out, "Was it fun for you? Good, I'm glad you are having such a wonderful time. If you think all of this is funny, you'll find the next part of it fucking hysterical." 

Ramsay did not find being shot point blank with a sedative gun fun in the least.

Harold and Bob began to circle Gilly, who was instantly reminded of sharks circling their prey. Raising her chin, Gilly refused to turn her head, body or even eyes to watch her stalkers. "Please, it is very late, Sirs. May I ask what I have done or need to do?" She forced herself to breathe normally and calmly, put her hands behind her back, clasped together. Her legs were slightly apart, she looked like a solider at ease and as always, Harold and Bob were so fucking curious. They could not seem to ever catch Gilly off her guard. They never managed to rattle or scare her and that was just too unique to leave alone.

Kevan had laughed at them when they told him of this. "The girl is loyal and a good girl, does her job, I have no worries. Of course, Sansa keeps flitting around her, hoping for tidbits, I suppose to check in with Gilly on this is an idea. Only when it's deemed truly needed and do not harm my Gillyflower. She is a rare treasure. A truly loyal servant that doesn't spook or snoop. You can check to make sure that never changes, but I will be extremely put out if your overeager actions cause Gilly to ever doubt her place and safety here." 

So Harold and Bob were careful, they played, they taunted but never caused Gilly a single bruise or scratch. They hoped, prayed for a chance to finally have cause to question her, feel her out. Finally, the glorious day has come. With Sansa in her company alone for that long was enough reason for a light interview but there was even more cause. Bob had checked the logs earlier and saw that a call had been placed to Gilly's sister's at the Lannister estate. Perfect, finally a good reason to get Gilly in their nest to play.

Kevan had sighed instead of laughed when they gleefully informed him of the unusual phone call while Gilly was with Sansa.

"I highly doubt it was anything but innocent. Chances are that Sansa talked the girl into it. Go ahead, have your fun but I warn you! I truly like this girl and if you find out she is innocent of any wrongdoing, you leave her be. It disturbs me, you know. How excited you two get and I am slightly suspect that every single servant I have here ends up dead by you two for treason or suspicion of some sort. Gilly will not be the next one in your game of torture and kill! Did what happened with Myranda over stir your blood? Go out and find yourselves someone else who has a servant to murder, will you? Just question Gilly and then leave her alone if there is nothing wrong. If something is wrong, I expect to be contacted instantly."

Bob came up behind Gilly, stroking her braid while Harold stopped in front of her, his shark smile looking ready to eat a small fish.

"Every single drunk person here will expect Hot Pie's medical expenses to come from their accounts. Until Hot Pie is recovered enough for his duties, I shall leave it upon your shoulders to figure out meals for staff and students. At your own expense, of course. This is inexcusable, gentlemen. I put a lock down on the school which means you are to remain alert and protect the students. You have utterly failed that, haven't you? Good thing, we weren't attacked."

Kevan glared at the shamefaced men, only Sandor and Gregor were giving him eye contact.

"Polliver, you failed miserably at protecting Hot Pie and you managed to lose complete control two of your ducklings. You will find ways to make this terrible error up to Hot Pie and you will most certainly make it up to me. You can expect to pick an account to cancel until further notice. I will however, allow you to be the one to discipline Ramsay for his attack upon Hot Pie. As for Joff, Tyrion, you shall discipline your nephew. I expect both boys to be seen by Unella right after. No broken bones, no missing pieces, please. Things are tense with families right now, let's not give them anything to complain about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ramsay: St. Jimmy by Green Day


	59. Losing Mojo

Harold and Bob were on their small couch made of a specific type of leather that disconcerted everyone who sat on it. Not Gilly. She sat between them and never even flinched. They reasoned it might be because she has had time during her hours of cleaning here to get used to it. She didn't try to feel the couch or look at the leather as most did.

Even Myranda had freaked when she first discovered she was sitting on a couch of human skin. Gilly didn't seem to notice or care about the leather, the couch or for any threats either. She wasn't a stupid woman, no, Gilly can follow any instructions she is given with ease. Was she that obtuse or was Craster that horrific that Harold and Bob simply can't be scary to her?

They were shaken after twenty minutes of sitting with her. The very moment they sat down, every technique they could apply with simple body movement and touch was employed. Nothing. Gilly never twitched, cowered, cried, flinched, she was a block of wood. She could have been a mannequin that they were playing with. The second that they began to ask about her visit with Sansa, was the beginning of the end.

Gilly opened her mouth and told them every second of the visit in excruciating detail. Every. Single. Detail. In a monotone voice, Gilly told them how many cookies were eaten, every detail that was discussed even of the small talk. She told them how many times Sansa paced, sat down or drank her tea. Gilly told them how many actions each of them made in a near hypnotic factual testimonial.

The only time that Gilly became animated was when she discussed her sisters. She had explained that Sansa pulled a joke by calling her sisters. "I admit it is entirely my fault for allowing her to touch my phone, Sirs. I am prepared for any punishment deserved for such a thing, of course. But she had already called, Kevan had never forbid me from calling. So I spoke with my sisters."

With a tiny smile growing on her face and slightest softening of her tone, Gilly told them every detail of the phone call. She told them of everything said, on her end and her sisters. Which meant Harold sat there, leaning back now, just staring at Gilly as she continued on at great length about adventures of invisible toads.

Bob had also stopped trying to discomfort Gilly, he was soothing himself by running his hands over the lovely sensation of servant leather. By the time Gilly had told everything, both men were defeated this time and knew it. Harold had one last question, one last try for this dreadful evening.

"You said your sisters wanted you to live with them. That Lancel might ask Kevan if you can go and you told them no rather vigorously. I understand that Kevan is a wonderful employer. But you could have gone to luxury. To be with your beloved sisters, reunited forever. Why did you wish to stay here, in this house, locked on these grounds instead?"

"I spent my nightmare of a life with my sisters, every day, every night, watching the horrors done to them, done to me. I don't want to live with them and see that instead of their happy new faces. Even at home, I was always trying to be left alone. I have that here, a good safe place that lets me have my simple comforts, an orderly quiet life. Maybe that will change one day, but I don't think so. And Kevan is who saved me, he has saved my sisters before his son helped them. My loyalty is to Kevan, I have no urge to leave his service. It would be nice to talk to my sisters on the phone or maybe a visit someday, but that is all. And only if Kevan allowed it."

Gilly gave them an inquiring look. "Shall I prepare myself for a punishment over letting a student touch my phone?" Bob and Harold tilted their heads slightly. In a pleasant voice, Harold asked, "How would you prepare yourself for a punishment?"

Shrugging, Gilly let out a loud sigh then said in a heavy but still far too calm voice, "Well, I have dusted your closest, Sirs. I would rather not stain my clothing with rare oils and blood if possible. Whether its the toy closet, the oils closet or the weapons closet, it's bound to be destructive to my uniform and it pleases Kevan that my appearance is perfect. Also, since I must clean the closet rugs, I would beg you to put the plastic sheeting down. I am assuming I will be injured and it will be harder for me to clean any stains from the carpet or woodwork."

With a sudden lurch both twins left the couch and Harold threw his hands up in the air.

"Thank you so very much for all your detailed help. Thank you for your flawless service and loyalty to Kevan. You are dismissed from this room! I hope you have a wonderful evening full of rainbows and lollipops and dancing fairies! Because you, my dear, have become our unicorn! The fabled perfect servant and there is no punishment for letting someone like Sansa play a trick on you. I wish you would let us play a trick on you. Would you? Would you let us play any games at all with you, Gilly? Truth or dare, do you like that game?"

Gilly finally became concerned and she asked in a very careful tone, "Harold, are you quite alright? You are sweating and seem very upset. Are you feeling well? Shall I get Unella or Raff for you, Sir? Would you like some ice water or some soothing tea?" Bob suddenly grabbed Harold, who had started to shake then nearly tip toe towards Gilly.

When Bob held onto him, Harold looked at him and whispered in a hoarse voice, "She offered me tea. To soothe me. Tea to soothe me, Bob." Bob gave a strained smile to Gilly. "We are done here. No further discussions or games needed. Good night, dear girl and thank you again for your assistance today." Gilly nodded and bid them both a very polite goodnight. As she left, shutting the door behind her, Gilly released the kill shot.

"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me tonight, I really needed to get all that off my chest. It's nice to know that you are both available to talk if I need it. Harold, I hope you feel better, Sir. I'll bring you a special blend of tea tomorrow morning with your breakfast. It's excellent for high strung nerves."

Gilly heard Harold slam hard against the door as she closed it and wondered if Bob would manage to lock the door in time. Regardless, her back was straight, her steps calm and measured as she headed for her room without a look backwards.

Jeyne and Myranda cheered as the punishments commenced along with Loras, Sansa and Damon. Not a shred of sympathy was had. Joff had been dumped in the center of the circle and woken by a bucket of ice water. As soon as Joff roused, Tyrion began to slap him until Joff's face was red and he was sniveling.

"I have had it with you, nephew! You do not want to learn, you do not want to improve yourself, you want to cause chaos, blood, death and destruction! That boy never did anything to you! That cook is worth twenty of you and is more important than you ever have been. He at least has a talent, a goal and a brain rattling around in his head!"

Joff tried to defend himself, his own pedigree, but Tyrion was not listening to anything Joff had to say. "If you wish to continue to act like a spoiled little brat, like a little boy following a bully around to help him pull wings off flies, then I shall treat you like one."

With Stannis's extreme eager to help attitude, it didn't take them long to pull Joff's pants down to show his white buttocks to all. Tyrion sat on a stool and Stannis held the boy down so he was ass up over his uncle's lap. Gregor offered Tyrion the chose of several tools for spanking that made the students all shudder a little. Tyrion chose a large wooden paddle with holes driven into it for maximum impact. He might be small, but Tyrion's anger was large and he wielded the wood without mercy until his arm and body gave out.

Stannis was a good friend and had no problem grabbing the paddle and continuing the blows for his fellow professor. Joff screamed and kicked while Stannis grimly took out all his upsets upon the purple swollen buttocks. Tyrion didn't call a halt to the savage paddling until he saw the very first hint of blood beading on the bruised skin. As Joff was thrown to the dirt, Tyrion stood up and stared down without any mercy at his nephew.

"Now, since you love to make others feel bullied, made to feel bad about themselves, let's have you try it out! Princess is what Polliver calls you and it's true. You act like a fucking little princess and as luck would have it, guess what we found in our old drama closet!"

Joff screamed in outrage at the sight of the flouncy, glittery princess dress that hung like a bell all the way to the ground. Stannis waved the twinkling dainty tiara and fake pearl necklace at him. It took Gregor mere moments to rip Joff's clothing off and stuff him inside the many layers of dress. He held the boy still while Stannis put the tiara and necklace on him. Tyrion smiled as the students all cracked up and Joff's face became a picture of humiliation.

"Now, you will wear this anytime you are not asleep or told to remove it by a staff member. For two weeks. And if you take if off, I'm going to paddle your ass again wherever you are. I will leave instructions that any staff seeing you removing this dress can start the bare ass spanking until I get there."

"Wake up, sweet little duckling. Come back to me, precious. Ah, there you are, Ramsay! Hello there, Death Row, go on, wake up, take a second. Here, have a little water, I'll hold your head up for you." Ramsay wanted badly to spit the water into Polliver's face but his mouth and throat were way too dry. Plus, it wasn't real water, it was a sponge in his mouth, moistening it.

Polliver's hand gently made sure that Ramsay's head and neck were supported back down to the hospital bed. No, that wasn't right either. Frowning, Ramsay looked around and saw it was the surgery room. Trying to move, Ramsay started to panic, seeing he was restrained with tubes running out of his arm. He screamed when he couldn't move any of his limbs but he wasn't restrained. Polliver came over and gave him a kind smile and stroked Ramsay's hair.

"Don't panic, hush, little duckling, the fun hasn't even started yet. We aren't even at the punishment part yet. Now listen, you have been given a paralytic. You can feel everything but you can't move. It's for your safety, bumpkin. Raff has been kind enough to offer his services while I delivered a lesson to you. This surgery room is where you made Hot Pie have to go. So I only figure it's fair that if he has to have a little surgery visit, then so should you. Don't worry, I am not a medical professional, but Raff is. He can guide me along!"

Ramsay felt his first spark of true fear at a punishment and started to growl. Polliver's fist crashed into Ramsay's face then he yanked the boy's head up until their noses touched.

"Your father let his favorite son die rather than deal with his family issues. Your father allowed his daughter to become feral then dumped her here to rot forever. Your father let Damon become a special needs joke and he let you become a rabid bitch then he dumped both of you here. Your father isn't going to stop anything. He isn't going to avenge you, save you or give a shit as long as you never can embarrass him again. Get that through your head. Or are you starting to buy your own line of bullshit that you sell Princess? Huh? Do you feel entitled because of your name? Didn't I tell you that didn't matter in here? Do you think if you cause enough destruction here that Daddy will come get you? Or that Kevan will give in and let you leave? Oh, sweet wayward duckling, that isn't how it works."

Letting Ramsay choke a little on his own blood and ire, Polliver explained patiently. "I am becoming concerned about your health, boy. All these recent outbursts might not just be mental. It might be a physical cause and Unella is very busy caring for your victim. MY BOY. So, I am going to help out and perform some small procedures to check on your internal health. Now, what were the names of the tests again, Raff?" With a sweet smile, Raff sang out, "Colonoscopy, Endoscopy and as long as you are not moving, as long as your body is relaxed, pain medication isn't required."

Polliver smiled.

"Don't worry, I use lots of lube when I stuff my bitches. And after this, Raff promised to show me how to see all your different parts light up! It's a dye that burns the fuck out of you but let's us have a little Inside of Ramsay show! I really need you to understand, boy. I need you to understand that there is no fucking end to what we can do to you here. If you ever touch Hot Pie again, I am going to make this seem like a hand job and soft words. I hate it when people fuck with MY things, it's fucking rude. And Hot Pie, he is MINE, do you understand that, Death Row? Am I getting through to you yet? Don't worry, it's alright. I'll be going right through you in just a second."

Hot Pie dreamed that Ramsay was being roasted on a spitfire, screaming, squealing like a stuck pig. Ramsay screamed then gurgled, choking on his own pain and screams as the cook shoved an apple deep into his mouth, halfway down his throat. With a slight smile, Hot Pie slept a healing sleep.

Kevan decided since it was so late, to just bring both children into his office together. Theon and Arya had looked worried when Kevan asked them to follow him up to the house. His most reassuring smile only increased their nervousness and they were sitting on the chairs as if sitting on lit dynamite. He was careful to sit on his desk just before them, his face sympathetic, ready with a hanky for the girl and soothing words for the boy. The hanky wasn't needed as both children simply sat there, pale and numb.

Kevan apologized for their losses and told them the rest of it all. Then he just held the hanky in his hand as he stared blankly at the two children. "Could you two please repeat what you've each just said? I am afraid if you both talk at the same time I cannot understand you. One at a time, repeat what you've each said."

"If you let my Uncle Euron have me, I 'm going to kill myself and I'll do it while I am still on your property." "No. I won't marry Joff and I won't even pretend to be engaged to him. I'd rather let my mother try and kidnap or kill me."

Twirling the pen between his knuckles as the hanky fell gracefully to the floor, Kevan nodded, smiling. "That's what I thought you both had said."  


	60. Written In Skin

Bob had been patting Harold's back as the poor man was trying to calm himself down. Harold was despondent, he was shook to his core and Bob wasn't doing much better. They have never suffered such a failure before, never have they had any servant simply not spook. Even the most faithful of servants would snap under the fear and therefore allow the twins to find a way or reason to kill them.

"I already ordered the ottoman. I was sure, so sure that we would have her skin." Harold had muttered into his hands.

Bob sighed and reassured in a soft voice, "We already stretched and cured that last cook and the guy we found near Craster's hotel. It will be plenty of skin for the ottoman. This is something I have never said before, but I will say it. We need to not murder this one. Kevan likes her and she truly is loyal. We have searched her room countless times, spied on her until our eyes bled! I don't know about you but I cannot stomach further interrogations with Gilly. We have lost on this one and all it would lead to is angering Kevan. We simply must find other targets."

Harold looked up, despair lining his face and asked in a small voice, "Maybe we just lost our mojo? Are we sure it's her and not us? Myranda did dare to kill a man in front of us. Maybe we have gone soft and not seen it?" Bob scoffed and stood up, giving Harold an insulted look.

"That wasn't very nice and I'll have you know, I have not lost my mojo! That Gilly isn't a person! I don't know what she is, but she isn't normal. Sansa was nearly climbing the wall to keep from touching you! And you know damned well that Myranda only killed Craster because we pushed her too hard. Myranda is fearful and respectful, she would obey any order we gave her! There isn't anyone in this entire place besides Kevan and the Gilly that doesn't quiver in fear from us!"

Tossing himself across the couch to lay flat and stare at the ceiling, Harold mused. "We haven't seen our sweet girl in some time, a few weeks now. We should do more than just read the dry weekly reports from staff. We should personally check in with Myranda. She might be missing us, a whole month off is maybe too much independence." Bob smiled. "Well, Unella did say that Myranda had healed quite well. We should brush up on her training before she does have any clients, she might have gotten rusty."

A sweet smile grew on Harold's face and his voice was lighter, making Bob feel better as well. "Our lovely girl would never treat us like the Gilly has. No one else would. And the way things are going down the hill, a rare chance for student skin might appear! It's been so long since that has happened, since we got to kill a student. But the way that Bolton boy is going, I think we might get to keep that one. What a skin that would be! I would rather have high class killer skin on my furniture than that of some low class servant that cannot properly respond! Finally to have a skin that matches our best work!"

Bob nodded and spread his arms. "I heartily agree! I personally don't think I would wish to sit on Gilly skin, too rough and unyielding! So let her enjoy cooking, cleaning and keeping the household happy. Besides, Gilly is truly the only servant that has ever cleaned our rooms so properly. All the other servants were too nervous to give the correct attention to details. Perhaps having a servant that isn't born with trembling hands and doesn't flinch from good service is just unique, we can and should adjust to it. Why shouldn't we allow ourselves the luxury of having someone to see to our items properly?"

Harold sat up and took a deep breath, feeling much better. A buzzing sound from both their cell phones brought a delightful gasp to Harold's lips. "Kevan needs help with two students!"  The text from Kevan was like manna from heaven. Harold ran so fast with such eagerness that Bob swore the man's feet never touched the stairs.  

Kevan looked levelly at the two scared, rebellious teenagers and gave them a very stern frown. "Well, that was not what I was hoping to hear from either of you. But what's said is said, correct? And must be responded to."

He twirled his pen then smirked when the door burst open and his men entered. Theon and Arya jumped and ran to the other side of the room from Harold and Bob. Kevan smiled at Harold and Bob, wondering why they seemed so energized. "I am afraid that our young Theon is feeling suicidal. He is afraid of his uncle, it has spurred a panicked reaction perhaps, but just in case, he may need a twenty four hour watch. Please take care of him for me, will you? Don't worry, Theon, my men can keep you quite safe until Unella and Raff have time to asses you. Take him."  

Theon screamed and tried to bolt as the smiling men came for him. Arya watched in horror as they simply lifted him between them and ran out the door, slamming it behind them. Kevan blinked and stared for a moment, before he collected himself.

Walking around the room, fiddling with his pen, Kevan watched with amusement as Arya kept out of reach. "I am sorry that seemed so abrupt and traumatic, young lady. As the director of a school, I must take all suicide threats very seriously. Do not worry, Theon will be fine." Arya let out a quick bitter laugh. "Fine? No one here is fine. Are you going to sell him to his molesting uncle? It's clear that is what Theon is so scared of!"

Kevan raised an eyebrow. "How concerned you are for him. I have no intention of letting Theon's uncle near him. It's not even an option. However, the boy gave me no time to tell him that before he issued his threat. Panic and rash decisions made him say such a thing, I am sure. Tell me, do you think it was rash thinking that made you say no to a wedding with Joff?" Arya shook her head and kept her eyes on that damned golden pen, trying hard to keep heading towards the door. Somehow, Kevan always managed to be in her way.

"No. I meant it. I won't marry that monster." Kevan gave her a sad sympathetic face. "I know it's distasteful, he isn't a very good person. I hope to change that by the time he is eighteen. But your sister will be marrying my son Lancel tomorrow in a very fast ceremony. And you will be signing an engagement contract. If you are truly against Joff, there is always Tyrion or his brother Jaime?" Arya's face screwed up into a mask of disgust. "Two men old enough to be my father or a sadistic monster. How do you sleep at night, Sir?" 

Kevan watched as Arya saw her opening and ran for the door. With a small airy movement of his hand, with no more than a gentle smile upon his face, he threw the pen. She yelped as she saw the sharp blade pin her hand to the door. "You are very lucky, dear. I have several of these pens, I just adore them and some of them are poison tipped. Lucky for you, this one isn't. I am sorry you are in some discomfort but I am tired of chasing children around tonight. This way at least I am assured you are in one place and listening."  

A smile and in an almost playful tone, Kevan spoke as he adjusted the sleeves on his suit. "When I was young, I was a dart champion. I was also excellent at archery. You are lucky I am so good at it. If you squirm too much, you might cause permanent damage to your hand. I caught it perfectly, if you are still and it's pulled out correctly, you'll have no problem using your hand again."

With slow calm precision, Kevan walked over to the squirming girl and stared down at her. Hands behind his back, Kevan leaned forward slightly as Arya pressed her back into the door, her hand pinned firmly. "You keep thinking you have choices that you don't. I wasn't asking you to marry Joff, dear, I was ordering it. I was being very kind by offering my nephews instead. Rude objections and attempting to run away are not acceptable responses." Arya stared with defiance, even as her eyes blurred with tears and there was hitch in her voice from pain.

"I won't do it. I will starve myself, I will run away, I will attempt to kill Joff if I have to. I am not Sansa, I am not like my family. I won't suffer over their stupid wars!"

Kevan smiled and pulled out his phone. "Oh, such dramatic passion! You really should see Tyrion about one of his random plays, both Stark girls as his lead ladies. Sansa can sing and you can pull the dramatic lines. Wonderful. Now, you are going to be engaged to Joff, you are going to see that contract done tonight. Excuse me for one moment, Arya." He spoke into his phone with a smile to the pale girl stuck to his door.

"Hello, Sandor? Would you and Sansa please come to my office? The poor girl is probably asleep, she can just wear her bathrobe, no need to stand on ceremony this late at night. Oh, knock and then open the door to my office extremely carefully. Yes. Very carefully, you see, Arya is skewered to my door and we don't wish to injure her hand. No, no need to bring the nurse or doctor. They can tend to her later."

Arya waited until Kevan hung up the call then got her practiced words out of her head. "My mother is the scariest person I know. If I can survive her raising me, I can take any torture you want to dish out. But don't you dare hurt Sansa because I said no! It's not fair, she behaves, she will do what you want her to." Kevan sighed and gave Arya a look of disapproval. His voice became stiff and formal.

"My dear young lady, I am insulted that you assume I would injure your sister in order in gain your compliance. It also shows how young and ignorant you are. To think you are valued high enough for me to risk hurting Sansa over. I also have no intention of torturing you, there is no need for such things, little girl." 

There are many rooms to Kevan's house and many levels that would take anyone quite some time to find. Theon found himself in a padded, white cube of a room with the two most terrifying men in the entire school. They dragged him inside then released him but didn't leave. No, they shut and locked themselves in and began to stalk him. Theon was sobbing, his body hunched, scrambling to stay out of their reach. "Please! I'm sorry! I don't feel like dying anymore, please, stop, don't touch me!"

With a brilliant smile that went all way up to his mirrored glasses, Harold purred, "When a student is put on suicide watch, we must take their clothing and possessions. We can't risk you hurting yourself with your clothing, young man. Just stay still and be a good boy while we help you strip." Theon shook his head frantically, nearly pirouetting to keep them at bay. "I will do it myself then! I can take off my clothes and hand them to you, okay?"

Bob giggled in a high pitched voice and playfully responded, "Silly boy. We must assist you, you might try and hurt yourself with your clothing before we could stop you. Mustn't be so shoddy in our care that we would allow you to injure yourself." Theon hyperventilated and he knew they were playing with him. He was terrified for the pounce that was coming. When it came, he screamed and thrashed but it did him no good.

Once his clothing was in a pitiful heap near the door, the men released Theon once more. They were moving back to survey what they've found and it held them breathless for a moment. Theon shook and whimpered, holding his hands over his groin, backing away from the twin steel gazes. Bob's voice was soft and like a lullaby.

"Poor lad, what have you done to all that lovely skin? How did the staff not notice all this self mutilation? Do you know, our sweet Myranda used to self cut and we helped her end that. It's a horrid habit and we simply cannot abide such a thing. It took us longer to fix her skin then it did to fix her cutting herself. Don't despair, needy boy, Harold and Bob will help you. Myranda won't mind sharing her mentors with another student."

Theon burst into tears and flushed red. "I'm sorry, I can't help it. Is that why Myranda wanted to help me? She saw me, she offered to help me if I wanted her to but I told her to fuck off. I thought maybe she was playing a joke or going to try and bribe me or something." Harold and Bob both smiled so happily that Theon started to pant again.

"Calm down, young man. We do not believe you wish to kill yourself, just hurt yourself. That is a much better cure than the suicide watch. Now, did you invoke the name of our sweet Myranda? We have missed her all these weeks. Did you say she saw your injuries and offered to help you?"

He nodded and Harold grinned at Bob. "Myranda didn't tell any staff about Theon's dangerous habit. We should ask her why. It's late, she is probably asleep. We could be kind and wait until tomorrow?" Fumbling in his haste, Bob took out his phone and texted Polliver to bring Myranda to the house. Harold gave Theon a kind smile and the two of them began to corner the boy.

"We are having Myranda come for a visit. Do not look so scared, sweet tender boy, we won't bite you. This room is for those who wish to die. That isn't you, let us bring you to a room for those who wish to hurt."  

Ramsay sat in the wheelchair, clutching hard as he could at the armrests. He could still barely move his legs and his fingers were too numb to undo the waist strap that held him place. Polliver had a fine time dumping Ramsay into the wheelchair and heading back to the dorm. He allowed the chair to fly down the hill without him, calling out, "Whoops, sorry! Don't worry, I'm on my way!" Just before the chair would crash into a tree or topple, Polliver would grab the handles. 

Polliver stopped playing around, yawning and then stopped rolling Ramsay to stare at Sandor and Sansa heading towards him. "Out with Oscar for a moonlit stroll?" Sandor shook his head and growled out, "Kevan called us to the house. Arya is skewered to the door." Chuckling, Polliver started past them. "Damn, mentoring isn't all that easy, is it?" Sandor told Polliver to fuck off and stomped past him, Sansa's robe fluttered in the breeze, her hair messy around her worried face. 

Ramsay and Sansa looked at each other but nothing was said.

Myranda had just fallen asleep when a baton tapped upon her door. "Wake up, sweetums! Harold and Bob just rang the whore bell."


	61. Sink Sank Sunk

Polliver was half asleep and getting cranky as he led Myranda up towards Kevan's house. "I hope to hell they take you back on their own, I am dead fucking tired. I would love to inform those creepy motherfuckers that I am not a pimp. If they want their whore, they can damned well get their pussy themselves." Myranda was nervous as she saw the house with several lit windows looming ahead. "It's really late for so much light on there."

Nodding, Polliver muttered as he shoved her forward, her nightgown flying around her.

"Yup, Kevan is pulling some serious overtime tonight. He has Target skewered to his door, Sandor and Oscar were summoned while I was wheeling Death Row back to his room." Myranda winced. "Skewered? Damn, she tried to outrun the pen, didn't she? Or was she dumb enough to try and hit Kevan?" "Don't know, don't care. What did you do that I am being forced to drag you in your nightie to see Mr and Mr Sunglasses?"

Shrugging, she nervously started up the porch steps. "I really don't know. I mean, none of you said anything to them about my tiff with the boys. I haven't done anything bad since then. Maybe they decided I need a little refresher course on a night of insomnia or something? I can hope, at least. Did they say where in the house I am meeting them?" Polliver grinned. "Yup. They said for you to just head inside and go their suite."

 Myranda took a deep breath and entered the house. She could hear voices in Kevan's study but didn't pause to investigate. Her steps were slow but steady, chin up and soul screaming curses her mouth cannot utter. It was good to have the time off and she resented it ending. But more than that was her steady fear and resentful anger building within her. If Harold or Bob saw that in her face or if Myranda snapped again, daring to be so bold faced disrespectful?

This last punishment has healed but as she moves towards the door to their suite it comes back in terrible detail. Myranda knows that her mentors are capable of so much worse and she has no urge to feel it. She reminds herself how to act, coaches herself the way they coached her and knocks upon the door. Plastering a smile on her face, Myranda tried to pull her sassy, clever whore personality around her like the hardened armor it has always been.

Harold threw the door open and instantly Myranda felt her armor cracking around her. He was giving the most loving affectionate smile, as if he truly missed her. A shriek resounded through her head as he enveloped her in hug. Myranda put her arms tight against her chest, but pressed her head into his chest, a submissive gesture. This was dangerous, he was extra dangerous and Myranda didn't know why. She couldn't understand what she has done to make Harold so excited. Somehow it was worse to know that the twins actually did miss her and have affection for their charge.

"Sweet girl! We have missed you so much, it's been far too long. Please, come in, Myranda, come in! My dear, I am so sorry to be so rude as to drag you out of your beauty sleep! But honey, I have missed seeing you and we are concerned for you. Concerned that you might be needing our guidance even if you weren't quite ready to return to work. Which I know you are yearning to do, to show us that our discipline and love has given you greater incentive to prove your worth to us."

Harold shut the door with one hand and spun Myranda with the other. Bob caught her in another smothering hug before he smiled down at her, too wide, too hungry. "Sweet dearest girl, it has been far too long since we've seen you. We are at fault for that. I promise for now on we shall keep a better eye upon our lovely Myranda. A student needs their mentors to be an active part of their lives, else they might stray or forget lessons. Like making sure not to keep secrets that aren't their own to keep."

Bob moved so that he and Harold were on either side of Myranda, just a bit in front of her so they could see her reaction. Myranda turned pale upon seeing Theon. He was naked, shuddering, curled on the leather couch. Any skin not covered in self mutilation was goose flesh and Theon seemed to try and leave the couch without actually doing so. With a sniff, Theon spoke in a very tiny voice.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to get you into trouble. I just mentioned that you saw my cuts and offered to help. Arya just freaked out before agreeing to shut up, you offered to actually help and now you are in trouble." Harold and Bob shared a glance then Bob made a quick text to Kevan.

Myranda swallowed hard and tried to not panic. Harold tilted his head and took one step towards Myranda, his voice soft and loving. "I thought during our last session together we discussed keeping anymore secrets from staff? Sweet girl, did we fail you again, leaving you alone to become wayward?"

Myranda lost her sassy whore, her shields shattered into a million pieces. Fear and instinct as deep as the alleyways she was born to, she fell to her knees and pleaded for Harold and Bob to allow her to explain. Harold raised his arms out and smiled with full triumph at Bob then pointed at Myranda. "Now see, that is what I am talking about! Proper fear and respect!" Bob heartily agreed while two cowering pale teenagers wondered if the men had gone mad.

Arya would have been embarrassed about her situation if she weren't so concerned for her hand.

She had to carefully move with the door so Sandor and Sansa could squeeze in. Then Kevan gently guided her to shut the door again. Sansa looked at Arya's hand and then asked what Arya felt was the most incredibly stupid question. "Oh, Arya, what did you do to yourself?" Sandor grunted while giving the least sympathetic look anyone pinned to a door ever received. "I bet she opened her big mouth."

Kevan gave a sad smile to Sansa and Sandor. "Arya refuses to sign the contract and become engaged to Joff. She has offered to starve herself, run away, even kill my great nephew if need be. So. My darling Sansa, the contract for the engagement is on my desk. Please attach it to a clipboard and bring it here to me. Thank you." While Sansa did as she was bid and Sandor glared at Arya, who glared back, Kevan searched his pockets. "Ah ha! Here was the poisoned pen. This one writes better."

Sansa came over to Kevan and handed him the clipboard with the contract. Kevan took it with a polite thank you and showed it to Arya. "This is the contract that will solidify your engagement to Joff. Do you still say you won't sign this and comply with my orders?" In spite of glares from both Sandor and Sansa, Aray gritted out, "No, I won't sign or comply. I refuse to engage or marry Joff." 

Kevan gave her a smirk and his eyes grew warmer then his face just filled with a sunny charm despite the dark hour. "Sansa, my lovely child, please do me a favor. See where your sister must sign her name? Please forge it for me." He held out the pen and after the slightest hesitation, she took it carefully. "Do not worry, you cannot accidentally poison yourself."

Any seeming hesitations were vanished and Sansa held the golden pen with a look of fascination that no one missed.  Without even a glance of shame or remorse, the redhead wrote Arya's name in her exact bold faced impatient scrawl. "Thank you, Sansa. Now, on the bottom please add your mother's name in Cat's rather interesting bird scratching."

Arya felt tears come trickling like small lines of acid as she watched her sister betray her. Putting the signed contract closer to Arya, Kevan smiled. "Does that look realistic enough to you, Arya? Now you are engaged to Joff. Congratulations, dear. If you notice his name is already there, he didn't want to but Tyrion was able to compel Joff to sign quickly enough."

Kevan put the contract on his desk and walked back towards Arya and his voice was rich, slow and deep.

"You will starve yourself? Be my guest, little girl. Unella and Raff will use a feeding tube every day until you are eating full meals. You will try and run away? Go for it, Arya. Run as far and as fast as you can. There is a tracker in every student. We always will find you, drag you back and punish you severely for it. You will try and kill Joff if you must? Well then if my great nephew ever dies, we shall know exactly who is to blame. And that is crime you don't want to ever enter my circle for."

He was standing directly in front of the sobbing, defeated looking girl. "Take some time to speak with your sister soon. You could use her wise counsel. Start making better use of your mentor-ship, girl. This attitude, this rebellion sets you and Sandor back for this month's report I can assure you of that. Sandor, I suggest that after Arya gets her hand treated by Unella, you might wish to discipline her for such disrespect for her elders."

Kevan swiftly pulled the pen out of her hand without warning. Arya screeched and before she could twitch, he had her hand bound up in his pristine white silk hanky. "There, that should be fine. Oh, excuse me a moment, dear." He read his text and frowned deeply.

"Arya, it seems I might have pulled that pen out too soon. Theon has told Harold and Bob that you knew of his self mutilation? Is this true? I am relieved the boy truly doesn't wish to kill himself, but self mutilation is a very serious condition. You simply cannot tell me you don't know about cutting? Did you deliberately keep such a dangerous secret, something that could truly hurt or kill this poor boy?Are you going to try and tell me that you didn't understand what Theon was doing?  Shall you try that lie with me?"

Then the unexpected happened and Kevan was simply intrigued at every new twist with this delightful girl. Sansa moved gracefully but fast to stand next to her injured sister. This prompted Sandor to go Arya's other side and Kevan smiled. "Well, what is this? Do I call this mutiny or a sister and mentor protecting their charge?"

Sansa's voice was respectful but firm.

"No, Sir. I would never do such a thing. You are my mentor, I can't challenge you, you know far too much that I still need to learn. But I need to defend my sister this time. As you said, yes, in our social circles we saw cutting behavior all the time. We also saw eating disorders, suicidal behavior and addictions. And there wasn't any real help for it, the situations never changed and so the kids couldn't change. We all learned at our mother's knee that things you cannot control or change are best to be left alone. Sir, you know my mother and how she raised us. Arya only did exactly what we were trained to do. I will admit that if I had been in her position, I would have done the very same thing."  

Kevan sighed heavily and nodded. "Very well. I do recall what it's like to grow up within our circles. But old habits must be broken. Sandor, I shall leave any further discipline to you. Make sure that Arya understands what secrets we keep and what we tell. I just went through this with Jeyne not long ago. Children should watch and learn from each other's examples. Remember that, Arya. Now, we have a wedding tomorrow, a very busy day. Have a good evening, you are all dismissed."

The whole time that Harold and Bob relieved Myranda of her nightgown, attached the shock collar and the butterfly clip with a similar shocking charge to her clitoris, they both gave her sympathetic nods as she babbled her explanations. Both men gave every indication that they were hanging on her every word but their hands have already decided on going with guilt before innocence.

Once Myranda was properly attached, Bob and Harold let her remain on her knees as they towered over her. Harold toyed with the remote control in his hand, caressing the buttons with his thumb. With a tender smile and a calm reasonable voice full of sunshine and friendship, Bob spoke.

"Let's examine what you've said, sweet girl. Don't shake so hard, Myranda. It's not like that last time where you were shocked into those seizures. The current isn't that high, sweetheart. These aren't like our special toys, you've felt this many times before. It is silly to be so scared over something familiar, isn't it? Now, you wanted to test out Theon a little for yourself to see if our methods might help him. You wished to help him because you know what it feels like to be a cutter. You planned on bringing your information on Theon to us when we saw you next. You were going to tell of us both his cutting behavior and the results of your attempt to assist him. A gift for us and for Theon. You were helping us get another student to mentor, hoping it will please us and save the boy's lovely skin. I think that is pretty much what you've just babbled at us."

Harold looked over at Bob as if giving it all great consideration. "I believe our whore has a heart of gold. It's one of her best and worst qualities. Of course our girl would want to help a fellow cutter. Just like she wanted to help little girls stay safe from molesting daddies. I also believe that our sweet girl was affected by her mistakes and wishes to make it up to us. I do love gifts and gifts from the teacher's pet are always heartwarming. All of that is easily forgivable, I don't see where Myranda overstepped too much. It was all for the greater good, Bob. What do you think?"

Bob cupped his hand in his chin and took a moment to reflect while Harold patiently caressed the button on the remote. "I agree with everything you've just said, Harold. I am pleased that our girl is helpful, I am truly touched at the present we were being given. But Myranda should have told us right away that Theon needed our help. She waited because she thought to try her hand at helping him first. That means that Myranda was trying to counsel Theon, doesn't it? Myranda, are you a student or a therapist?"

Myranda shuddered and whimpered out, "A student, Sir." Harold and Bob smiled. "The present is lovely though and we thank you for it. And you are forgiven because we love you so much. But you are not a therapist and it was wrong not to tell us right away. Right? Right." Harold never lost his loving expression as his thumb came down hard on the button. Theon screamed from the couch as Myranda writhed on the floor, her legs spasming as her neck and tender bits below all took a lightening ride. Bob looked over at the boy and gave a chilling smile.

"Don't worry, lad. We haven't forgotten about you. But Myranda is our favorite, sweet girl and deserves our fullest attention and devotion. And we have to thank her for the lovely gift after we have this mild chastising. But then our attentions will be completely focused upon you. If you wish, take a little nap on the couch, you won't be going back to the dorm tonight or for a few nights, perhaps. So get a little rest while you can, sweet boy." 

Theon shut his eyes tightly and curled up on the loathsome leather but there was no sleeping or resting. He listened to Myranda's choking and her feet pattering a beat on the rug as her next shock came. Then the girl was sobbing and pleading for forgiveness. He tensed, waiting to hear more agony but it didn't happen. A tentative peek showed him a whole new scene and it was just as disturbing as the torture was.

Bob and Harold were on the floor now, pulling up the sobbing whore so she was on their laps, Myranda was cuddling into them, embracing the simple affection. Theon watched as Myranda went from hardened teen whore, to tortured teen girl, to small child desperate for any true love or caring. While Myranda cried softly, the two men kissed her head, hugged her and spoke in soft, soothing tones. They called her their good girl, thanked her for the lovely present of Theon.

Harold removed the collar and nuzzled her neck, he removed the other device and used his hand to soothe the soreness. Myranda cried out and shivered but didn't try to stop him. Bob stroked his hands over the soft white skin of his girl and praised her for letting her body and head relax against him. Theon shut his eyes tightly again but he couldn't ignore the sounds.

Myranda sobbed softly at their soft words that Theon immediately recognized as grooming. It was what they all said Ramsay was going to do to him. Stupid fucks, he WANTED Ramsay to do that to him, to make him a mindless pain zombie. The first time Theon understood what grooming was he was still a child and seeing a school therapist. Theon had trusted, made the mistake of trusting that adult and told about his Uncle Euron.

Stupid betraying therapist had contacted the authorities. Balon almost beat him half to death after having to grovel to his betters in order to keep custody of his son. But Theon heard and understood the meaning of grooming. Theon just envisions something buried deep inside him, all he has to do is SEE Euron, HEAR that silly deadly voice and he will be taken like a zombie. Theon is sure of it. He has lived with this thought since he was that stupid trusting child.

Myranda's voice started to give responses, honest ripped up painful jagged replies to the sweetly put questions. "Yes, I am your good girl, I WANT to be your very good special girl! Please, I DO love you both, I have nothing else but you, I know that, I KNOW that! I just want to make you happy, please don't ever give up on me, please! I I am proud to be teacher's pet! Yes, I do, I swear it, I DO! I love you and Bob! I'll always be your good girl!" 

A few more moments and her breathing went quicker, the sobs became panting and then Theon heard Myranda start to whine and beg. For mercy, for release, for affection, for pleasure. Bob and Harold chuckled softly, encouraging Myranda to accept their generous gift of affection and Theon felt so horrible for her. He never thought beyond what she looked like. It never occurred to him that a tough, sexy whore like Myranda might be just as broken and fucked up on the inside as himself.

Myranda screamed in a mix of pleasure and frustration as the two men sounded playful and chided her for being so needy and desperate. She apologized frantically and Theon just prayed they would both leave her alone and stay with her forever. One one hand, he hated having to feel these pitiful emotions for Myranda's suffering but he also didn't want the creepy men to turn their attentions onto him.

"Please, Bob, Harold, Sirs, please, now? Please? Mercy, please forgive me, I am your good girl and I love you, obey you! You are my mentors, my guardians and my masters, my trainers, please!!!!!" With very pleased and patronizing voices, Bob and Harold gave their frantic girl what she begged for. Myranda wailed so loud in pleasure finally attained that Theon's ears hurt. To his amazement, the two men somehow managed to bring the girl to orgasm four more times in quick succession.

Theon had to open his eyes and see that, of course.  When he saw the positions they were all in, how the twins were giving Myranda such powerful pleasure, Theon found himself unable to decide if he was horrified or jealous. During Myranda's recovery, her mentors cuddled her and gently teased her for her continual shaking. Harold licked Myranda's tears from her face and Bob brushed out her pretty hair with his fingers.

They gave her a gentle sponge bath then put her nightgown back on. Harold led her to the door once Myranda was steady on her feet. "Time for good girls to be in their beds. Go to sleep and dream of all the lovely things that come from being our shining star. Good night, our little Myranda. I promise we are going to spend more time with you. Sweet girl, we had no idea until tonight how much you missed us and needed us. We won't fail you in that again, I swear it. Go on, sweet girl."

The door shut behind a very subdued Myranda and the twins turned to walk towards Theon. He shook and curled tighter on the couch, watching his reflection in their mirrored glasses as they came closer. Theon felt as small and helpless as he did when Euron would find him hiding. He wondered if he was going to be tortured or groomed first. Maybe one will start grooming while the other starts the torment, either way, Theon just knew he was fucked.


	62. Cracked China Dolls

Sansa squinted as the sunlight landed directly on her face from the window. Yawning, she tried to pull her arm out from the sleeping form pressed against her. It took a moment to completely untangle herself. It was still quite early, so she simply tiptoed out of Arya's room and headed to her own still made bed.

Arya might have faced a long painful night. After leaving Kevan's house, she dared to accuse Sansa of betraying her and the whole Stark line. This prompted Sandor into backhanding her and ordering Arya to become a mute. At the clinic Unella worked on the hand, muttering how pregnant doctors need at least one hour of sleep a night or they start offering free lobotomies.

Arya started to argue with Sandor and Sansa to ignore the treatment of her hand. Even though the doctor had numbed it and gave her a pill that made things fuzzy, Arya didn't want to see it or think about it. So she distracted herself by annoying others but Sansa watched as Sandor found a perfect solution for it. The large man got a hold of Unella's surgical glue and glued Arya's lips together.

Just as Unella finished and gave instruction paper for Sandor to present to Polliver in the morning, Arya started to sob. Loud and messy. Unella became alarmed and gave the girl pen and paper. "Are you in pain? Anywhere else on your body?" Arya simply wrote down that her father was dead. Sandor rolled his eyes and moved away uneasily. Sansa's eyes filled with tears and she hugged her sister, who only fought the embrace for a moment before giving in.

The girls cried and Unella muttered about hormones and to get them out of the office. "Discipline her tomorrow, Sandor, let the girls go grieve and sleep!" Sandor hastily shoved the crying girls towards the dorms.

"Fucking women. Don't get it, don't want to. Don't think tears gets you out of trouble, girl! We will speak after the wedding crap is all over with. Hear me? There won't be classes or mentoring times, everyone has the day off to slave away on this stupid farce. And Arya, you will be helpful, you will be cheerful for your sister and you will obey orders. Or so help, I am not above doing what Tyrion did to Joff! Go cry and sleep!"

Sansa had taken Arya inside the house and it was dead silent, everyone else was asleep or at least quiet in their rooms behind closed doors. She shoved Arya into her room then followed her in. Her sister ran into the bathroom, trying to see if she can use soap and water to dissolve the glue on her lips. Sansa sighed and pulled her away. "No, I think that should stay there, it's not going to last past morning. I want to talk without you arguing with me."

She got Arya's nightgown out of the dresser and helped her change then she sat her rash little sister down on the bed. Sansa grabbed Arya's face gently but firmly, forcing them to look into each others eyes. "Listen to me very carefully. You no longer have the luxury of being a kid. Okay, hear me? I'm sorry, it sucks and it's not fair. But it's happening and you are going to happen with it or be buried under this school or wherever mother stashes your body. You think I was betraying you in Kevan's house? Idiot, I am fucking saving you, as I always have saved you. I wish I knew why I bother since you seem determined to get yourself killed!"

Arya pulled away and gave Sansa the finger, burying the rest of herself under the covers of her bed. Sansa sighed and started to head for the door. Another crack, just a small one in her porcelain statue and Sansa ran for the bed so fast that Arya screamed under closed lips. She landed hard upon her sister, punching the pillow hard on either side of Arya's head. "No, you are going to fucking listen to me. You will hear me and then if you die, if you are snatched or a thousand other fucking things at least I won't feel responsible for it. Listen to me or I swear to the gods, I'll kill you myself. I 'll smother you with your pillow and save the world the trouble!"

Sansa waited until Arya stopped struggling then spoke in a hard but soft, clear voice.

"Mother and the boys are going to be hunted and killed. We are going to be alone with fortunes that everyone wants. Mother knows this and will most likely hope to get to us before that happens. At best we would be kidnapped and sold off by mother to other men we will like even less. And if Mother thinks she cannot snatch us, she will kill us if she thinks she can. You have to believe me, you know her, you know she would rather see us dead then in the hands of Lannisters. We are in more danger from her then the Lannisters. It's only a contract, Arya, who knows what can happen to change your circumstances before you reach eighteen? Maybe you will develop a skill that is more important to Kevan than a marriage to a little creep?"

Tears came then along with sniffles and Sansa stroked her sister's hair. "I'm sorry, I know it all is so wrong. I am marrying tomorrow and it certainly isn't the way I had it planned in my head. As an Oscar, I expected a quality and stunning, dramatic wedding, instead it will be held in a school, probably wearing my damned uniform." She gave a wry smile to Arya who wasn't returning it. Sansa sighed. "I wish you'd understand why I have to do this, why you have to do this. Do you think mother will save you? Would you want her to save you, Arya? She will sell you to Walder Frey as a shiny new wife. Don't think it's below her. If she can't sell you to the highest bidder, you'll end up like Jon and Rickon. Is that what you want, to see if mother cares enough not to kill you?"

A sharp bitter laugh and Sansa's face was cold and cruel as she stared down at Arya.

"Is that it? Maybe that is it. Let me assure you, she would kill you and feel nothing but relief. When you were a baby, you cried all the time. I mean, it was awful and mother wasn't very stable at the time. She was on medication, father was always gone on jobs for the Lannisters and she had to deal with me, Robb and Bran. One night I woke up because you suddenly stopped crying and my room was next to yours. I walked into your room because I thought something seemed wrong. I was right, mother was holding your tiny face in her hand, just smothering you with one hand. Her face, I had nightmares for months over her face. She saw me and stopped, left the room. I slept in your damned nursery for another three months just in case."

Arya was in full sob now and trying to squirm away from her sister's terrible face and words that cut deep.

"I wish I could say that was the only time. I watched her lock you in closets, pull your hair, beat you worse than anyone besides Jon. You fought her so hard and I thought she would kill you. I begged father to let you live with Aunt Lysa before mother murdered you but he just patted my head and gave me a new damned doll. That was the same doll that a month later mother sent sailing into your head. When mother wouldn't stop trying to kill you, it was me that hit her and knocked her out with a pan! I was the one who called the ambulance. And while you were in the hospital getting patched up while fending off social services, I was the one who knelt on dried beans and tacks for seven hours. Then mother beat my ass, back and thighs with a riding crop until I bled and father took her weapon away."    

Sansa didn't even know she was crying out of rage and pain until she saw the drops falling onto Arya's own messy face. She grabbed her sister's head so she couldn't get away from a single word.

"Remember the night of Jon and Rickon's death? Huh? Yeah, you do, go on, try to move your head or scream, doesn't matter. Mother took the boys out for ice cream. It was a suspicious thing because she had been so mad at them the week before for trying to run away from home. And when I mentioned that to you, you chose not to go. Because you were invited too, remember? You, Jon and Rickon. They died, Arya. Died that night and you would have to. The three of you were problems and mother doesn't have time for problems, does she? And all of this shit going on, is a very big problem for her. We have become a problem, Arya. Mostly you, since mother knows you don't easily comply."

Arya was nearly hysterical and Sansa relented. After getting tissues for both of them, Sansa rubbed her sister's back as the girl wept. She had fallen asleep soothing her sister into slumber.

Sansa managed to sneak in about another fifteen minutes of dozing in her own bed before a baton tapped at her door.

 


	63. Wakey Wakey Eggs And Bakey

Kevan looked up from his meal as Gilly set a mug of restorative tea instead of coffee for Harold. Internally wincing, knowing his men well, he waited for some baiting to begin. But Harold simply smiled and thanked the girl for it. Raising an eyebrow, Kevan put down his fork after Gilly left the room.

"I simply cannot ignore how cheerful and placid you both are. Yesterday I was concerned about you skinning my one good servant. When you ran in and grabbed Theon so fast, I thought you might skin him! So that is currently my worry, gentlemen. Where is our young Theon Greyjoy? And if your response is to show me a flesh blanket, that might be your very own fates."

Bob responded in a very calm and respectful voice with a chilling truth to it.

"Sir, that boy's skin is so marred it revolts me to think of any one of our proper tastes, feeling that scarred flesh under them. We would not sit upon it, nor could we find a buyer so low as this, that we would associate with. Theon is resting upstairs. He was eager to speak last night. He told us everything about Euron Greyjoy, his father, his sister and so forth."

Harold sipped the tea and leaned back in his chair.

"The boy was molested as a young child by Euron. Uncle liked to give the boy a nice taste of his own LSD then play a messed up version of hide and seek. Except it was more like hide and rape. It continued for awhile because daddy was too busy banging his own little girl and drinking himself into a coma. The school noticed Theon's behavior change and he told a therapist all about it. Euron was kicked out of the house, Balon got others to fix it and Theon came home. Just for Balon to beat him half to death for the whole thing. He blamed the boy for his uncle's behavior. And the cutting began. What happened between Ramsay and Theon was consensual. Theon finally thought he had someone to do the cutting for him."

Bob and Kevan watched as Harold frowned, noticing he had completely finished the cup of tea. "Huh."

Trying very hard not to snicker, Bob looked at his boss. "We shall mentor Theon. It is such a personal and difficult journey to help his cutting, to have us within his head and skin. A bond is formed and we can't just let him leave with new tender flesh and no one to guide him, protect him. Unlike Myranda, Theon is a true babe in the woods, pretending to be a wolf."

Kevan harrumphed and gave a stern glance at Harold who was now sipping at his coffee but not happy about it.

"Myranda was already in the job, so to speak, when she came to my school. Theon has never engaged in such things. I would not wish to force him into such things, he was abused terribly. Euron was always a wild crazy criminal who should have died of an overdose or a bullet to his head years ago. Can Theon handle the kind of work Myranda does?"

Harold put the coffee down and slid the mug away.

"Not quite the same as Myranda, no. But he has other qualities that will appeal to men of all ages, he can tell us what is too scary for him. We will assure him that we will always keep his triggers in mind, never push too far. Regardless of what happened to him, the boy screams masochist. After Theon spoke of his past, got it all out, he raged, he sobbed and we calmed, soothed him. Only after that expulsion of filth stuck in his mind, did we attempt to test anything else. He responded quicker than Myranda ever did. The boy loves fear, he loves pain and we are carefully explaining to him that this is separate from anything in his past. That it's a normal thing for some to play, many play and we can guide him to get his needs in a safer but more exciting ways. He already understands what we wish for him to become and has agreed."

Kevan gave a tiny shiver and cleared his throat. "Very well. I want him back at the school tomorrow morning, in one full piece, gentlemen. It's best he miss the stress of a rushed wedding today. He is yours and I hope you take very good care of him. When Euron comes sniffing, I would be happy to let you two speak with him for Theon. He will not handle such a thing, you'll have to speak for him."

This brought a shining smile to both men and Kevan finished his breakfast. Bob finished his coffee before speaking in a cheerful light tone.

"Excellent! We have decided that like Sandor, we should take more of an interest in our students here. We will mentor both Theon and Myranda, not only when they need to go out for work, but in their school lives in general. If they get bad grades or bad behavior, that is also on us since we are their mentors. So, like Myranda has been doing, we shall strive to do better."

Kevan stared briefly at Bob and decided he didn't want to know whatever was running through their heads. He told himself not to respond, he didn't have the time. Yet this was one of the reasons he loved these two so much. Why Cat had been interesting, why Jeyne was interesting, why Sansa was interesting. Kevan loved unique, curious people.

"Gentlemen, let me tell you what visions come to mind when you say you will have more active participation with your students during school hours. I am picturing Harold's head peeking over a bush, into Tyrion's history room. I see the sun glinting off Bob's glasses as he hides in a tree while Myranda and Theon have gym below."

The men just chuckled and smiled wider. Kevan shook his head and gave them an affectionate grin before noticing his text messages.

"Ah, excuse me, it looks like our busy day shall begin! Lancel says he will be here in about an hour, please make sure to escort him to me directly! Oh, Cat Stark wishes to visit and see her daughters! How convenient and fun that would be! Hmmm. Well, I think we can let Cat wait until tomorrow, we have a very busy day and interruptions just aren't needed. I have already found a more than eager relative of the girls to walk our lovely Sansa down the aisle."

Breakfast was a dismal affair that caused everyone to glare at Ramsay and sneer at Joff, who was already feeling the humiliation of the princess dress. He had to get a pillow from Raff in order to sit and when Joff did, it nearly brought tears to his eyes. Ramsay moved like his body turned zombie and he kept grimacing, his voice was too hoarse to use much. 

Arya stared at Joff in the dress and he sneered back at her. With a laugh, she muttered, "Guess we know who the wife will be in our marriage. Gonna go into the kitchen and make me a sandwich, Princess?" "Fuck you!" Arya snorted. "I doubt it, Princess. Maybe I can fuck you?" Joff glared at Ramsay to bully the girl but he was ignoring them to glare back at everyone else. 

Loras and Sansa ate together quietly but quickly. As he gave up on the sad meal, Loras dabbed his lips with a napkin and spoke in a light soft tone.

"I'll help you get ready if you'd like. I noticed you weren't in your room last night. I heard you talking at your sister. I thought you might have been killing her since I heard no brat voice back. Still trying to convert her to TeamSansa, huh? It won't happen, her mouth runneth over, Arya is too young and dumb."  

Sansa gave a small smile to the tormented boy. "Let me worry about my own little sister. Sure, I would love your help today, Loras. how kind of you to offer."

Stannis and Tyrion did the cooking while Polliver and Raff set up and served. Fruit salad, burnt toast with jam or butter, scorched oatmeal and sliced, fried bologna. Only Unella came back for seconds. She was grimacing the whole time, muttering to her stomach, "I blame you for making me eat this nasty sludge. Why must you be so hungry?"

Jeyne was sitting and toying with her peaches when Unella came by saying this and she gasped.

"Oh no. It's happening. Unella will be the one to kill the baby and then Gregor will kill her. It is fate now, I made fate!" Myranda shoved Jeyne a little. "Stop that. We talked about this, you aren't responsible for anything they do now. You are paying your price, you made your apologies and have been trying very hard to become a full person. Karma is happy now. And Unella is upset because she is hungry and the food is nasty. Doesn't mean she wants to kill the babies, she just doesn't want to eat this food. You have got to calm down with this stuff."

Leaning closer, jeyne noticed a few slight bruises, and a slight change in the way Myranda moved. "Harold and Bob? Last night?" Myranda nodded and gave a small smirk that didn't reach her eyes.

"Yep. They finally recalled that I exist. And SuperD is up at Kevan's house now, all tucked away in their playroom. His secret cutting was exposed and SuperD told them I knew about it. Which I did. I got a little reminder of why I shouldn't keep secrets and reassurance of my place with my mentors. Don't worry about the kid, they really will help him stop hurting himself and they will fix his skin over time. SuperD will be back here soon and I bet he'll be going away on weekends just like me soon enough."

Jeyne nodded and asked, "Is he safer with Harold and Bob than with Ramsay?" Myranda smiled. "Yes, he is. As long as he never tries to run or fight. And if he was the kind to run or fight, Harold and Bob wouldn't use him in the first place. They are very good at picking the right kid for the right kind of jobs." Jeyne decided to let it go and she grinned.

"It was nice to not have to get up early to set up. We got to go see Hot Pie. I knew he would be awake because we woke up at the same time we always do! I was really scared for him, I was so happy when he opened his eyes and talked!"

Rolling her eyes while eating a peach, Myranda snickered.

"You cried like an idiot all over him. And YOU scared the living daylights out of Hot Pie by jumping onto the bed like that! And we got kicked out by Unella because you kept accidentally pulling tubes and setting off those alarms. Don't forget, our morning off only means extra work later, as all things do here at our sweet school! We have to hurry and turn this place into a suitable wedding location. Yay. As if we have ever gone to a wedding."

"How does the boy do this everyday? Gods, I had no idea the sacrifice he makes for us! I shall shower the boy with gifts, bribe Unella to cure the boy faster with unethical haste, if need be!" Tyrion was covered in sweat and oatmeal.

"Stannis, do you hear me, fellow? Have a care there, it's still-hot. Cold water. Sir, put your hand in the cold water, not the pan. Oh gods, maybe Unella can make Hot Pie bionic? I can contact some people if need be. Damn it, the leftover fruit is for lunch, yes, but not the ones with a bite still in it, Polliver, very funny. I almost forgot the two of you were our class clowns. And here comes the damned food fight, so glad our students left first!"

Tyrion was pelted full in the face by a spoon of cold oatmeal and his honor was besmirched. Stannis roared forth with an entire bag of old produce and a glint in his eye. Polliver and Raff responded in joyful savage memories of the past. While others worried and scurried to plan a wedding, the four of them went back in time. When they ended the small fantasy of youth, they discovered they had enough mess to clean that they might miss the wedding.

Never had the professors and the youngest staff members collaborated and moved so fast to clean in their lives. But they all did it with a relaxed grin.

Only two guests were slated to be allowed inside along with their entourage. The first was not the groom, this person was the relative of the Stark girls. He showed early for a reason. The entourage following this man wasn't yes men or armed guards or any such northern nonsense. Gregor searched every man and woman regardless but found nothing deadly.

Kevan was smiling as he welcomed back his former student, one he had personally mentored, then released into the world.

"I have brought someone for Sansa's hair and make up, I had a dress bought that would be somber enough for a fast school wedding but at least it's a dress that she can be proud to wear. Arya will be subjected to the same make over as her sister since she will stand as her maid of honor. The dress can hide the duct tape and chains if need be. This is a decorator that is known to work fast with whatever can be found and create miracles. And since you said your cook had an accident, I brought a caterer and baker. It's the least I can do when my poor grieving niece has finally found love and her father can no longer help or stand for her. As her uncle, this is my duty. Thank you for allowing me the honor, Kevan."

"Petyr, it is so good to see you again. I forgot how organized you are and how much you love to play the knight in slightly tarnished armor! I am sure that Sansa will be thrilled to have you by her side as she marries my son. It's a wonderful day for a wedding and young love, isn't it?"

"Oh, it truly is."


	64. Make Over

The students were not used to the real world barging in upon them.

Petyr was warned, the workers were warned to not disturb the students or staff. Kevan made sure the staff and students were warned.

Polliver snarled at everyone pressed against the wall.

"I want pressed uniforms. Shined shoes. Princess, you have permission to transform into a real boy until the wedding is over and everyone has left. Do not abuse this privilege or your ass will suffer greatly for it. Oscar and Target, you get all spiffied up today as if you were real ladies! Target, you will put a smile on your face and your tongue locked inside your mouth. I want good behavior today, I want the strangers left alone, if you must talk to them, be polite. Death Row, I am looking straight at you! Duckling, is there something wrong today, you seem so quiet? No? Good."

 The second that Polliver dismissed the students, Jeyne flew to her room. Frowning, Polliver sent a quick text to Raff to keep an on Jeyne today, she was very upset at the extra people.

Myranda had to wrestle her into her uniform, which Jeyne threw a hoodie over to hide her head and face. "Stupid, the second Gregor sees the hood on your head, he is going to rip it off you. You'll be lucky if he doesn't shave your head again. Listen, how about this? I will give you a make over. Let me put some make up on you and fix your hair. It's already growing fast, I can spike it with gel and make you look like a badass, okay? Don't you want to look like a Bad Ass Person? Please?"

Reluctantly, Jeyne agreed and whined slightly as Myranda took the hoodie off her. She sat still through the icky feeling of things covering her face, but stayed still. The hair was done faster and only then did Myranda show her the mirror. Tilting her head, Jeyne stared at the reflection for a moment.

Her lips looked fuller and were colored such a dark red, it looked nearly black. A mix of blue, gray and purple have transformed her large brown eyes into a mysterious softness. Jeyne's short hair was no longer just puffing out in strange directions. It was spiked and trimmed so that she had a full head of small spikes, like blades, like weapons and she gave a true smile.

"Yes. This I like. This is a Bad Ass Person. I can do this."

Arya felt like a doll, being pulled apart and rebuilt. The snooty dressers just rearranged her as they wanted to and she kept her mouth shut. Her head was spinning about her sister, her mother. Was it true? Would her mother have hated her that much since birth? She looked in the mirror and grimaced then decided not to look again. The feeling of make up was disgusting to her.

Catching another glance in the mirror after the make up was applied was interesting though. As much as Arya didn't like the feeling of make up, it did transform her very well. She could have been another person, some simpering débutante in a boring blue dress with her hair pinned up. Someone who looked like she fit right in and no one would notice her.

Sansa was thrilled to get a break from Loras fluttering about her like a colorful bird, trying to get a peck or two in. He was overtaken and drowned out by the dressers that stampeded her room. It was killing Sansa that she found out that Uncle Petyr was here by these strangers. Polliver told Sansa when she was fully ready, Petyr would come see her.

So she silently was allowing these fashion nazi's their way and watched her hair go curly and up in a towering fluffy bun with tendrils escaping in a planned pattern. She was terrified that they would add a tiara and a dress straight out of Gone With The Wind. Luckily the dress was a long white lace Victorian style dress. Loras did the honors of tightening and tying the corset underneath the dress and Sansa could only take short breaths now.

Both Tyrion and Stannis took some time to visit with Hot Pie before they had to dress up. They played a quick game of cards with him and told him the latest chaos. They did not tell Hot Pie of the food fight or of the stuck up chefs complaining of the paltry kitchen they had to work with. Hot Pie was thrilled with the visit. He looked awful but his smile was genuine.

"Aw, I am on lots of painkillers in this IV. I feel fine, just wish I wasn't missing everything! I mean, a wedding! Well, I will see Unella and Gregor's wedding but that won't be the same." Tyrion agreed heartily. "That one will be more like a grim Viking wedding. I think we have to sacrifice a goat. I am just glad we had a chance to see you. You must be bored to death all alone."

"Well, I woke up this morning by seeing Jeyne leap onto my bed with a smiling Myranda right behind her. Then Gregor, Unella, Polliver and Raff all came by to visit. Polliver gave me a get well present." With pride, the injured boy held up the open box with the taser in it. "He told me all staff has a defensive weapon on them in case students become dangerous. He GAVE me a weapon because I am considered more staff than a student now!"

Kevan and Petyr walked slowly, both matching each other's step, both with their hands behind their backs. He was leading Petyr down the hill to see the girls before the wedding.

"I ask that any picture or film you take on your phone of the wedding aren't sent to Cat before the wedding is over. I expect that you can take the copy of the wedding certificate and Arya's engagement contract to Cat. Let her know you have witnessed the acts done. Assure her that the school is a neutral location. I will allow her and the two boys to come inside to see the girls. That I have my brother's word that no violence will occur before she sees them, that Cat has a very strictly timed truce. After Cat has said goodbye to her daughters, she will have hours to run or attack before he releases the dogs. It is the best I can offer her."

Petyr nodded then gave a small smirk. "I am not sure I want to be the messenger, her mood is rather volatile these days. I do this for the girls, for my dear nieces. I have been friends with Cat for so long, but I never overlooked her faults. I saw them and when I could redirect them, I did. Ned was her husband, he didn't care for my influences on his family. But she ran that family and the business, Ned just enforced it. She was a very strict mother and her girls were not as compliant as quickly as the boys were. That is when I would try to intervene and found that I truly cared for the girls. Such potential in the right hands."

Kevan and Petyr shared a look over that. "Exactly what I would say. I love seeing my successes, such as you and my son. Sadly, I could never truly say the same for Cat. I mean, she truly did raise the Stark name and grew a fortune. But she raised those children wrong, the males became mere puppets, those girls, it's just a shame. It was a miracle that they ended up here. It is the best thing to ever happen to them, I would say. Sansa has truly embraced her experiences here and she mentors with myself and Tyrion."

Petyr chuckled slightly. "I would expect no less of that girl." Kevan nodded then added, "Arya is not quite where I'd like her to be, a little rebel and a tough nut to crack. Her mother was very hard upon her and Arya lashes out, like a kitten that finally got out of the damned confines of mother and the cardboard box. It isn't ready to go down the porch steps, but it's going to try anyway. Sandor is her mentor and her sister tries hard to be a good example for her. Arya fought hard against this engagement, of course."

This time Petyr sighed. "I would expect no less. Arya is a fifteen year old and full of contradiction. I am afraid she has always had this streak of rebellion and I can't tell you how surprised I was that only Jon and Rickon ended up dead. I always believed if Cat killed one of them, it would be Arya." Kevan frowned and gave a narrow look to Petyr.

"Cat was never accused of their deaths, the investigation turned up no proof against her, she was never charged. Do you really believe that Cat would murder one of her children? And if she was killing the children that annoyed her, why wasn't Arya on that list? This subject bothers me, it smacks of common gossip. We never did cure you of that, did we, Petyr?"

With a slight flush, Petyr nodded, accepting the rebuke. Kevan smiled and stopped walking as they reached the path that would lead towards the swarm of decorators. "I must go meet with my son. Just ahead, you'll find the girls near the dorm house. I am sure you remember the way. Regardless of any gossip or worries, the girls will be safe here. Cat will not kidnap or kill them, I can give you my word on that, Petyr. Enjoy your visit with the girls, thank you again for your help. It is wonderful to see you again, Petyr."

Polliver went to Kevan's house in a baton wielding fury and ran into an immovable force. Gilly was vacantly polite in her perfect uniform and her thick braid hanging over her shoulder like a whip.

"Damn it, woman! One of MY DUCKLINGS is in there and I demand to see him! And I want to see Harold and Bob, those fucking kidnappers!  I am the counselor of Theon Greyjoy and if someone is KEEPING him away from his dorm house then I get to know why! A text that just tells me he won't be home doesn't fucking suffice! Let me in. Now!"

Smiling, Gilly stood there with her hands folded on her stomach, her voice was polite and firm. "Harold and Bob have texted me. They are going to seek you out very soon on school grounds. They will speak with you before the wedding happens down near the student areas. Theon Greyjoy is here and resting comfortably. That is all the information I have for you, Sir. As I have already told you numerous times."

Looming over the young woman, sticking his face in hers with a menacing scowl didn't even make her twitch. Polliver thought he might have detected a bit of boredom and irritation in her eyes. That was all Polliver could take. He exploded, waving his arms while screaming into her face. That smiling, placid face that he wanted to whack his baton into to see if the reaction changes.

"I HAVE SEVERAL TWITCHY NERVOUS KIDS THAT ARE HERE FOR ACTS OF VIOLENCE! I AM TRYING TO KEEP THEM CALM FOR A DAMNED WEDDING OF ALL THINGS! I CANNOT HAVE THE CREEPER TWINS GETTING THEM ALL RILED UP BY WANDERING AROUND THEM LIKE A NIGHTMARE MAFIA! I JUST WANT THEM TO SEE ME FOR FIVE FUCKING SECONDS TO KNOW WHY THEY KIDNAPPED MY DUCKLING! I WANT TO KNOW WHY I WASN'T TREATED LIKE STAFF, REGULAR PROTOCOL DAMMIT! AND I HAVE A RIGHT TO CHECK ON MY CHARGES!"

Gilly smiled and responded calmly. "Yes, you have told me this many times. I wish I could help you, Sir. There is nothing more I can do but repeat the message again. Shall I do that for you, Sir?" Polliver glared at the woman and sneered. "I am going in there." Gilly smiled and shook her head firmly. "No, you are not. I have a very specific list of who is allowed inside today. Your name is not on that list." 

Polliver twirled his baton and thunked it into his hand but Gilly stood there, just smiling. "I am going to go through you if you don't move, woman." "My name is Gilly. I am not letting you inside, Polliver. You are welcome to try but I wouldn't suggest it." He started forward, stomping, hard and fast, it sends ducklings scurrying but not Gilly. The woman just stood there and he found himself stopping just before reaching her. Something, Polliver didn't know what, but something wasn't right with that.

"What the fuck are you? Fine, tell those fuckers not to mess with the ducklings! Damned, crazy ass stuck up bitch. Fuck you!"

Gilly just smiled and waved her hand at him. "No, thank you. I don't engage in relationships with staff." She shut the door on the angry cursing man to finish her chores. 

Kevan threw his arms wide, his face animated in a brilliant wreath of cheer and welcome.

"My son! Welcome home! I am so happy to see you, look at you! A sight for sore eyes, your perfection is a balm to my soul after dealing with wayward teens!" Lancel gave his father a warm smile and a tight hug. "It's been too long! I should take more time to visit you, father. I get so busy then I get distracted and I forget. Forgive me. I am happy to be here now."

 

 


	65. Peacocks And Pit Bulls

Lancel gave Bob and Harold each a handshake along with his own winning smile, which matched their own. It looked like a dental ad for a moment. "Bob and Harold! Both of you look exactly the same still. As a child, I wondered if father built you two like robots sometimes. How have you two been?" Harold responded pleasantly. "In a way, your father did build us, but more in our heads than any metal in our bodies. Thank you for the compliment however. We have been well. How are you?"

They chatted lightly for a moment then Kevan waved Gilly over. "Ah, Lancel, this is my housekeeper, Gilly. She is sister to the ladies you have taken in." Gilly gave a wide smile and a firm handshake. "It's nice to meet you, Sir. Thank you so much for helping my sisters. I'm grateful that we have people like you and your father to help us." Lancel gave a small blushing grin but Harold noted that Gilly's eyes have not once changed from her usual cold polite look.

The boy was handsome, charming and saved her sisters but the girl was still unmoved. Harold looked at Bob who gave a slight shrug to his frustrated partner. "Thank you, Gilly. I am only glad that I was able to help in any way. It's a pleasure to meet you. The girls have told me all about you. Father and I shall have to arrange a visit soon. The girls miss you."

Gilly's smile never changed and her voice stayed as polite and pleasant as ever. "I am sure they don't truly miss me all that much, just a memory. I have been separate from them for some time now. A visit would be lovely when and if Kevan saw fit for me to do so. I wouldn't wish to shirk any of my duties. I am very grateful to your father for all he has done for me and for my sisters. I want to make sure that I live up to my end of the bargain by caring for his home correctly."

Kevan smiled at his bemused son as the housekeeper excused herself to the kitchen. "Gilly is my favorite of all servants. Isn't she just refreshing? So before you ask, Mr. Bleeding Heart, no, I won't give her to you. We can make arrangements for a visit sometime, a little reunion for her birthday perhaps."

Harold and Bob got ready to head towards the school grounds and Gilly rushed over to them. She held a small thermos out to Harold. "Excuse me, Sir? Would you please bring this to Polliver when you see him? I would rather not go down there myself. It's not proper." Bob stared at the thermos while Harold just took it numbly. "Dearest Gilly, what is in the thermos? Did Polliver ask you for something?"

"No, Bob. It's some restorative tea. The man was clearly high strung, screaming and waving his baton. Poor man could use a little tea. Thank you very much, Harold." Gilly walked away and Bob smiled at the frowning Harold. "Clearly, Polliver had attempted to make it through the wall that is Gilly. Isn't it nice to know that it's not just us?" Harold shook his head. "I wonder if the tea is her own little victory shot."

Petyr walked past the other students, paying them no particular attention. Jeyne gave a small growl as Petyr started to go past her. Something about him has always bothered her but Myranda tried to shush her. Jeyne stopped growling but stared at him, her teeth bared. She _knew_ him, alright.  Petyr stopped and seemed to study the girl carefully. "You are that feral that Kevan keeps. How interesting, he has you trained enough to let you mingle off leash with the students. And look, they let you play with dress up like a real girl."

Before Jeyne could do more than bristle, Myranda took a step forward and in front of her. With her usual smirk, Myranda spoke in a loud but sweet voice. "And I know you, Petyr! Not from here at the school, of course. Dear me, no. I met you through a gentlemen named Karl and you had some lovely girls with you. Where was that again?"

His eyes were cold as they looked over Myranda. "That's right. I wonder if Karl remembers you? I should have someone ask him. You are hard to forget, hard to forget such a young girl that knew so many adult things.  Your specialty was anything that most civilized folks wouldn't even know the terms of."

She watched as Petyr walked away towards the sight of Loras waving him forward.

"That's it. You are going to see Raff right now. I can't spend all day trying to keep you from eating someone. You look like a person but that growl wasn't very human. Let's go, right now." Myranda dragged Jeyne past Ramsay who called out asking where the Mad Max convention was taking place. Joff had giggled and added that Jeyne could now just stab others with her head.

"I'm still too raw in the head for this much fucking shit." Myranda snarled and convinced herself she was fine, it was only Jeyne that was the issue.

Raff was heading for Jeyne and was surprised when Myranda nearly ran up and threw Jeyne at him. "She growled at Petyr. Everyone is making her too nervous. I gave her a make over and she looks like a proper bad ass person. Ramsay and Joff teased her a little but she didn't growl at them, just stuck up both fingers. So that's something. But she's making me jittery. I don't want to get blamed if she goes off like a rocket. This is all a lot for me, never mind for her."

Smiling down at Jeyne who was visibly shaking and hugging her hands close to her chest, Raff used his best voice. "Aw, Jeynie, I like the new look. You look very bad ass indeed. And certainly like a person. Come here, sweetheart." He wrapped one arm around each and headed back into the clinic. "Let's go visit Hot Pie and have a nice cold soda to calm down. There is plenty of time before this thing starts."

Raff got each of them a plastic cup full of ice and soda. Except his and Hot Pie's had no sedative in it. Just a touch, just enough for Jeyne and Myranda to calm down but not enough to make them tired or loopy. Except he had mixed it in a pitcher, which Myranda grabbed and refilled her drink and Jeyne's while Raff was in the bathroom.

Loras greeted Petyr with all due social respect and led him towards the soon to be gaming cabin. Today it was commandeered by strangers with make up cases, measuring tape, fabrics and foreign speaking men waving hair products.

"Loras, I can barely believe it's you. The last time I saw you, you were such a grand display of color and noise! Fashionable to the hilt and all that hair. Your grandmother must be amazed and pleased by this transformation. Perhaps just a little dismayed since she loved to have reason to tease you."

With a bashful smile, Loras responded lightly.

"Fun such as that was fleeting and empty in the end. It cost lives. Here I have discovered that fighting the system isn't the way to live. I have dug deep and found that I just may have purpose after all. I am concentrating on my studies and have found new ways to find fun in books, nature, in helping others. My grandmother is just as confused as you are. She is happy and sad that she cannot find things to nag me about yet. I have become good friends with Sansa. I help out Damon and Jeyne with their studies and I am a friend to Damon as well as a roommate."

Petyr raised his eyebrow.

"How interesting. Not the part about Sansa, considering your ages, intelligence and social standing, the friendship makes sense. The charity, that was more your sister and your fiancé, wasn't it? Any charity work you've ever done was by force of them or your grandmother. And to tutor a hulking menacing creature like Damon? After the things he's done? And the feral? She looks better now but I had seen her a few times on visits to Bethany and Roose Bolton through the years. The girl is not going to ever be sane or safe no matter what tricks she is taught or how she is dressed up. Her mind is more like a dog and they did not keep anything but killers. There was  gossip that Jeyne was the one who killed their son Domeric, from the few who knew of her existence. Some believe that was the real reason Jeyne was sent here. So be careful as you tutor your two dumb and easily ordered killers. They are savages deep down."

With eyes that sparkled like hard gems, a smile that had cutting edges, Loras responded.

"It must have taken a terrible toll on you, Sir. To watch that girl turned into a killer dog and not be able to assist her at any point, in any way. I am glad that Kevan Lannister, the staff and myself are able to assist her now. Damon did horrible things because he was manipulated and he is trying to change himself. I am glad that I can be someone positive in his life. And by helping them, I better myself. Oh, look. Here we are, Sansa is right there. Excuse me."

Sansa rushed forward and threw herself into Petyr's arms as Loras made his escape. She hugged the man tightly but stepped back fast in order not to damage her looks. Petyr smiled down upon Sansa and held her shoulders. "Let me look at you. You look amazing, Sansa. I am honored that I can walk you down the aisle today. I know I am a poor substitute for your dear father."

"I was sorry to hear of Aunt Lysa. Thank you on your condolences. I grieve for my father but I will do my duty and do it well. You are the only other person besides my father, I would want to give me away at my wedding. I am all put together, nothing left but waiting and hoping nothing on me melts off before the ceremony. Shall we go for a small walk?" Petyr smiled and wrapped his arm in hers and strolled briefly in the tiny back area of the cabin. 

Petyr kept her in the shade so nothing would be in danger of melting off as they strolled slowly. "I am sorry I couldn't visit you. I am aware that you were trying to reach me. Your sister let me know that you were eager to speak with me by the way she gloated about being unable to get you on the phone. Don't blame the girl for it, it's her age. Fifteen is difficult. And I know why you were hoping to see me. You would have asked for me to release you, to get you away from this place and your mother."

Sansa blushed but looked up directly at him. "It doesn't matter now, does it? I am getting married to Lancel Lannister, can't go much higher than that. And if my mentorship with Kevan and Tyrion goes well, I will leave not only as a rich society wife, but one that can use her brain to become anything she wants. Nothing will please and piss off my mother more. All my dreams achieved thanks to this school. Better than hiding away."

"Very true. And I will tell you now that I never would have done it. As much as you would have hated me for it and I would have been hurt, I would not have let you leave here. It is truly the best shield between you and your mother, something I have longed to see for years, as you know. Also, having been a student and teacher here, I would have told you this is a place to learn if you put your mind to it. Yes, it's humiliating, degrading and abusive here. I am sure it's not as bad as when I was here, but they have never been known for their kindnesses. But the abuse tends to stop as you follow their lead, take the program seriously. The lessons here are all hard to learn but once you do, you grow for it. As you have clearly seen. As Loras has seen."

Gritting her teeth under the fond smile, Sansa nodded. "Yes, once the panic had receded and I started to surrender into the program, I saw how silly my thought had been. Of course you weren't going to rescue me. You aren't a shining knight to save any princess, are you? Uncle, where is Robin? How is he handling things? Wasn't he very close to Aunt Lysa?" Petyr smirked and turned them around to head back towards the cabin. "Robin is at home with his nannies and therapists. He is quite fragile still and this would be too much for him." Sansa smiled and asked sweetly, "Perhaps Robin could benefit from our school?"

One of Petyr's hands slid softly behind Sansa's neck and gently massaged as she gasped.

"Not yet, dear. You aren't ready to verbally spar with me right now. You are getting married today and must focus on that. Focus on being pretty and agreeable and a lovely star to shine upon others. The bitterness in your eyes and voice can be seen too well. Pictures will be taken and shown to your mother by tonight. Do not let her see any hope of reclaiming you in those pretty orbs. Cat is desperate right now, her claws have never been sharper. She and her sons are backed into a corner, she sees their deaths and her own looming. The Starks have no allies, they have nothing to offer. The only things left to use in any way, would be her daughters."

Sansa responded sweetly. "I don't intend to let mother use me in any way. I am going to be a Lannister now, not a Stark. My loyalties lie with my new family. And to this school, of course. Those out of the Lannisters circle or the school, don't matter to me and cannot use me anymore. I should head back inside, I feel my make up melting." Petyr guided her by the arm towards the cabin and asked, "What of your little sister? Does she still matter?" Sansa smiled. "Of course she does. She is going to be a Lannister and she is already a student of the school. Arya has my support and advice even if she chooses not to use it."

"Good to hear. Ah, you do need a small touch up, I see. You did indeed melt slightly. I shall leave you to the fixing and come get you for our ceremony. While you finish becoming a beautiful bride, I shall check on the maid of honor."


	66. Those Last Loving Touches

Raff had brought his suit to the clinic this morning so he changed fast while the girls chatted with Hot Pie. He came out after styling his mane of hair and both girls grinned at him, appreciating his look. "Thank you." Myranda laughed but Jeyne blushed and looked away.

Hot Pie rolled his eyes and muttered, "At least when I was fat this kind of stuff didn't bother me. But watching you two drool over my damned nurse is too much! I am glad I won't see the wedding after all. If you two are drooling over Raff, I can imagine the great drowning of all the guests when you two see Lancel!"

Giggling both girls nearly fell off their stools. "It's true, Lancel is amazing but he is like fantasy for us, girl candy." Hot Pie stared at Myranda in horror and Raff just shook his head. In a playful voice, he teased. "Hey Jeynie! You aren't going to crush on Lancel, are you? Tell Myranda she is wrong, tell her I am more handsome." Jeyne giggled then spoke in nearly a whisper. "You are handsome. But Lancel is like a fantasy kind of pretty. Sorry."

Raff grabbed his chest and pretended to die while Jeyne giggled and bounced a bit on her seat. Myranda stood up, grabbed Jeyne and said, "We feel better now. We are going to get a good look at our candy now. Bye!" The two rushed out the door and Hot Pie raised both eyebrows. "They seemed to go from panic, to calm, to silly. Huh." Raff shrugged and fixed his cuffs as he walked past the little table he noticed the empty pitcher. "Oh shit."

The very second that she was declared finished, Arya tried to escape. Only to encounter a large suit and Sandor scowling down at her as if it were her fault he had to wear it. "Anywhere you go, I'm coming with you. You aren't getting out of this ceremony and you aren't messing up your, costume looks." He waved a large hand at her as if to indicate the dress and make over." Scowling back at him, Arya started to walk outside anyway.

"I'm not running away. I just want to get out of that damned crush. Sansa has the other side of the cabin and has just as many wranglers. They keep switching from the two of us, milling around, babbling in a language I can't understand. So they just pushed and prodded me like I was a beast until they finished! I just want out of there. I am done up there is nothing more for me to do until the ceremony."

Sandor walked beside her, trying to match her slower walk, clumsy in the fancy shoes. "If it's any consolation, you don't look bad or foolish. Just different. That can be a good thing. Costumes and make up can change you, acting can change your personality. You can make yourself noticed with it like your sister does, to be noticed and admired. You can use it like Myranda does, to entice or lure or you can use it to make you invisible. Something to think upon."

Arya nodded. "I already was thinking about that when I saw myself in the mirror. Maybe I can get lessons from the girls on how to use cosmetics. It could be a useful tool. I am concentrating on getting through this bullshit without embarrassing myself or getting in trouble. If this is what Sansa wants, let her have it. I will support her and try not to worry that my mother is coming tomorrow. Whether it's to kidnap, kill or curse me, who knows?"

"We can talk all about that tonight or in the morning. But I will say this, you will be safe the whole time she is here. No one is hurting you or stealing you. But let's talk about it later, right now let's focus on getting you through this with a smile instead of a scowl." With a snort, Arya retorted, "My own mentor and example does nothing but scowl!" Sandor forced a smile onto his face and Arya stared up horrified. "That is the scariest most unsettling thing I have ever seen. Don't do it again!"

"You smile or I do. All day." Arya yelled, "I surrender! See? Just go back to scowling, I'll smile!" Sandor watched as Arya's mouth stretched wide and teeth showed as eyes bulged with the effort of cheeriness. "Sweet gods, that is terrifying! Just grin or something!" Laughing, Arya watched Sandor's scowl deepen. Then her laughter dried up as she saw the stylishly dressed Petyr heading her way.

"Oh look, here comes a crow to peck my eyes out. Why can't he just go drool on my sister and leave me alone? I fucking loathe my Uncle Petyr, he always liked Sansa best and I was glad for it. He never did anything wrong to either of us, always spent time and money on us when mother let him. But I never trusted him, he just seemed so mean, so angry underneath the charm and I never understood why. He is a good friend to my mother, that is reason enough, I suppose. And knowing he killed my crazy aunt just sort of seals my lack of trust."

Sandor patted her shoulder then clenched it to keep her from fleeing her uncle. "You are right to trust your instincts. You are right about your uncle and I'll tell you more about that when you are ready for it. But for now, here is some practice for you. Instead of combating him, LISTEN to him and carefully. Afterwards, tell me everything he said and we shall pick it apart. Okay? Take a deep breath and get ready for some crow shit. Act like a spy not a girl stuck in her past. Impress me."

Arya's eyes lost their bitter defeated look and flared slightly with the interest of challenge. She put a grin on her face as Petyr approached and took her hand to kiss it. Normally, Arya would have shuddered but she just accepted it today. "Hello, Uncle, it's nice to see you again. Please accept my apologies on Aunt Lysa's tragic death." Petyr gave a sympathetic look and patted the hand he still hasn't released.

"Thank you, dear. It is so nice of you to remember my tragedies when you have so recently suffered your own. And at such a tender age. Please accept my condolences on your loss. I am not your father but I feel a responsibility to see to you girls the way he would have. I was honored to be chosen to take your sister to her new husband. I hope to do the same for you and Joff, of course."

Arya looked frantically for Sandor but he was a few feet away, looking away, as if he couldn't hear or care. Petyr noticed her pleading look to her absent mentor and smirked. He used the hold on her hand to pull her next to him and started to walk slowly, the girl nearly dragging her feet the whole time. It almost looked like a polite kidnapping or at least that is what Sandor thought. He followed at a discreet distance and cursed how the holster of his gun dug into him under the too tight suit. 

All staff will be carrying guns today and ready to put a bullet through Petyr's head the second he tries to lure or murder Cat's daughters. Sandor though Kevan was overestimating this cockroach. But rules are rules.

Lancel's name flourished across the line and Kevan smiled at him, taking his pen back.

"Thank you, son. I am sorry for this situation, I truly am. Your uncle needed our help and I cannot say no to him easily, you know that. And truly, that is what family does, a good family. I promise you that this doesn't affect your life or hers for sometime after today. Sansa is a pretty, intelligent and driven woman. She knows what is important, does what is needed and still remains a delight. That girl's mind is always at work even if she is simply dancing in a garden. As she is gracefully and gently dancing in the breeze, she is considering how to take down the world. It is utterly fascinating."

With an easy affectionate teasing manner, Lancel asked, "Father, are you waxing lyrical over my bride? Did you wish to marry her yourself and I am the second best choice? My heart is breaking, Sir!" Kevan chuckled and shook his finger playfully at his son. "Now don't begrudge me my happiness that I will have a daughter in law that I can like! I have seen your well intentioned love go awry before! You have brought home many a boy or girl that gave me near heart attacks! Plus, with our status and power hungry Tywin, I was also positive we would get stuck with some dull creature! This girl is a gem. And you know her, don't you? Didn't you teach a class for her during your teacher phase?"

"Yes. Sansa took an after school class with me for credits. She was a very good student and fun to talk with. I do remember her. While she was visiting Cersei one holiday, I saw her there. I had been on a summer vacation and stopped in for a bit. Joff had been such an insufferable child and the other two little ones so funny and adorable. Robert wasn't there much and when he was, he just drank and muttered to himself. Sansa and Arya were spending a few weeks there along with Petyr. It was like a never ending pool party from hell. I remember Sansa mainly was stuck playing nanny to the children while Joff tried to take her bikini top off. Arya went from doing pranks with Joff to trying to drown him in the pool. Cersei would get plastered and bitch to Petyr who seemed to be either sleeping or scheming. I never could tell."

Kevan chuckled. "Yes, every summer Petyr would take the girls off Cat's hands. They visited so many homes. I was positive that Petyr used them as an excuse to go gossiping from home to home. He would return to Cat with two relaxed tan girls and a head stuffed full of information to feed that hungry sharp beak. I should warn you that Sansa does have some of her mother's qualities as well as Petyr's. She already gave her best shot at using those skills and found out that we are always a slight step ahead of her. Since then Sansa has worked on the good parts of those talents and has accepted my advice on how to use them."

Lancel grinned. "Don't worry, father. I understand how to treat smart, independent, creative women. You should visit our generation sometime. Women wear really short skirts now, but only if they feel like it, for themselves. They even run companies without needing a man to help them climb the steep steps!" Kevan rolled his eyes. "Thank you for the progressive update. For your information, we have become very progressive here ourselves. Our students share co ed bedrooms now! How about that? And the girls wear the same exact uniforms as the boys. Any skirts or dresses offered may be worn or not by either sex. Whether or not they shave, I don't know or care."

Lancel burst into laughter at the fake insulted tone his father had used. "Oh gods, I forgot how fun we can be together." Kevan smiled and gave a friendly pat to his son's knee. "Well, this is actually a rather delicate matter I must speak to you of. I have not mentioned this to Sansa, I wasn't truly sure how to. In order for Cat to not be able to contest this wedding, I would like for you to consummate it, this day before you leave." 

Polliver stood with his arms crossed as Harold and Bob weaved their way through the decorating strangers to reach him. Harold thrust a small thermos at him and he stared at it suspiciously. "What the fuck is that?" In a stiff voice, Harold replied. "It's a restorative tea from Gilly. She made it for you. Drink it." Polliver shook his head and refused to touch it. "No fucking way! Bitch probably poisoned it!"

Bob spoke as he watched with mild amusement as Harold forced Polliver to hold the thermos. "No, if Gilly poisoned the restorative tea, then Harold would be dead. He had to drink it for breakfast. He seemed to find it delicious. My advice would be to drink the tea she made for you." Polliver glared at the men who simply reflected the counselor back to himself. With a snarl, Polliver opened the thermos and sniffed it. 

"Drink it." With a dirty glance at Harold, Polliver drank the tea and found himself chugging it. "Not bad actually. Damn. I should get her recipe for Hot Pie." Harold ripped the thermos out of the counselor's hand. In a deadly voice, he leaned into Polliver's face to inform him, "It's a house recipe. Not for the likes of you to serve to just anyone." Bob tilted his head a little and gave some consideration to Harold's strange actions.

"Fine, whatever. Get out of my fucking face, you creepy asshole. Now explain to me where the hell my duckling is and why!"

Ramsay and Joff walked leisurely around as they ate their fancy frosted treats stolen from the kitchen. They walked past Harold and Bob saying something to Polliver that made the man look both horrified and resigned. Joff sneered as he licked the green frosting off a cupcake. "My mother used to love a show called Miami Vice. She had old recordings of it and watched them all the time. These two remind me of the characters from that show."

Ramsay looked at Joff as he tried to juggle a chocolate ball that wanted to snuggle on his white shirt. "I remember seeing my father watch that once. You mean the two main detectives? Harold and Bob somehow remind you of those two detectives?" Shaking his head, Joff quickly licked up a wayward strawberry gel that was heading for his sleeve. "No, they remind me of the bad guys that would always come and kill someone the detectives liked. Always creepy as fuck with strange high pitched giggles and sharp dressers."

With a laugh, Ramsay gobbled up a vanilla cupcake before it could escape his clutches. "Nah, I disagree. I think of those two creepy fucks from Matrix that were just killing everyone in their creepy ass path. Till they hit Nero, of course. They had fantastic deaths though." Joff laughed. "Yeah, it's a like a mix of both! Creepy twin fucks always turn out to be evil though!"

Bob's head appeared over Ramsay's shoulder and Harold over Joff's, their winning smiles intact, speaking at the same time. "Hello, gentlemen!" Both boys leaped and their carefully balanced messy treats landed upon their best white uniforms.

"Oh no, poor young lads, you have stained your best outfits for the wedding! It is entirely our fault, we shall tell your angry counselors that." Harold patted Joff's shoulder as they watched Tyrion come storming their way. "Oh wait. I am not sure it is entirely our fault, Bob. They both smell and look delicious, covered in forbidden treats. I am sure they were not allowed in the kitchen for a pre-feast. Dear boy, you might wish to run."

Joff looked with terror at Tyrion and started to run to change, yelling, "I'm going to change right now, Uncle!" Tyrion shook his head and sighed, following after Joff at a much slower pace. Bob squeezed Ramsay's shoulder. "Do you enjoy getting that boy in so much trouble? He can't take it as much as you can. I understand though. We truly do understand the need to dominate, manipulate and control someone."

Ramsay tried to pull away from Bob. "I have to go change too. If you are hunting for new shiny whores to mentor, I'm not interested. Thanks for the offer though." Bob didn't release Ramsay's shoulder and Harold stepped in front of Ramsay. "No, you aren't our type of mentoring student, young man. Our interest in you would be, unique and trust me, you would not wish for it, if you knew. We wish to speak with you, dear boy. We want you to understand that any relationship you have had with Theon has ended."

Bob smiled and spoke carefully, softly into Ramsay's ear.

"No more private meetings with him at all. That means no more letting him beg you for anything. It means no looks, no discussions that aren't related to any other student kind of thing. No smoldering glances, nothing, do not touch him in any way. And if you taunt him like you do Damon for his so called disloyalty to you, we will come speak with you over it. You do not want that. We are not like the rest of the staff, Ramsay. You don't EVER want our detention. We are Theon's new mentors and just wanted you to know that. Oh look, here comes Polliver, guess you best run and change, boy."


	67. Here's To Lost Causes

Kevan and Lancel began to make their way down the hill, watching the small bustle growing.

"Gods, so many of our circle are students here, just like history repeating itself, eh, dad? I always suspected that Joff would land here, of course. Cersei smacked me once for suggesting it. Oh, hello there!" Lancel looked at the two girls watching him intently from behind a tree. Kevan snorted and rolled his eyes before calling out politely, "Myranda and Jeyne, you both remember my son, Lancel. Please come forth and say hello if you would like. Then you may go get seated for the wedding."

Myranda and Jeyne both seemed to float over slowly, never losing their stare, making Lancel slightly uneasy. "Hello Lancel. Nice to see you again. You look wonderful, congratulations, Sansa is a very lucky girl." Lancel flushed slightly at Myranda's husky voice. "Uh, thank you, Myranda." Kevan tried to save his son by gesturing Jeyne forward. She inched forward then weaved around Myranda, peeking from under her elbow. "Congratulations, Lancel. You look really nice, Sir."

With a warm smile and a voice so patronizing that it stung Myranda's ears, Lancel spoke. "Hi, Jeyne. Look at you! What a bold look you have now. Talking and walking around, so much better than the last time I saw you. You almost seem natural at it, I am so proud of you. Go, Jeyne, go! Told you before, do you remember? What I tell you every visit that I see you?" Myranda watched in disgust as Jeyne nodded, blushing. "Yes, that you are on my team." Kevan seemed to find nothing wrong with this but Myranda felt a shiver of fear. Lancel's eyes seemed harder for a second as if hoping the girl would show more than her blank adoration. His face seemed to slightly harden as if he just made an awful decision.

Suddenly, Myranda had little interest in ogling Lancel anymore, she wanted to keep her happy feeling. "We need to go find our seating." As they headed off, Myranda warned Jeyne. "I hope you aren't really falling for that patronizing bullshit. He treated you like you were brain dead or-" Jeyne giggled. "He treated me like a feral. Like a dog learning new tricks. I am feral, not stupid, I can see that. But Lancel is still cute." Myranda burst out laughing and shoved Jeyne forward. "Glad to see that my cynicism and Hot Pie's logic finally are sinking into your head. Must be all that hair that was getting in the way before." "Fuck you."

They laughed all the way down the hill until they fell and rolled. In spite of ruined outfits and childish behavior, the two continued to laugh even as they fell in a heap before Raff.

Lancel and Kevan watched the girls disappear over the hill and heard laughter as they must have run down it. "Well, it's flattery, I suppose." Lancel laughed at his father's disgruntled tone. "They are just being silly teenage girls. Isn't that what you are trying to turn them into anyway? If I recall, last time I was here, Myranda didn't hide and giggle, she tried to proposition me to help her escape. As for Jeyne, I must hand it to you, her stage of recovery is quite remarkable."

Kevan smirked. "Yes, it is pretty miraculous. The staff has been really dedicated to rehabilitating her. I remember when Bolton first brought her to me how distraught you were. You wanted so badly to take her, to rehabilitate her yourself. See, this is why I denied you. She is doing so well here but it was a long and dangerous journey. Jeyne has hurt many students and staff during her healing process. She still is only halfway there but I am very pleased with her progress. I am surprised that she is even going to be able to fully attend this large of a wedding with so many strangers about her."

They started down the path to see Raff nearly dragging Jeyne and Myranda off towards the clinic. "Whoops. Looks like Jeyne isn't making it to the wedding, after all. Maybe it's too much for both the girls." Kevan scowled at his son's teasing tone. "They probably swooned over you."

Petyr led Arya by her arm, staying in sight of the wandering staff and decorators. He pretended to admire the decorations as he spoke in a smooth voice. In Arya's mind the snaked around her like the streamers upon lattices. Focus, hear, don't feel. Just hear, listen and report. Spies have no emotional attachment. I can do this. She kept a polite smile on her face or at least she hoped that it is what it looked like. Sandor's shadow stretching nearby gave Arya some degree of comfort.

"You expect me to ask you about school, about your classes or mentor. You expect me to give you a dry lecture or maybe just offer some poisoned nagging for your mother. I will not do these things. I am not your parent. Even once your mother and brothers are dead, which shall be soon, I will not act as your parent. You have made it clear in the past you don't wish to be that close with me. And I have always honored your preferences and space. Like your sister, I have only sought to be a shield between you and your mother. The only parental figure you will have now is Kevan Lannister. Of course, once you marry and he does allow you to leave with Joff, then it will be Cersei that leads you. Don't worry, it will be a lovely sparking leash."

Arya forced a very calm tone, almost indifferent as they strolled. "No,that might be Sansa's fate but not mine. I will find a very useful talent before I turn eighteen. So useful that I can use it as a bargaining chip to release myself from marrying Joff." Petyr smirked. "Well, that is a relieving thought for me. I hope it's a very good talent indeed. What will stop Kevan from simply using your talent and keeping your marriage to Joff? I mean, he is quite well versed in getting students to ply their trades for him. In fact, I would say he has a one hundred percent success rate. What will make you the one great difference to escape him on your terms only?"

Shrugging, Arya replied, "I don't know yet. I have time to find out, I am still learning."

Nodding, Petyr drew her over to a set of chairs where everyone will share a small wedding dinner.

"Here sit, let me rest my old bones. I am not used to this level of heat anymore. There, thank you, young lady. Do you know, Arya, that the setup here is still almost identical to when I was here as a student, then as a teacher? It's kind of strange to see it through older eyes. But do you know what I really see? I see history come to life, I see history repeating itself." Arya looked at Petyr. "Because you were here with my mother, Cersei, Roose and Bethany, right? Sansa told us all about that story. Jeyne fell asleep, Damon just kept nodding blankly and I don't see the big deal. We aren't anything like any of you were. From what I was told, it was way worse then, so how can you compare?"

 Petyr chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Do you think we all came in as stuffy sneaky adults? No, we were rebellious and angry, ready to tear down the place around Kevan's ears. Oh, if you had seen your mother! She looked like Sansa and was as fearless and ready to rumble as you are. That is why I loved to have the two of you with me all the time, to be honest. The both of you reminded me of the Cat I grew up with in school. Oh the crushes of youth! I had loved your mother the moment I saw her crooked sassy smile. The same one you have, I wish you'd use it instead of that fake thing someone told you to plaster on your face."

Arya gasped a little and for a second she put her hand over her mouth. "What happened to her then?"

Petyr shrugged. "This place happened to her, to all of us. To those before and after us. It will happen to you if you aren't very careful." Arya sat uncomfortably in her chair and tried to remain composed. "I won't let that happen to me." Petyr gave a sympathetic smile as he patted her hand.

"I hope not. Cat was such fire then, we were friends then we became a little more. We were utterly in love just before the circle that snuffed out her fire and turned her to ice. I was not fit to court her and we were caught at a desperate attempt for escape. So we could go away and find love in poverty if need be! Both of us suffered for our actions, so did our accomplices. But Cat suffered the greatest and Kevan saw to it that Cat would never put love above duty again. Except, he truly destroyed any capacity Cat had for mercy, tenderness or love for anyone. She tried, Arya, I watched Cat struggle to love the husband she took to escape the school. I watched her try and love Robb, Sansa, Bran. There was never an attempt to love Jon, of course. And by the time she had you, Cat simply was not in her right mind. The same happened with Rickon." 

"Sansa told me that mother tried to kill me as a baby. That she shielded me from it. She said our mother has spent years trying to kill me." Arya tried to sound strong but her voice had a tiny hitch. Petyr nodded and sighed heavily. "Three months she slept in your room, before your crib. I remember her telling me of it. I remember her begging your aunt to let you live there on a visit when you were both young girls. Your mother wouldn't hear of it and that was that. The best I could do was take you girls during the summer months. I wish I could have done more."

Arya shrugged and fixed her eyes, couldn't afford to wet her makeup. "Doesn't matter now. Past is past. I will say goodbye to my mother tomorrow and it is over. It's clear what happens after the visit. So it doesn't matter what my mother did." With relief, Arya saw Lancel coming down the hill with Kevan. "Oh, the groom is coming. I better make sure my face hasn't melted. Don't want to embarrass Sansa at the alter, right? Excuse me, Uncle Petyr." Arya stood up and walked as fast as she could back towards the stuffed cabin. Petyr watched as Sandor trailed her and he gave a slight frown.

Lancel smiled brightly at his freshly and newly dressed second cousin, Joff. "Nice to see you again. Looks like the school agrees with you, Joff." The boy sneered at first but at a glare from Tyrion, his face turned into a sarcastic smile. "Hello, Lancel. Congratulations." Joff stormed off the second the handshake was over.

Tyrion smiled up at Lancel. "Please excuse the boy, he is a little snake and can't help himself. I for one, am happy to see you! It's been far too long, boy! It's not a fair trade, I tell you. I get your spiffy father and my bratty nephew. Jamie gets my favorite cousin. Unfair, this world of ours!" Lancel gave his uncle a firm hug. "I have missed you too! You must take your next vacation with me then! You can bug your brother, swim and drink with me!" Stannis came over to stiffly offer his congratulations and be taunted into the smallest of smiles by the charming boy.


	68. Bad Romance

"Woman, I am giving you five more minutes then you are going to this wedding naked for all I care! Hurry the fuck up! You own three dresses in one color, how hard is the fucking decision?" Gregor fumed, pacing the furry free living room that was looking more like a real home each day.

They have taken to living in Hellhouse, sick of watching Hot Pie, Stannis and Tyrion measure their cabins. They started to move their furniture into the areas that are safe and it wasn't a pretty look. Loras and Sansa had been putting the last of the tiles down in the bathroom that day and were properly horrified when they came out for a break. "Oh gods, Sansa, do you see the cowboy lamp? The one on the huge tan stallion? Is Gregor keeping his torture tools here now?" "Loras, sweetness, close your eyes, you don't want to see Unella's couch. I feel my virginity returning, I feel YOUR virginity returning."

Unella and Gregor have decided they would need to take a trip into this town for furniture next weekend. They weren't looking forward to it since the professors had leaped upon it, as had the whole damned school. Since Hot Pie wasn't cooking, no deliveries were ordered because no one knew how to but him. The staff needed to go to the grocery store which then prompted the entire student body to howl they needed the field trip. Now another reason they needed to waste money in town came floating down the staircase.

"It's the damned pregnancy! I can't fit the dresses over my stomach anymore! Have to wear my one sun dress. And I'm down to either my bunny slippers or my sneakers for shoes. My feet keep swelling up! We have to stop at a maternity store this weekend too. Or you'd better learn to sew." Gregor shut his eyes and yelled. "Do you have a single domestic bone in your body? Even Sandor can fucking sew! You can't sew or hem or cook and I saw how you swept the floor the other day! If you always just sweep shit down into the cellar stairs, it will go from basement to land fill!"

"That's because I have no dustpan or brush for it! Asked you a thousand times to get them for me, but by the time you'll ever remember it, I'll be too big to bend over anyway! Don't know why we are forced to go to this thing. It's just more cruelty on Kevan's part! Like making the next in line for execution watch the death before his own. Fine, I'm as ready as I can get." Gregor watched as Unella came downstairs. Her blond hair wasn't slicked back, in fell in slight waves just past her chin. Light makeup defined her face, made it slightly softer and the dress had straps, cleavage and was violet, not gray.

"You look pretty like that." He uttered that accusingly as his eyes narrowed. Unella glared back and retorted, "You look like a gangster going to his wedding. Tell me you won't wear that to our wedding. You look entirely too fancy." Gregor sneered as he grabbed her arm to drag her out of the house and towards the wedding area. "Lady, I am going to wear ass-less chaps and feathery nipple clamps to our wedding if you don't get moving."

As they headed towards the small decorated garden area, Unella muttered, "I don't know why you waited for me if it irritates you to do so. I certainly didn't ask you to escort me." They rounded the path past the cafeteria and the scents caught Unella's nose. Suddenly, she changed direction and headed for the kitchen, nearly salivating. Gregor grabbed her and wrestled her away. "That is why I waited for you. Can't afford the cost from Kevan if you eat all the wedding food and the staff making it."

Loras never managed to speak or greet Lancel before it was time for the wedding. First Petyr got in the fucking way and he didn't dare try to cut in on that creepy fucker. He saw his chance at one point but when he leaped, he encountered the only other creepy things here. Harold was smiling, touching his shoulder, Bob came out of thin air behind Loras. "Dear boy, before you try and get an autograph with the rock star, have you seen our lovely Myranda? She should be here." Stammering, his skin trying to invert itself, he told them he hadn't seen her since breakfast.

They moved on but Lancel was being led towards the makeshift alter by his father and uncle. Tyrion was to be Lancel's best man and Petyr was walking Sansa down the aisle. Loras hated how wrong all of it was, so fucking wrong. Lancel would never wish a drunken bystander to violence like Tyrion to be his best man, relation or not. He also should be marrying his true love, who needed no one to walk him down the fucking aisle. Forcing a smile onto his face, Loras turned to alert the bride and her maid of honor that it was time. He offered his arm woodenly to Arya, who awkwardly took it. "I'll lead you to the alter, show you where to stand."

I will imagine all of them dead, choking on their blood, Lancel so proud of me, ready to marry me. Loras smiled and twinkled from that moment on.  

Polliver blocked the milling twins and growled out, "I need to get ducklings sitting and calm. Stop freaking everyone out and find a place to sit or lurk from a tree or something!" Harold started to attempt to walk through Polliver but Bob held out his hand. "You are missing a duckling, counselor." Polliver shook his head. "No, I am missing two ducklings, Myranda and Jeyne. Both are in the clinic and will remain there until after the ceremony. They were too high strung, Raff gave them something to relax. They relaxed too much." Harold sighed and rotated his neck. "Fine. The girl's actions matter to us as her mentors. You should have texted us or told us."

"Duly noted. Now please, would you stop bugging the kids now?"

Bob smiled and nodded. "Of course. Thank you for your help, Polliver." He waited until the counselor started after Ramsay, who was attempting to sneak away, before turning to Harold. "What is it with you today? This behavior is suspect, Harold. Is it what I think it is? Really, is it?" The two men stared at each other in silence, reflecting vague twin features of concern. Cursing, Harold stormed off and Bob started to laugh, unable to help himself as he watched his partner storm his way up the hill. Bob didn't notice how everyone stared at him in unease. Joff pointed then yelled to Ramsay, who was helped into his seat by a baton, "See! I told you, high pitched giggle just like those creepy killers!"

Gilly was just finishing the last of the laundry. She turned the iron on to heat up and was spreading one of Kevan's shirts out when the door slammed. Looking up, Gilly watched as Harold stormed towards her. Without more than a slight blink, Gilly looked at the man while he slammed the thermos down hard on the table. "Polliver drank your damned tea. Do not go around just giving your tea to someone like him! He doesn't deserve help with his restoration issues! It's mine, don't go offering your tea unless you mean it! What kind of heartless beast does that?"

"I wasn't aware it would upset you, Sir. I can make another kind of tea to offer others. Would you like some of that restorative tea now, Sir? Harold, you are looking strange again. You must attend a wedding, you can't do so in that state of distress. Harold?" He grabbed Gilly and forced a deep kiss upon her and came back with a bloody tongue. Then she cracked her calloused hand hard upon his cheek before speaking. "That was rude. You need to ask a girl before kissing her." Harold grinned, licking the blood that tried to escape his mouth. "I apologize for my hasty actions. May I kiss you?" Gilly smiled politely. "No. It would not be proper to kiss other staff members."

"You will kiss me, have sex with me. You will date me. You will marry me if I want. Or I might just kill you." Gilly patted Harold's shoulder as he loomed over her, breathing heavily. "I am very flattered, Harold. And you are quite a catch but I must decline. I cannot date, kiss, have sex with or marry a staff member without Kevan's permission, the same as you. We are constrained by rules, I am afraid. Our passions must wait. Let me get you some ice for that cheek, Sir." Harold grabbed Gilly's braid and yanked it back, searching her stone cold eyes. "I will get Kevan's permission. Then you will." Gilly looked patiently back up at Harold. 

"I will, what? Oh, I see. You think if you order me to pleasure you, I will. As if you are ordering food or cleaning? No, Harold. If you gain permission from Kevan, if I hear it myself, then you can ask me, perhaps. If you tell me, I will say no, then I guess you will risk Kevan's angst for turning me into an ottoman. And I have doubts that kissing or dating an ottoman will be as interesting." Harold thrust his face in hers, letting his sunglasses fall to the ground, Gilly smiled wider. "Nice eyes, why do you hide them so much? Is that why they are so light, sensitive to the sun, hmm?"

Almost pleading, Harold growled into her features. "Why won't you be scared or let me just groom you a little? Why won't you play my games or take my bait, ever? You are driving me fucking insane!" Gilly gave a tiny laugh. "Now, Harold, how can can I drive you to where you already are?" Harold thrust her away and stormed out of the house, yelling over his shoulder. "I am getting permission. You will date me until I get over this stupid obsession." As he slammed out the door, he heard Gilly's polite voice follow him. "You can't order a romance like a ham sandwich, Harold!"

After locking the girls in with Hot Pie, Raff came to sit next to Polliver just as Petyr started to walk Sansa down the aisle. "I hope you made sure those girls are tied down," Polliver hissed. Raff shook his head slightly. "I made sure that I cleaned out Hot Pie's clinic room and the bathroom of anything they could cause chaos with then locked every single door. They are watching the wedding out the window and eating snacks. When I left the girls were half dozing, only Hot Pie is really watching, I think. I will bring them some food right after the ceremony."

Casting a doubtful eye at Raff, Polliver muttered, "You better be right. I don't need a high as a kite Feral and Whore vaudeville show while Kevan is here. Bad enough the creepster twins are making the kids jumpy. And me!"

Hot Pie was sitting in his wheelchair at the window, eating the cookies Raff left him. Myranda and Jeyne were each in a chair at the window, but were half lidded, mouths slightly open, eyes glazed. "Sansa looks like a princess! They gave her a princess dress!" Rolling his eyes, Hot Pie glanced at Jeyne. "No, honey. What Joff wears as a punishment is more of a princess dress. Sansa is wearing a wedding dress like most girls do, white and fancy with lace. I like that crazy thing they did with her hair though."

Myranda made a gagging sound. "Look at them all. The perfect pretty girl is marrying the perfect pretty boy. And how much in love they look! All fake bullshit. Sansa is as much of a whore as me, she just does it fancier." Hot Pie grinned at the bitter girl. "Wow. Jealous much?" "It's not jealousy, it's disgust." Jeyne just watched as they held hands before Kevan, everyone smiling, shining and lovely. "A princess marrying a prince. It's really pretty. Will Unella and Gregor be like that?" Both her friends burst into laughter. "No, Unella and Gregor don't know how to fake romance very well." Jeyne shrugged at Myranda's comment and watched the lovely couple kiss.

They watched everyone clap for the couple who were being led towards tables and chairs. Everyone followed them and then Hot Pie gasped. "Is that a baking staff, caterers? Did they use MY KITCHEN? MY SUPPLIES? Oh my gods, you fucking betraying cocksucking staff! How dare they?" Myranda grinned. "Wow. Jealous much?"

 


	69. Duck, Duck, Goose

Kevan handed out disposable cameras to the students whom were overjoyed. Damon, Arya and Loras all got pictures of the wedding guests plus the bride and groom. Joff got a shot of Polliver eating a deviled egg while talking. He got a pretty impressive picture of his middle finger and Ramsay was taking dick picks in the bathroom. The staff all used their phones and so did Petyr to get pictures of the bride and groom. True to his word, Petyr did not do more than save the pictures.

With a loving arm draped over her graceful shoulder, Lancel whispered into Sansa's lovely shell ear. "My father wishes us to consummate our wedding before I leave today." Sansa gave a small smile as if he said something amusing then whispered back. "Loras will rip out my endocrine system."

A charming chuckle came out of Lancel's curved lips and his eyes were full of warm amused promise. "I will tell him myself. Before I go, I am going to gather my disciples, all of you need to hear from your loving leader. My superstars are dimming, I need to remind you all why you shine." The blush was real and so was the sudden flare in her eyes. Sansa spoke in a hush. "We shine for you, for the other stars that must be saved. We shine to give light to the rotted darkness. We are the hands of justice that will soon be slick with the blood of our enemies."

Lancel kissed her forehead and gave her a brilliant smile that she returned. He fed her a little cake and she did the same back as Kevan watched happily. Lancel looked over at Unella and Gregor. "I hear congratulations are in order! A marriage of your own and twins! How wonderful for you both. I never would have thought you two would be a match. I can see it now, you both wear the same expressions." Gregor and Unella were trying to smile politely but both looked as if something were caught in their throats.

"Thank you, Lancel. We were kind of surprised by it ourselves." Gregor had to answer because in spite of the awkward moment, the damned woman couldn't stop eating. She ate her plate of food, his food went down her gullet next then everything within arms reach. Stannis, Tyrion, Polliver and Raff all sat at the next table over and glared with forks and knives, ready to defend their food. Gregor sighed and slid a plate of tiny pastries towards her as Unella started to eye a chubby waiter. He had to physically restrain her when Sansa was presented with a small plate of lemon cakes.

Kevan glared at Gregor then sniffed and spoke with patronizing understanding. "Gregor, I must give my time and suggestions as a fellow parent and former husband. The woman needs more food than you are providing. Take some extra care and cost at the grocery store when you all go. Unella will crave certain foods incessantly. Please, feel free to come speak with me at the house for any advice and suggestions during the next few difficult learning phases." Gregor looked as if he were choking again and Unella started to giggle slightly, even as his hand wrapped tight around the back of her neck.

Sandor gave a small snort of amusement and Gregor let go of Unella's neck to turn and threaten his brother. Petyr got slightly nudged by the giants arguing and he wandered over to the next table. He ignored the just audible groan of the school staff and sat down next to Stannis, who nearly sat in Tyrion's lap. Petyr smirked, noting the two empty bottles of champagne near the professors. "Drinking in good health or just the normal upkeep for your nerves, gentlemen?" Clearing his throat, Tyrion peered over Stannis at Petyr. "We are drinking in mourning of our lemonade, we are drinking to the good health of the wedded couple and for our nerves."

Petyr stared at the drunk glum men and decided he didn't want to hear their woes of lemonade. His eyes landed on a new target and he saw how Raff grimaced at the eye contact. With true glee, he smoothly greeted the nurse. "Dickon Tarly! It has been some time since I have laid eyes upon you, young man. How have you been?" Jaw tight, eyes hard, Raff slowly spoke. "I don't go by that name anymore. You know that. Please call me Raff." Petyr gave a very dramatic look of apology. "Forgive me, I am getting older and so forgetful these days. Too many secrets to keep through the years and I am starting to drop a few memories here and there."

Polliver snorted. "You were still teaching here the year Raff showed up. Hard to believe you could forget that." Petyr nodded. "True, but if you recall, he was still called by his proper name while I was here. I left when Stannis came to teach in my place that very same year." Tyrion spoke up while Raff smoldered Petyr with his eyes. "Sir, when the boy came here as a student, he wished more than anything to deny his family, his father, as you very well know. Kevan gave him the promise to legally change his name when he became staff. Which you are well aware of, Petyr. Stop stirring the pot, if you please and leave Raff alone."

"Again, my apologies, uh, Raff. Well, even back then I understood why you hated being a Tarly so much. The pressures your father put upon your family were extreme. Even my good friend Cat Stark would hear tales and severely disapprove of his parental treatment. And Cat was never a mother with an overly loving touch so that was saying something. Randal Tarly couldn't stand not having everyone reflect his mirror very perfectly. His wife fell in line, as did his daughter, through beatings, starvation, whatever means needed. You fell in line until you couldn't any longer. And then there was the tragedy of your little brother, Sam. The one who Randal just couldn't force into his image and had to be cast away."

Stannis turned to stiffly confront Petyr as Raff looked ready to attack the man. "Take your vile gossip elsewhere! Go spill your venom on Harold and Bob until they turn you into a unique piece of furniture! Go whisper to Unella until she runs out of food and devours you! Be gone!"  Rather drunkenly, Stannis used his napkin to try and shoo Petyr away. Raff leaned forward a bit with a cutting smirk on his face and Polliver rolled his eyes, muttering, "Great, here we go again." "That's okay. Thank you, Stannis, Tryion, but I can handle my former teacher who wants to be a cunt. Yes, a cunt and I can call you that now, can't I, Petey, Teachey Petey? My father was a cunt too. Not shifty and slimy like you but he was a real true blue cunt of the highest order."

Petyr sneered. "Ah, there is the young man I remember. So pretty, rich and privileged and yet the cruelest student I had seen in some time. So stuffed full of bitter anger at your father that you not only raped your way through several posh clubs but tried to blow up your own school. Heathers, that is what your nickname was. I kind of like it better than any other name you've gone by. I always thought Gregor was right on the nose with his names. Tell me, do you still believe that your father killed Sam or do you ever entertain thoughts that he got away somehow?"

Raff glared at Petyr.

"I never had a relationship with Sam. My father didn't allow me much time to know my sister or brother. All I remember was a fat little boy afraid of sports, horses and guns. I heard my father beating him the night he went missing. I was high as a fucking kite and heading out to another club, unable to give a shit about anything else. And it never occurred to me to shield the little kid because we were not brought up to challenge our father. All I know is when I came home the next day, Sam was gone. We were told he ran away. But the way mother cried, how quickly the search for my brother was called off, we knew. And the guilt was the worst part. I came here a few months after that and I already couldn't remember what Sam had looked like but the anger and guilt stayed. I spent fucking YEARS with Unella trying to get over the guilt of never helping my own brother. Don't you come here and try to pull it back into my head because you are fucking bored."   

Polliver pulled Raff out of his seat. "Let's go check on the clinic crazies, okay? Ignore Petyr, he isn't worth getting in trouble over." Petyr smirked as the counselor tried coaxing the rattled nurse away. Stannis glared at Petyr. "You just have to poke at everyone's sore spots, don't you?"

Lancel wandered amongst the students for a moment, smiling and greeting each politely. He shook Ramsay's hand and said something. In his usual manner, Ramsay sneered and seemed to make a comeback that made Lancel chuckle. After he moved on, Ramsay goaded Joff into helping him in a commando stealth challenge, to whack only Petyr with food. Damon heard this and whispered it on to Arya who truly couldn't resist. No one noticed Lancel disappear when a food tornado suddenly descended wetly upon Petyr. Sansa laughed out loud then clapped her hands over her mouth as if shocked at herself. That sent the entire staff into gales of laughter.

Raff and Polliver were pointing at Petyr laughing, Stannis and Tyrion were chuckling, all of them enjoying the sight of a frosted, stained Petyr. No one saw Loras head in the same direction as Lancel. Harold and Bob were smiling and Kevan was unable to fully gain his stern look. "Forgive my students, Sir. On rare occasions of extreme merriment, we are forcibly reminded that the students are indeed just teenagers. It seems you were the unfortunate target of their excited natures." Petyr tried to regain his composure while seething. Unella couldn't help herself and rushed over to start plucking chunks of chocolate cake off him. "Oh my gods, he smells delicious!"

Kevan called over in a rather strained voice, "Gregor, if Unella starts eating our guests, it is coming out of both your accounts!"


	70. Trust The Dream

"You are going to do WHAT? He can't make you do that, what is this, the middle ages? Is he going to look on the sheets after for bloodstains? I can assure you that Sansa is no pure virgin! She wasn't faking on top of Damon!" Lancel put his hand over Loras's hissing mouth and leaned into him, pressing them both into a tree.

"Hush. It's meant as an insult to Cat and a test of loyalty for Sansa. My father knows Sansa has no interest in me, he knows I have no interest in her. That we are merely doing our duty. Sansa can say no, he would let her, but she would lose something in his trust. And in my father's mind, it is unthinkable that I would say no. Would you have me raise his suspicions of me when we are so close?"

Loras waited until the hand went away then he pouted. "I would have you not sleep with Sansa. Can't you two just make porn noises and bounce on the mattress?" Lancel chuckled and hugged the sullen pretty thing. "Do you think Kevan Lannister doesn't have cameras or wouldn't stoop to having one of the twins at my door? Or hell, with my luck, in my closet." Shuddering, Loras muttered, "That's disgusting and horrible. I hope none of those things are true. Will you think of me while you do it?"

Kissing Loras deeply until the boy was breathless, he whispered, "Of course I will. And later I will meet you in the bunker." The pout increased. "That is for all of us, I want to see you alone for a few minutes." "Sweetheart, that is what we are doing right now." "Oh, so we have to time to have sex, maybe walk and talk for a bit after? No, we don't. But I shouldn't complain, I got a rushed fuck in a museum restroom stall, Sansa gets to marry you and have romantic sex too."

Lancel gave a sigh at the cutting petulant voice. He let go of Loras with a look of hurt.

"Maybe sending you here was a mistake. Because the Loras I fell in love with was the one who cast aside his old petty personality. I fell in love with a boy who believed in our cause. Who agreed to sacrifice everything, the same as Ramsay, Sansa and myself did! I have ten girls, abused worse than you could ever have been, that are terrified of men and yet, they have more faith in me than my own lover. Where have I failed you? Shall I have Jaime work his lawyerly magic and pull you out back into your grandmother's arms? Are you breaking up with me, Loras? Is that was this is? Because to abandon our cause is to abandon me."

Loras shook his head frantically. "No, no, you are not doing that to me. Don't always turn it that way, it isn't disloyal to be pissed, doesn't mean I don't love you." Without another word, Lancel started to walk away. Swearing, Loras chased after him and grabbed his arm to halt him. Seeing the tears on Lancel's face made Loras frantic. "No, I'm sorry, please! I just love you so much. You know that I am loyal to our cause and to you, it's just upsetting me! I love you, please, don't ever think I don't! Don't send me back, let me help finish our mission. I'm sorry, I won't fail you, you know I won't."

Polliver and Raff were in a more cheerful frame of mind as they headed for the clinic after the frosted downfall of Petyr. "Uh oh, looks like we may have trouble in the clinic. Yeah, I think I'm seeing Hot Pie waving a bed pan in rage from the window at the caterers. Maybe we should just go hide and let Unella find them all later? Because you know if Hot Pie is riled, the girls are probably riled up now too." They entered the room in time to see Jeyne's arms reach out of the vent above the tall cabinet to help Myranda up into the vent.

Rushing over, Polliver managed to yank Myranda back into the room and he saw Jeyne shake a small fist at him. Raff looked up and cooed, "Jeynie, that isn't a very safe or good idea. If you want to leave your visit with Hot Pie, you can just use the door and go. It's all over, Lancel and Sansa went up to the house. Petyr is hiding with his staff while they clean their mess up to leave. Come out of there, silly." Jeyne the feral wanted to argue the point but a Person doesn't leave a room by heating vent. Raff wasn't prepared for her to fly out and land upon him.

Staggering to regain his balance, Raff grinned at the foolish girl. "Alright, silly and adorable wins you points this time. Get off me and on your own two feet, please." Jeyne giggled and let him set her down to the ground. Polliver smacked Myranda's head but lightly. "How do you fancy you were getting out of there? You have no idea where to go in there. Good thing I know that Raff drugged you, otherwise I'd have to wonder about your mind. What makes you think any idea that Jeyne has would be a reasonable and good one?"

"TRAITORS! I WILL PISS IN THE LEMONADE! LYING SACKS OF SHIT, I WILL FIND AND MURDER THE TICKLER AND SERVE HIM TO ALL OF YOU!"

Myranda grimaced. "That is what made me follow Jeyne into the vents. His ranting is giving us headaches. He is a little mad at you guys for bringing in caterers."

To Polliver's amazement, the bedpan suddenly cruised right past his head and hit the wall hard. Turning, Polliver saw that his faithful follower was in full mutiny, his eyes blazing with outrage and hurt. Raff raised an eyebrow. "Wow, I've never seen him this pissed." Hot Pie's face was brick red, his teeth showing and he was sweating, fists clenched. "Hot Pie, I need to check your blood pressure, buddy. I know you are angry at us, at Polliver and you can talk about it as soon as you are in the bed. I need you to lay down. Are you in pain? You look like you might be in some pain."

"TRAITORS! BETRAYAL! YOU REPLACED ME!"

Polliver started to circle around Hot Pie and Raff shoved the two girls towards the door to leave. "See Gregor about getting some food then stay at the dorm until guests are gone." Raff moved closer to Polliver and murmured. "No matter what he says, don't get upset, don't raise your voice at him. He's beyond stressed, his pain level, his blood pressure, it's all spiking. The boy is not going to be reasonable, so we have to be." Polliver nodded. "Stop acting like I'm not as much of a professional as your grand self."

"BALD MOTHERFUCKING LIAR! PROMISE BREAKER, ASSHOLE! I WILL BURN THE KITCHEN DOWN WITH YOUR SHINY NEW STAFF IN IT! TRAITOR! GO ON, REPLACE ME, DESERT ME!"

Polliver growled a bit and Raff sighed. "Remember, if that baton cracks his already damaged skull you might as well make sure you have a good explanation to Kevan on how the kid died. And that truly will mean the end of our meals, won't it?"

"Fuck off, Raff. Hot Pie, listen to me, no one is replacing you, stupid fucking moron. It was a wedding. Petyr brought in caterers for the damned wedding only. You need to lay down and shut up while Raff takes a look at you. No one is taking your place as cook. Why would I waste time being your mentor to fuck you over? Makes no sense, right? Come on, let's get on the bed."

"NO! NO! I WON'T EVER BELIEVE ANY OF YOU! LIARS, BETRAYERS! TRAITOR!"

Before Polliver could respond to that, he watched as the boy burst into violent tears then slumped to the floor. "Aw, for the love of, alright, boy, let's get you laying down. It's been too much for you, probably spent too long alone with Jeyne and Myranda. That alone would have driven me to extreme dramatics."

Harold and Bob have one exception in their rules of overstepping personal boundaries. They do not touch Jeyne and she does not attack them. It was an unspoken agreement that has held since Jeyne first came there. Each had recognized the other for the deadly force that could be used and respect was silently given. During Jeyne's worst early days, when she would run, bite and attempt to actually kill others, she never targeted the duo.

If anything, she ignored or avoided them completely and they had no issue with it. They had little to no use for her except as Kevan's pet project, a student to be protected, kept hidden in a general sense. She was interesting, curious to watch as she progressed and that was all the thought given. So it was surprising that Jeyne suddenly popped up between Harold and Bob. They had been wandering, keeping an eye on Kevan who was half heartedly lecturing the students on their behavior.

Harold stopped when he noticed a spiky small head bobbing low in between himself and Bob. They smirked as they looked down at a smiling Jeyne. "Hello Harold. Hello Bob. Gregor says he can't feed more people, it is hard enough to feed Unella. Myranda took me to the kitchens but Petyr won't stop bothering her and I think she might hurt him soon. I am very hungry but A Person Tells When There Is A Problem. But I would like permission to bite him a little bit since he keeps calling me a  stinking dog. Please."

Both men turned and ran for the kitchens with Jeyne just ahead of them. Bob called out to her, "I would love to let you bite him, but I can't trust you to only hurt him as much as we wanted." The girl was silent then called back, "I'm not going to bite unless you let me just a little." Harold hollered, "Thank you, Jeyne." She went into the kitchen door and by the sound of it, through a caterer. The twins flew through the door and leaped over the downed lady rubbing her knee. Skidding to a halt, Harold and Bob found themselves hard pressed to stop their wonder girl.

Myranda was standing tall, proud and as pissed as any woman had a right to be. Petyr was in front of her, his nose swollen and he was hissing like a snake at her. "I was offering you a chance for freedom, you stupid wh-cunt! Do you know what I can do to you? You don't have to leave this place for me to have you killed! How dare you ever presume to touch me, you gutter snake, you filthy slut."

Without blinking, Myranda took one step closer, rubbing her fist and spoke in a sweet steel tone. "Call me a whore one more time. Go on, you little self important pimp, whores, lies, secrets, children, you'll sell anything, won't you? I heard Craster say he worked with you usually, it was a special occasion to work with others. You sold yourself just to get out of this place, didn't you? Who is the bigger whore, Petyr, you or me? Say it, you fucking repulsive piece of shit, call me a whore again."

Petyr sneered at the girl and spat the word into her face. "Whore." The fist caught him hard and Petyr staggered, spitting out a tooth. "Gregor teaches us to fight in case we run into disgusting perverts like you. All you are missing is your white van and some fucking puppies. I'm going to tell what you said to me, I don't care if you find a way to have me killed. Go for it. I'm going to tell that too. Jeyne is here somewhere, she will be a witness. I am not a great fan of this school, of what I do to survive it, but I am loyal, motherfucker." Myranda hawked and spit at Petyr.

He started to lunge for her and Jeyne growled from where she was creeping towards Petyr. That made him freeze and only then did they notice they had an audience. Harold and Bob smiled politely at Petyr. "You are welcome to continue your actions. Of course, if you attack our sweet girl then Jeyne is going to attack you and we are not going to stop her. Not until we are sure you are down and bleeding a little for us." 

Sansa ran her hands on the windowsill and smiled out the window at the school down below. Lancel came up behind her and began to unbutton the back of the wedding dress. "The others all grew up below you, coming and going in the dorms while you lived in this golden room, in the fancy house. You never got to really be one of them or one of the upper class. Was it like a twilight zone? A balancing act? Is this room where you would plan, fantasize of the power you could have, the things you can do with it someday?"

 Lancel smirked behind her and started to kiss her back as he removed the lace.

"Yes. When I was little I had classes here at the house with my tutors. Back then father still traveled around with me. We would visit relatives and other grand houses and plastic humans. Kids like me in gilded cages, like you and Loras. I saw the students here, the counselors, grew up around them and saw everything. Here in the house my father made sure I understood all about being a Lannister, about being his son. How to be perfect. By the time my father sent me to join students during classes and meals I was already a perfect golden teenager. That alone caused a rift between myself and others. I got along better with the staff sadly. Then I began to learn to act like a Lannister just enough to be able to manipulate and sacrifice to gain power. Power for a good reason, Sansa. As good as power feels, you have to remember to use it for the right reasons, my wife."

Sansa gasped as Lancel released her hair from it's fancy confines and it tumbled about them. He grinned as he took her hand and led her over towards the bed. It took moments for him to see that she wasn't against having sex. "Is it me that turns you on or all this talk about manipulation, power or my childhood?" With a small shrug, Sansa moved against him, whispering. "Yes." Lancel let Sansa take the lead and he grasped onto her hips as she rode him. "I want to make this worth the grief I will get from Loras over it." "My dear wife, please do."

Grabbing a handful of her hair, Lancel drew her head down to bite at her lips. "I'm going to let you manipulate, gain power and kill. As my disciple, my superstar and as my wife. As long as you always remember where you gain this power from, why we use it. My loyal, pretty and deadly girl. I know it's taking some time, but your day is coming. You will help cause the greatest of pain, you will be bathed in the slaughter and all under such a powerful name. Such sweet chaos we will create together." Sansa cried out and Lancel flipped her over, thrusting harder, biting into her shoulder until both of them lay limp, out of breath.  

 


	71. Little Sacrifices

Petyr sneered at Harold and Bob then spoke very calmly. "There is one problem with your weapon of choice. Ferals make terrible weapons and if one happens to know about their past traumas, well. This is could happen." Suddenly, Petyr grabbed the steel utensil cage above him and shook it hard while roaring out, "BAD DOG! CAGE CAGE CAGE!" With a shriek, Jeyne The Person fled as her urine streaked down her leg and she threw herself backwards. Jeyne the Feral flew blindly on all fours  into a corner, pressing her face into the wall, moaning. Her hands clawed at her scalp, trying to hide behind imaginary hair.

"You fucking asshole!" Myranda grabbed one of the utensils that had rattled onto the steel table and swung. Petyr tried to move back but the spiked meat mallet was heading for his face. "MYRANDA!" Her face contorted with rage and strain, the hand holding the mallet shook just in front of Petyr's forehead. Heeding Harold's yell, she dropped the mallet whispering into Petyr's shocked face, "You are so fucking lucky. Someday you aren't going to be so lucky." Bob and Harold gently slid past Myranda, pushing her out of harms way.

"We agree with our sweet girl's assessment. You are far too lucky, always have been. We have long been curious about that, Petyr. Maybe tonight is finally our chance for that discussion? What did you say to upset our docile Myranda so much, Petyr?" Myranda headed towards Jeyne, murmuring to her but receiving only whimpers in response. Petyr put his hands in his pockets and grinned at Harold and Bob, his eyes glowing as he picked on his next two targets.

"You two gentlemen always had a weakness of your own. How many students and servants have lost their skin to your curiosity? Curiosity is a wonderful but terrible thing, isn't it? You had to test your whore's loyalty by putting her in front of Craster. That cost you all, didn't it? Now you just had to see if you could control a killer doggie like you can control a killer whore. And what could that cost you?"   

Harold shrugged and Bob responded coolly. "Nothing really. Kevan will enjoy the unique feral or he will enjoy the miraculous recovery of a person. The single instant of your trauma can be undone. The staff here has already unraveled years of trauma from the girl, they will handle this easily. We were curious, Jeyne was curious, we found out she isn't a stable weapon. No big cost that we can see. You also apparently failed with whatever poking you did of our Myranda. That pleases us rather than annoys us. So what costs?"

Petyr was happy to explain. "Well, the sounds I produced and words I yelled were a mimic of what Bethany would do when seeing Jeyne loose, skulking about. Designed to cause the girl to hide away, cowering. It was usually followed up by a terrible punishment later on. My dear friend loved to give the girl time to fear the coming pain. Almost as if in revenge to it, Roose taught the girl signals of his own designed to both keep her from his wife's immediate reach and to cause as much chaos and damage as he could. Of course, it really only worked well if Jeyne was in the house where she would slam blindly into Bethany's things and into the servants."

Harold tackled Petyr and tried to smother his mouth but it was too late. Bob saw the trick and cursed as Petyr's shoe heel whacked into the steel table with a certain hard beat to it. Myranda gave a tiny yelp as Jeyne knocked her over and began to react like a pinball through the kitchen. Jeyne flew up onto the table, smashing the utensils and cookware over the twins and Petyr. She jumped off, rebounded off two walls, smashed out a window with a pan then went out of it. Myranda ran out the door after her friend.

Moments later, the twins heard the staff and Kevan all yelling as the girl began to crash through what was left of the wedding supper area. Petyr spit out blood and grinned up at the twins. "Ah, the sweet sounds of the cost of curiosity."

Lancel and Sansa emerged to look at the apparent tornado that must have hit the rest of the wedding decorations while they were inside. Sullen workers were quickly cleaning the mess, muttering about leaving as fast as they could. The twinkling lights put into the trees were left along with the regular evening lights that shone upon the public areas of the grounds. The only two people they saw milling about were Tyrion and Stannis. "What happened and where is everyone?"

Tyrion looked at the newlyweds with a wry grin. "It really became party after you left. Not entirely sure what the hell just happened. Jeyne reacted to our little get together by having a one person mosh pit then took off into the woods. This was apparently after she trashed the kitchen. I know that it was Petyr's fault somehow. Which has pissed off Kevan. Harold and Bob escorted Petyr into the house with Kevan just a bit ago. The rest of the staff is trying to flush Jeyne out of the damned trees and the students were all sent to the dorms."

Stannis spoke with stern importance. "We are to make sure the students stay safely within the dorms. But they don't give us nearly enough perks to make us suffer staying inside with them. So we are patrolling so no one sneaks in or out. Sansa, as long as you are with Lancel, you are exempt. Please take care to not wander too far though. With Jeyne in a bad state and Petyr just existing, things might not be very safe."

Sansa stared up at Lancel. "Shall we visit the gardens and stroll there? Or are you leaving and I am simply keeping you here too long?" Tyrion sighed as the young couple strolled off and he pulled out the bottle of champagne he stole from Petyr's staff. "We are simply not drunk enough to handle this duty and young love. It's simply too much emotion for me." Stannis gave him a disapproving frown but did allow Tyrion to fill him a glass.

Damon stared at Loras with concern, as the boy kept pacing their room. When they all had been ushered inside, Myranda stormed up to her room. Joff had been informed by Tyrion that if he left his room, he must do it in the dress. Inviting Tyrion to do an intimate action upon the dress, caused Joff need to run in his room and shut the door. So Joff had not left his room since then in fear of his uncle returning with a paddle. Arya had sat on the couch and started to watch a movie.

Loras spoke in a very strained voice and his eyes seemed misty but wild too. "Just like you would do for Sansa. I just want you to make sure no one sees us go into our hiding space. If it isn't safe for us to return the same way, simply shut the pantry door fully the way you were told to. Right? Simple." Damon shook his head. "For you or Sansa, yes. Why for Ramsay too? Why is Ramsay going with you instead of Sansa?"

"Why should you care? You wouldn't question Sansa this way! You shouldn't question me either! I thought we were friends, that we trusted each other? I don't like Ramsay but he must come with me. I will tell your precious damned Sansa to talk to you about it. But right now, Sansa is at the big house having sex with her brand new husband and I am stuck with Ramsay. So can you please just do what I asked, as my friend? Huh, superstar?"

Damon shoved Loras away from him and stood up from his bed. "Don't call me that. Only Sansa calls me that, it sounds awful and creepy coming from you. I don't like it. I don't like any of this. All Sansa said was I should help you if you asked me to tonight. She didn't say that I had to help Ramsay. She doesn't want me to go near him, to help him or talk to him." Loras tried not to rip his own hair out of his head and keep his composure.

He smiled at the stupid large beast and tried again, slower. "Damon, I'm sorry. I'm very tense too because I have to bring Ramsay with me and I don't care for him anymore than you or Sansa does. But I swear to you, Sansa knows Ramsay is coming with me. That she can explain it to you later on. Will you please just keep an eye like usual for us? Hmmm? Please?" Damon reluctantly nodded.

Loras's smile became winning as he pictured this behemoth's brains blown out onto the wall behind them.

Whatever the three expected to happen in the bunker this wasn't it. But it was accepted because it had to be, because love was pain and freedom was sacrifice. They knelt, silent, bare knees upon the hard cornmeal that Lancel had spread. Tears that might fall will not be due to the tiny stinging flesh wounds, large upwards rolled eyes are not in submissive oppression, it is a divine freeing surrender.

Even the lecture as harsh as it felt, was delivered in a voice that was parental, it was a sweet lover, it was a violent manifesto. 

"I love you, I love each of you and all of us as a whole. And this is a very hard assignment for all of you, I know that. I lived here, I know how easy it is for this to become the only world you know. How easy for everything else to melt away under the oppression. You see how they ply the carrot and the stick. And you see how my father wields his power along with the world he pretends to denounce. You see why we must do what we must do. But it's so easy to fall in line, isn't it? So easy to forget me, our cause, each other within that cause." 

Lancel gave them each a smile that was full of hurt and they each felt their hearts lurch just a little. Loras hitched his breath and tears rolled down his face, Ramsay looked shamed. Sansa breathed in the pain of her knees and felt whole again, allowing Lancel's words to adjust her, bathe her clean.

"When you each chose this mission, you were bonded, focused in your goals. When you each pledged to me the sacrifices needed just for me to trust you with this kind of mission, you each only were able to give me some of the sacrifice I asked for. I forgave it, I understood your natures, allowed you to come here and begin the work anyway. And this is what I come to find. Risks taken too far, fighting among three that should be bonded in the love of what I have taught you. Using the tools I have given you. I see that maybe I was wrong. Perhaps I should have forced you to finish the sacrifices I asked for at any cost before letting you come here."

Kevan glared at Petyr, shaking the gold pen at him, while the man sat relaxed in front of the desk. Harold and Bob were behind Petyr's chair, looming over him and it didn't seem to bother the man a single bit.

"I was kind enough to allow you here to share in my beloved son's wedding! The boon of being first to bring Cat the news, to know that it brings you more favor from my family name to walk Sansa to my son on their wedding day. Instead of being grateful for these gifts, you spent the entire time doing your best to upset the entire school! How dare you set off poor little Jeyne! And I would like to know immediately what it was you offered to Myranda. Before you answer that, the girl has already told her mentors what you said and one thing about Myranda I can always count on. She might be blunt around the edges but that girl doesn't lie. Not to Harold and Bob."

Petyr picked a piece of dried frosting off his suit with a small look of distaste and responded smoothly.

"I told you I came here as a favor to an old friend. What made you think that I meant you, Sir? You were my school director, my mentor and my employer, not my friend. What I told Myranda was that I was in a position to give her a chance at a new life. I offered her a chance to work away from this place. She is a foolish child but she could have been useful. Pity. Had she agreed I would have had her smuggled out tonight and she would be in the arms of Walder Frey by this evening. He has wanted to buy her from you for some time now. I could have made that happen."

Kevan narrowed his eyes and leaned over his desk towards Petyr.

"How are you in a better position, Petyr? Killing Lysa and hiding her son gave you a name and estates, it didn't change your position. Those you wish to accept you won't just because you have a little money. No Tully would have spit on you if you were on fire while you were married to Lysa. The Starks will still die out and they were your one great supporting home, your one huge way into our society. Did another family allow you to leech onto them? Have you cast your lot in with the Freys now?"

Raising his chin slightly, Petyr responded. "No. But the Starks did owe a debt to Walder and I wanted to pay it if I could. As for my position, it has changed, yes. I am the only one who knows where Cat has hidden Bran. I am also the only one who knows where Robb and Cat are right now."

Kevan closed his eyes briefly and spoke in a hard but slightly sorrowful tone. "Petyr, if you've come here to betray me, you won't leave breathing. You know this and yet, here we are." Harold looked at Bob and muttered, "The staff he brought in the truck. We searched them for weapons, not for faces." Bob shook his head. "We know what Robb and Cat Stark look like, we would have noticed them. We searched the truck too. But not every box that came in."

Petyr smirked at Kevan. "Cat is my best friend, my oldest friend. She was even there a few months ago for me when I received my doctor's diagnosis. Turns out I am just about done, a nasty little tumor has nestled in my brain. That is my new position. I have turned into a ticking time bomb, Kevan. Might as well go out with a bang and help out an old friend with her own last requests. Cat knows she is on borrowed time too. We can dance together in hell, surely her sanctimonious husband will be among angels and I can finally have Cat to myself."

Arya stretched when the movie ended and asked Damon if he wanted a soda. He shook his head and started to wander out to the front porch as if looking around. She yawned and headed into the dark kitchenette area to swipe a soda can from the small fridge. Turning around, feeling the small breeze from the open back door, Arya looked up and the can rolled out of her suddenly limp hand. It hit the floor and rolled near the feet of Cat Stark.


	72. No One Offered You LOVE

"You can't be here. You are coming tomorrow. Leave."

Arya's voice was a croak, a very poor imitation of a dying frog. Her chin was as high as her mother's, her back just as straight and wore the same small scowl. Only Cat noticed this, Arya never has noticed, she was always kept blinded. Cat's greatest sin against her youngest daughter was allowing it. Lips curving upwards, taking a single step forward, Cat spoke softly and urgently.

 "I am here for you, Arya. You are leaving this place." She reached out and Arya moved back fast. "No. Whether it's to kill me or sell me, I won't just blindly let you do it. Sansa is married and I don't want marry Joff, but even he is a better alternative to you!" Cat seemed almost shocked at the venom and froze in place.

"Arya, I'm here to save you. I'm going to send you to be with Bran and Robin. They are hidden away and you will join them. I can't do anything for Sansa but I can do this one last thing for you. I never should have allowed your sister so much control over you. I wish I could change that, I wish I had time to explain it all but I don't. Now we must leave this second, Arya. Listen to your mother and come here."

"Fuck you. You tried to murder me as a baby and Sansa saved me. Protected me from you all these years and if you are trying to get to me, it's to murder me or sell me."

Cat shook her head as if surely she heard that all wrong.

"That is a load of bullshit. I never tried to kill any of my damned children but you are coming closest to it talking to me like that. Is this the crap Sansa has been filling your head with all this time? Your sister is not your damned hero, you stupid child! She is how you ended up here! I let that girl keep you like her own damned doll and I will admit, I wanted to. You were not an easy child and my one failing to you was being soft enough to let Sansa have control over you. That is it. No murder, no heroic sister keeping your evil mother from selling you off."

"Soft? There is something soft about you? Mother, everyone of your children can recite abuse at your hands. Not one of us remember a single loving moment with you, just fear, manipulation, abuse and pain." Cat actually dropped her mouth open for a second, eyes widening and then, the most incredulous thing to Arya. Her mother actually let out a bark of laughter that was almost reminiscent of Gregor's own laugh when the kids would say something was unfair.

"Sweet summer child, who the living hell ever told you that a blank check of hugs and warm fuzzy things was yours to cash? Love? I didn't give you enough love, hugs, kisses and warm fucking cheers? I fed you, clothed you, do you think I was out partying all those long hours? Do you think your father was learning to salsa the nights away? We were putting our very lives on the line to make sure you would all have everything in the entire world someday! And I taught you to keep your chin up, I taught you to survive, to fight, to keep that back straight because it's harder to knock down a strong woman! I didn't want you to have LOVE, I didn't have or need LOVE, I needed STRENGTH, I had to be my own power and that is what I wanted to give you. You want love, sweetheart, have it, it will break you just like it did me. Just like this place and your sister are going to break you. Or you can leave me with me. In fact, that is what you are going to do."

Lancel crouched down in front of the three kneeling disciples and spoke softly.

"Ramsay, the risks you take are immense and I am grateful that you wish to give your life to our cause. But to bring about your own demise over a distraction or cause too much interest in yourself over it could hurt us all. It could cost us everything. Do you remember what I asked of you for your sacrifices? I asked you for Damon's life. What did I receive? A pile of dead Baratheon's to impress me with a high death count. And one of them not only survived, but was dumb enough to start driving away with a dead family in tow while you wandered off with Damon to kidnap a whore. You were not only late to the accident, you still didn't manage to kill your one survivor or the actual sacrifices I wanted. I asked you for Damon's death because he was the one thing that mattered to you. That was totally yours."  

Turning to look at Sansa, Lancel continued. "I asked you to sacrifice Arya and you murder your two brothers, bringing the sister here instead. Did you forget why I wanted Arya to be your contribution? Jon and Rickon didn't matter to you, Arya did. You enjoyed having her as your idea board for manipulation, someone to control all these years. It made you feel good to have power over someone, it made you feel even better to know it gave you a small bit of power over your mother to have taken away her child. You created your little sister and couldn't bear to destroy your own creation. I was asking you to give up your own favorite possession. Same with you, Ramsay. All those rich folks can be stacked a mile high, but it's an empty gesture when I know Damon means more to you. Or did."

Petyr smirked at Kevan.

"Cat and Robb are here to hide Arya where we have sent Bran and Robin. Wills have been changed, all the Stark estates and businesses, every account will be tied in red tape for years. Jaime will die trying to unravel anything more than the twenty dollars that Cat has left Sansa. Same with all of mine or Lysa's accounts and estates. When Bran and Robin reach the ages of twenty one they can inherit everything. If they are smart they will take it and start their own works far from this rotted world you high class pricks have created."

Kevan calmly pressed the red button under his desk that would alert all staff including the ones the students should never see. "And what of Arya then? Does she inherit anything when she turns twenty one? Or just live off the generosity of her brother and cousin?"

Petyr smirked at Kevan.

"Well, you damned the girl when you engaged her to Joff. You should have finished the deed or not bothered. That only gave Cat her last hope, her last straw to clutch at. Cat always felt guilt about Arya. She and Rickon were simply too much on Cat. Leaving the youngest boy to be cared for by Jon, the most unwanted child. And Cat left her youngest daughter to Sansa. By the time Cat saw how Sansa was manipulating her, it was too late. Then the boys died and the whole family blamed her. There was never going to be a chance to redeem herself in Arya's eyes. Cat sees this as maybe her last chance to do that. Save Arya from this school, this marriage, this awful leashed future. Arya will be given enough upon her twenty first birthday to go off and find her own way in this world. It's the best Cat can do for the girl and truly, it is touching, isn't it?"

Kevan looked up at Harold and Bob. "Please assist the staff in locating Robb and Cat. Have any other staff Petyr hired that hasn't fled rounded up. No one leave the school grounds." After the twins left the room, shutting the door firmly behind them, Kevan twirled his pen in his fingers and stared at Petyr.

"Cat and Rob will be found. They will then be lost forever to the world. And you, what shall I do with you, Petyr? Here is what I think I'm going to do. I'm going to let Harold and Bob take you to one of their special rooms. And they are going to strip you of every secret. Think how enjoyable it can be for you, to finally crow about every single thing you've known. To finally show everyone the true monster inside you. I assure you, there will be very little secrets or skin left before Harold and Bob finish with you. And I am going to make sure that your flesh is turned into a footstool. That way, even in death, even in the final lasting bit of you, the social balance is still restored."

"You Lannisters are so damned pompous and arrogant. Look at you still wearing the same stupid suit, still twirling your damned pens, some things never change. The rest of the world has changed without you and you are too ignorant to see it. New blood will rise and the power will shift, your family will be obsolete soon enough, just like the Starks, Greyjoys, Tyrells, Boltons, all of it sinking straight to hell. I am only sorry I won't see it all go down. I tried to warn Cat of it, tried to warn Cersei, hell, I even spoke with Roose of it! Bethany was the only one who saw how the youth might rise against the older ways. These kids, the new generations are changing, they are going to take over. Let Cat take Arya and the boys away, it's my last request, Kevan. Before the storm I see brewing actually comes, let us save at least a few from it."

Kevan slowly walked to sit on the edge of his desk. Petyr stayed seated, his hands calmly folded in his lap, tilting his head slightly as he watched the man fussily fix his pant lines. "What is this coming storm we should save the few children from? Tell me about this uprise you see happening and maybe I will reconsider Arya's future, I might intervene on the boys' behalf to Tywin."

Petyr gave a chuckle and shifted slightly.

"No, I don't think so. Once I had confirmed my suspicions, the only one I told was Cat. I might have done more but we were already on such borrowed time. So I would rather content myself to let it burn the way it all should. Cat and I can only try to protect a few to carry on our legacies, fleeting as it is. We agree that the rest of you can all rot and drown in whatever bloodshed comes for you."

Shaking his head, Kevan tapped his pen against his knee and spoke in a sad tone. "Petyr, Harold and Bob will get it out of you in a matter of very painful minutes. Why delay it? Just tell me and allow me to find some way to honor your last request. I could shield the children from this coming bloodshed if I knew of it. A last good deal, Petyr, come on. You always loved making those deals, loved games, so play a last one with me. What do you want for the information?"

With a pained grimace, Petyr shifted in chair then shrugged at Kevan. "Believe it or not, this is the last game. And the best part of it all is that I get to take my secrets to the grave with me. Leaving you only to know that I will be laughing in hell at what you are about to go through. Do you remember what my first talent was? When I got here as a student I used it all the time. No amount of beatings or punishments could stop my talent until I learned new ones. Do you remember what my first talent was, Kevan? It was sleight of hand."

Kevan clutched his golden pen in shock as Petyr's hand came off his lap holding another golden pen. Swiped from the collection in the desk, it was a poison one, of course. Kevan watched in dismay as the man plunged it deep into his own leg, pressing down hard on the button. "I'm dying my way with all of my secrets. Have fun in the coming great war, Kevan. I hope they wear your head as a fucking hat."


	73. Group Hysteria

Arya saw her mother reaching for her, the bird predator lit garishly by the moonlight and it felt like death was reaching for her. Her mother lied, Sansa lied, Arya doesn't care who lied, it doesn't matter anymore. Panic reached into her heart and squeezed all reason, logic, even emotions away. She turned and ran, hearing her mother's talons brushing against her back, trying to find purchase in the fabric of her shirt.

With a scream of a child who has been attacked by the monster under the bed, Arya headed towards the living room. She could hide in her room, or get out the front door to the professors. Anything but the bird of prey behind her and those talons she has feared all her life. The scream had been loud and Myranda came from her room upstairs.

She ran down the steps to see Arya heading into the hallway and some fancy birdlike death zombie grab a fist of her hair to halt or scalp her. "Hey! Let her go right now! Hey bitch, I will fuck you up, this is not a night to fuck with me!" Joff opened his door to see Cat Stark trying to rip Arya's hair out of her head, talons causing small trickles of blood. "Ugh, don't do that to her! I don't want a bald wife, stop that! Whore, Sidebitch, stop her right now!"

Damon had been on the front porch and he had seen with sudden terror that the professors and Sandor were coming towards the house rather fast. Hoping to stall them, Damon locked the front door. He had come back inside to go shut the pantry door but was blocked by a screaming Arya and a vulture trying to rip off her head. "I don't care who you are. I am going to hurt you if you don't stop hurting Target."

Damon's growl was enough to make Joff and Myranda shudder, they saw him transform into the killer he has been before. Hulking, shoulders hunched forward, eyes narrow and full of alien need. The sneer upon his lips and the sudden tongue that licked all the way down his chin. This is a stressful time for Damon, not something he can articulate but it was stressful. To have to be on guard during a tense night, to have to help Ramsay, spending the day in a wedding situation. It was all a volcano and here was the explosion. 

Cat glared at him, at the other two children creeping upon her, circling her. "This is my daughter. I am trying to save her, I would let all of you escape this place if I could. Please let me pass and get her out of here. She is being dramatic and it is no concern of yours, young man, don't you dare threaten me." Keeping one hand in Arya's head, Cat reached into her pocket and pulled out a small handgun.

And that was all it took. A look passed, it went from Damon, to Arya, to Joff and it was returned by Myranda. She was the one to sweetly smile at the vulture zombie queen and speak in the nicest voice she has ever bestowed upon any elderly client.

"Mrs Stark, that is why you sent Arya here. To be saved, remember? I think you have forgotten things, maybe your mind doesn't work very well anymore. This is a home for wayward teens, Mrs. Stark. We are troubled children and easily riled. When rules are broken, chaos follows, it's your own doctrine, yours and the school's. Weapons are not allowed in the dorm house. It's a very strict rule because we are very wayward and very troubled. You have broken the rule and well, I am afraid that the chaos must follow."

Arya ignored the pain of her hair and skin ripping away as she bit deeply into her mother's wrist, hoping to make her drop the gun. Crying out, Cat found herself squeezing the trigger, hoping to hit one of the oncoming students. The bullet grazed Damon's side which paused him but then just made him grin and chuckle in a loathsome way. He grabbed a lamp and ripped the cord from it, wrapping it around his hand, making a whip, taking his time at it.

The others weren't wasting their time, Joff started to throw things at Cat. He hit Arya enough times accidentally for her to yell, "Stop saving me, it's too fucking painful!" A book glanced off Cat's head and it gave Myranda enough time to wrestle Cat for the gun. The lithe young girl broke the bleeding wrist with a happy smile as Cat snarled at her. The gun did fall, Arya wrenched herself free to scramble for the gun. Joff cheered her on as Arya grasped the gun and Joff helped her stand up.

He pulled her back from the others and started to chant. "Now, shoot her now, do it now, shoot that bitch! Shoot her!" Arya nodded and fumbled until she could aim, her hands shaking uncontrollably. Tears fell and Arya wavered, but she tried to aim anyway. "I won't let you take me or hurt anyone here. Get out of my life! Get out!" Myranda had been blocking Cat and dodging swipes of talons. Cat kept attempting to face her daughter but the young bitch wouldn't get out of her way. 

"Arya, you ungrateful fucking child! You want to remain your sister's little puppet? If you live long enough you'll marry that little sadist and either he or Cersei will kill you. If you do not leave with me now, you will die. Look at what this place and Sansa are doing to you. Are you all little beasts now? It's disgusting, it's intolerable and I swear you will all treat me with respect!"

Damon was walking over now and with just a single move, he sent Myranda onto the couch, out of the way. With a smile that was dark and nearly lustful, the boy whispered to the woman who stood tall before him. "Dance for me."

They all heard the banging on the door. It was ignored, this was personal. Damon got some wet work started and the others closed in. Sandor broke the door down as they heard Cat screaming.

Robb had been hiding near the small woodshed behind the dorm house. His mother had given strict instructions. She would bring Arya out and they would run for the old culvert that led out of Kevan's property. Robb was not to follow her inside, they were kids and had no weapons. Mother would grab his little sister and they would run. She was firm that if something did go wrong, he wasn't to wait past ten minutes. He was to run to the escape route on his own and leave no matter what. 

He reminded himself of that as the ten minute mark started to creep closer. Then there was a scream, from inside the house, it sounded like Arya. More screaming, he could see three men running for the dorm house. He could hear the crashing of someone trying to open a door. Robb cursed and ran but he ran for the house, he couldn't abandon his family. Almost to the back door where his mother had entered when something landed hard on him. His face and body smashed into the dirt and something loathsome whispered thickly into his ear.

"Aren't you just a young strong strapping lad. You are trespassing, little boy. I love disobedient students, filthy little children but I really love sneaky bad boys the best." A hard punch to his spine, another to his head and Robb found his limbs didn't want to work right. Robb had lost his gun when he fell and he found himself being dragged by his legs towards the woods. He tried to grab anything, but there was nothing but dirt and grass. He raged, roared and finally managed a glance at the man who was stealing him away. The leering face reminded him of a troll he read about in a story once as a kid and he screamed.

Lancel reached to Loras and pulled him off his knees, into his embracing lap. He gently wiped away the cornmeal and the blood from the punished flesh. "Loras, my swee,t devoted Loras was the only one to truly offer me the sacrifices I needed." Giving a small kiss to Loras's forehead, he allowed the delicate frame to lean into him, curled up like a small child. Lancel stroked the pretty features, the face, felt the texture of Loras's hair and then swept hands down his back.

"He loved Renly since they were preteens. Loras loved his sister, the bond between them was deep. And yet, he managed to kill them for me, for our cause, for sacrifice and loyalty. I was so proud of him, so honored that he believed in our cause enough." He smiled at Loras who gave a worshipful grin in return. Lancel stroked Loras's back and continued in a quiet yet strong voice.

"You have done so well, keeping our secrets, gathering information as you can. But it's really Sansa and Ramsay taking all the chances, isn't it? I am very disturbed to hear and see how much you dislike, distrust them. Did the last two years together no longer matter? How long did we spend making sure the three of you were comfortable with each other? Do you wish it were you taking the physical punishments, the ridicule, the high risks and costs they take? I expected you to support them and remind yourselves of the mission when needed. The wedding is hard for you, I understand, the distance from me is hard, it is for me too, love. But for the last time, I will ask you. Do you need me to pull you out? Is it all too much for you? I can use you elsewhere, my love, somewhere easier and safer if needed. My girls are learning at a rapid rate. They can protect and shelter you, I can have you do a more secretarial role, you'd like, Loras?"

His voice was both patronizing and supporting all at once. Loras whimpered and shook his head frantically. Lancel allowed Loras only a moment to give out apologies and assurances then cut him off with a long kiss.

"Hush now. You get worked up far too easily these days, my darling star. Now, I want you to start trying harder to support and bond with your family. Sansa and Ramsay need you and you need them. Take up some meditation or yoga to relax you, love. The work I shall do out of this school is beginning. It won't be long before the families fall into fear, and this place, this is the center of our circle. Where we shall make our stars truly shine. I just need you to be patient, remind yourself what we are doing and why. And remember that I love you, Loras, trust that I love you and will guide you safely to glory if you let me."

Lancel allowed Loras to remain in his lap and he looked over at Ramsay and Sansa.

"Ramsay, you have lost Damon to Sansa. At least it is to one of our own. You could have saved yourself that pain had you killed him as I'd asked. Now he is at least useful to a certain capacity. Sansa, I don't think it's wise for us to reveal ourselves in any way to Damon. But he is a useful tool for us as long as he continues to worship you. Find a way to explain Ramsay's involvement with Loras tonight, if you please. Damon should understand only that it's you, Loras and Ramsay he can be the look out for. I don't want Ramsay and Damon engaging again, its too dangerous. Ramsay, stay away from Theon as well. Harold and Bob do not bluff, if they have warned you, then that is that. Do not approach the boy again. Joff is your tool the way Damon is Sansa's. Be careful not to break your tools anymore, children."

Both of them nodded instantly. Lancel reached out and touched Sansa's face gently.

"Arya is a lost cause, leave her be to sink or swim on her own, Sansa. You did all you could for her, even tried to protect her from me, so the painful lesson here for you is to still lose your greatest possession. You are losing her to Joff and to the school. And that means, when it is time, Arya will not be on our side of the war. Damon might stand a chance of being spared for his assistance and loyalty to you, but Arya shall be fair game. You will not attempt to save her. Is that understood?" Sansa nodded and swallowed hard. "Yes, Lancel. I am so sorry for disobeying your order to kill her. I will not save Arya, I will not interfere further in her life or death." 

"Good girl, my pretty wife. Don't stiffen in my lap over it, Loras. You must get used to the idea. It is not a personal marriage but it's going to be a public one. You simply must learn to be comfortable with it. Everyone here knows who you are to me, Sansa doesn't wish to interfere in that." Lancel waited until Loras apologized before starting to speak to Ramsay. He stopped with a frown and looked at his buzzing phone.

"There is an emergency, my father wants Sansa and I to take shelter. Apparently your mother and brother decided not to wait until tomorrow for their visit, Sansa. Ramsay and Loras, I would suggest taking an alternative route back. The dorm will be filled with armed staff by now to keep Arya safe. Be creative if need be. Let's go."

Sandor had knocked the children away and the professors stared in horror. Stannis spoke in a very grim voice. "We are not trained for such things. No child should feel reduced to doing such things. I am getting more qualified staff and the doctor. I am going to do that because I cannot do this." Tyrion nodded and cleared his throat. "Get the doctor first, Stannis. Hurry, Sir." Tyrion was already texting for Unella and Raff as he watched the stiff limbed man leave. He looked like a broken marionette.

Tyrion couldn't tell who he felt worse for. Stannis, Mrs. Stark or the students. Arya was standing against the wall, her hands covered in blood, just staring at her mother. "I am sorry, I am so sorry. Please, I am sorry, so sorry." She kept whispering it and shaking as if unable to understand what just happened. Damon held a coiled, bloody cord until Sandor snatched it from him. Then the boy hugged himself hard and began to sob. "I didn't mean to, I, ahh, gods, sorry, look what I did, oh no, please, lady, I am so sorry."

Sandor rolled his eyes and muttered, "I am sick of hearing all the sorries around here. Don't bother being sorry about what's done now."  He had also sent texts to everyone. Myranda and Joff didn't seem to be upset by the woman's condition nor their own involvement in it. Tyrion snapped at Myranda. "Get towels, blankets, something! Be useful, please, don't stand there smirking! Nephew, I am sure you were only defending your fiancé but you best wipe that smile off your face. If that hard on doesn't leave in three seconds you'll wear the princess dress to bed for a week."

Cat's hair had been ripped out in tufts, she was bruised and her face was scratched deeply, one eye nearly blinded. Any skin to be seen was covered in welts and cuts from the cord Damon had wielded. The true horror wasn't even the broken and nearly bit to the bone wrist. It was Cat's throat. Damon had struck the cord against the woman's throat so hard it crushed something. Blood crusted, blackened swollen flesh and a cawing sound coming from the woman's mouth, lips that seemed to be turning blue.

Tyrion wonders how many nightmares he will have of the sight getting closer to his horrified eyes as he moved closer. It seemed one of the cuts on the nightmare throat had been ripped or scratched into. Something glistened that moved horrifically and produced a tiny whistling sound when Cat inhaled. He took a towel from Myranda and knelt carefully next to the suffering woman. With great relief, he heard Unella and Gregor burst into the room.

Gregor looked at the entire scene over Unella's head as she rushed forward. "What the hell happened in here?" Tyrion looked at the kids then at Gregor. "The students were protecting one of their own from stranger danger." Gregor looked at Arya and Damon's pale, tear streaked faces and nodded. "The girl was in mortal danger. The children had no choice but to defend themselves. Kevan will be happy to know the students stood up for each other and the school. Unella, just patch her up enough for Kevan. Don't go wasting your skills on a dead woman."


	74. Parental Abuse

"Arya? Young lady, can you hear my voice? Arya, try to look at me and respond if you can."

She was aware a hand was pressing on her shoulder, a large one. It belonged to Sandor, yep, got that part. Grey fog was comforting but starting to slip away and Arya reluctantly tried to understand what was going on. The voice was not Sandor's, Arya reasoned that one out but chased after that fog, a safer place. More voices but they were distant, safe to not care about but still hear.

"Dammit! How stupid are you? I left the two of you to deal with Jeyne because I figured a therapist and a counselor, both armed, semi intelligent men could keep her and themselves safe! Gregor nearly thought of MURDERING you two when Jeyne showed up here at the clinic! She just staggered onto a clinic bed to rest and told Gregor that you two were lost in the woods! That she would have helped you both but Polliver was waving his damned handgun around for intruders and it scared her!"

That was Unella's voice and a funny story but the mist was swirling and Arya liked it there. The hand left her shoulder or maybe her shoulder left the hand? Didn't matter anyway, in the fog nothing had to matter at all.

"Young lady, I think you can hear me, you just don't want to. I am very sorry, I truly am. You have had the worst of days and if punishment is what you are dreading, please don't. There is no disciplinary action to be taken upon students defending their lives and their school. Open your eyes. We need to go through one more awful thing and then I promise it's all over. Arya, I will have Unella give you a shot that will make you very awake and aware, if you would like. I am about to make your ordeal just a step worse, you and both know it has to happen. I am sorry but even before I was a care taker of children or a father, I was a Lannister. And Lannisters are a cruel people when provoked, dear. Now open your eyes or Unella will give you some adrenaline and I will have Sandor move you around like a puppet if I must."

Each word ripped away at her blanket of sliver gray mist that wrapped around her warm like wolf fur. It shredded like sharp lion claws tearing through the gray to reach the pink meat of her head. Arya forced herself to shift on the clinic bed and then she covered her face. Her voice sounded far away and muffled.

"I can't look. If I open my eyes, I'll see her, I can't do that.  Please. Don't make me look."

Kevan's voice softened slightly.

"Fine. We can work with that. Your eyesight isn't required, just your voice, your hand and the agreement. I am sorry she is in the room, but I want her to witness it. It's being recorded as well so that any surviving family that might have need of seeing it can. Joff, take Arya's hand. Arya, Sandor and your sister are here for you, Lancel and Tyrion are standing with Joff. Let's get this marriage officiated while the guest is able to still understand it."  

Arya pulled the mists back around her, but felt the hand on hers, heard and responded to Kevan's words. They meant nothing, it meant nothing and there was no half alive mother rasping through a bandaged, tubed throat glaring at her from a ripped up face with a half bald head. When Kevan's voice paused during some terrible sound and scuffle, she moaned. Kevan's voice was a terrible sound then and Arya rolled herself in the gray fur fog.

"Harold, Bob, put those extra head restraints on her. Unella, is she stable enough? Good. Cat, I am glad to see your fury brings you so much fight. Now finish watching what you have personally brought about. I can have the doctor keep you alive and in agony for at least a month if I have to, woman. Do you want your daughters to see that, haven't you done enough to them? Let us finish this and I'll let you die."

Kevan continued his words to Arya and Joff and they responded numbly. Then it was over and Arya felt Joff kiss her mouth quickly. So much for fairy tales, Arya didn't want to ever wake up and kissing Joff wasn't like kissing a prince, more like kissing a frog. The best part of it all was hearing Unella lean over her and mutter.

"I am putting something in your I.V. It's going to let you sleep and you are spending tonight here in the clinic. I'm going to let you share the room with Hot Pie so you won't be alone when you wake up. Raff will be taking night shift and will be here for you if you need anything."   

Stannis was the one to discover Ramsay and Loras had been out of the dorm. In a fury, he ripped the stolen bottle of champagne from them and delivered a righteous strapping all the way to the dorm house. He lectured harshly the entire time about how other suffered trauma and were dealing with a lock down emergency while these two dallied, drinking in the garden! They were driven by a strap and harsh words into their rooms.

Lancel and Sansa had rushed from their romantic dalliance on the pond to find a gruesome trespasser strapped in a wheelchair being forced alive and aware. They were ordered to attend the worst wedding they've ever witnessed. Kevan was in a high grim fury that even Lancel didn't dare trespass upon.  "We shall do whatever you wish, father."

Sansa had started to silently cry and her emotional upset was not all contrived. Her sister was clearly traumatized, about to be married at fifteen, not to mention that horrid sight of their half dead mother. Sansa was sad at loss, her own losses. The loss of her sister, her own pet by Lancel's order and this just confirmed it fully. She was also sad and full of impotent anger at her mother and sister.

How dare her mother come and try to kidnap Arya from her? How dare Arya be the one to murder the bitch? Arya, a nosy whore and those two TOOLS. The TOOLS, a whore and the little sister SHE created all just wrecked Sansa's plans! Lancel had promised that he would make sure that Sansa got to be the one to kill her mother. Lancel hugged her and did his best to offer comfort to his clearly grieving but compliant young wife.

Kevan stood alone in the room they wheeled Cat into. He sat in a chair just before the wheelchair she was strapped into.

"Does it hurt terribly? I only told Unella to give you enough assistance to live, to be aware of my actions. How does it feel to know it was your very own daughter that brought you down, to die this way? I warned you so many years ago that your ways would lead you to tragedy, didn't I? Your body won't be found here, of course. Well, only your head will be found at all and that will be your own estate. How does it hurt to know you will die here, that your skin will stay for Harold and Bob, like Petyr's, like so many others that dare to defy me or hurt my school or family? All that arrogance got you nowhere in the end. Sansa is a Lannister, Arya is a Lannister. Bran will be found along with Robin. If I can arrange it, they will come here to be my students. Or Tywin may just make sure they remain missing. Robb has been found, Cat. I wouldn't be so cruel as to let you die without knowing what happened to your eldest son. The one who followed you blindly, dutifully all these years. Your favorite."

Kevan smiled with full charm as the woman's eyes widened, thinking of her son. He leaned forward, twirling his pen and he spoke with a gentle, warm but slightly gleeful tone.

"Sadly, the Tickler took him, Cat. Of course, it took us awhile to figure that out and by then, well, Meryn doesn't get to have fun that often here. He will return the body within four days. I won't allow him to keep a victim alive beyond four days, it gets distasteful."

Drinking in the sight of horror in Cat's good eye, the other one wildly rolling, it soothed him.

"You drove me to this level of cruelty, Cat. You and Petyr. I should have expected it, the two of you have always been sneaking, trying to rise too high and knock others down without a care. You messed with me, with my students and school for the very last time, dear. Worst of all, you ruined my son's wedding day. My only son, Cat. And your own shining daughter, created in your image, you destroyed her special day. For a parent to destroy their child's wedding day? Unforgivable and quite rude. So you deserve this, Cat. But I am a merciful man, it is a fault of mine, I passed it to my son, in fact. He has a way bigger heart than I do and he has begged me to let you die. That Sansa and Arya are grieving, traumatized and that hurts my son. What hurts my son hurts me. So I grant the request, you can die. But like the rest of us, you have to hurt."

The golden pen had a razor but no poison. The razor sliced hard, fast and deep into the tube but not into flesh. Cat's eyes widened as she began to slowly lose her oxygen. Kevan watched with stony eyes for the entire twenty minutes that Cat thrashed and strangled to death.  


	75. Scarecrows And Comic Book Villians

The Starks and Petyr disappeared and the trauma, the weddings, it changed everything and nothing at all.

Sansa, Arya and Joff had wedding rings and that was all. Lancel went home, Arya and Joff were sternly informed by Kevan there would be separate rooms still and no consummation yet. Arya had commented that she couldn't imagine having sex with a husband in a princess dress anyway and Joff advised her she was going to be an abused wife someday.

Damon had taken a private walk with Sansa soon after that terrible day and she reassured him.

"Damie, I am so sorry Loras just sprung that on you. I am trying to do a very important thing, superhero. And sometimes even a good soup needs an icky kind of ingredient in it for it to come out well. Does that make sense, Damie? I need to use Ramsay for an important reason, a very secret one. All I need you to do is sometimes cover and guard for Ramsay too. Only if he is with me or Loras and never if he personally asks you. There is no need for you to speak with him. Ramsay is nothing more than a half relative and a bully to you. And he isn't a good person but I need his help. Can you trust me that it's all for a good reason? I promise someday you will know all of it and you'll be with me, safe. My own personal superstar, please trust me?" Damon had smiled and trusted in his shining friend.

Lancel sent Sansa a bouquet of flowers, a box of imported chocolates and some petty cash. In his card to her he said he would do this once a month. He would see her on visiting day and he loved her, missing her already. This sent Loras into the newly grown small cornfield that Sandor, Arya, Gregor and half the students have all worked hard upon. In a rage, the boy ripped as many of the stalks down as he could, screeching and kicking, flailing in his rage and jealousy. Nanny Gregor was the one who found the perfect boy in a perfect storm of temper tantrum.

For the next four hours, everyone but Kevan and the twins came to peek at the unique scarecrow attached to the wooden cross in the middle of the destroyed cornfield. Loras was also informed his meals would be limited to the corn until every last kernel from every last stalk he broke was consumed.

Sandor had taken Arya hiking the very next day after her mother died. The girl didn't want to go, she wanted to lay listless in the clinic bed, staring out a window. Sandor took the tube out of Arya's arm and dragged the protesting girl out of the bed. He slung her under his arm like a sack and carried her to the dorm house. Tossing her into her bedroom he asked if she wanted him to dress her. Arya glared at him as she slowly threw on jeans and a white sweatshirt hoodie, pulling the hood up as she pulled her long bangs down, if to block the world out.

Snorting, Sandor muttered, "Taking the Jeyne approach to your problems? Don't think I won't take the same approach that your damned Nanny did. No, not the sneakers, put on the hiking boots. Already have our packs ready, taking a day trip. Let's go, move it. Sigh all you want but hurry up or I'll drag you with just one sock on." They walked mostly in silence, letting the beauty of the woods soothe them, then the rocks needed their focus to climb. They stopped to eat on a large rock outcropping and looked out and down upon the school.

They ate and Sandor spoke.

"I was in this school when your mother was still here. Just made the biggest fuck up of my life and it was the person I hated the most that saved me. Fucking despised Gregor since we were little kids. Bastard burnt my face this way over a damned toy when I was six, can you believe that shit? Since our parents weren't exactly the good kind, they hid it. Made me lie and say I fell into the damned stove burner because somehow a kid would do that? But it was Gregor who was working for Tywin who got me into this place instead of doing hard time. I had just shown up and the class there was heading towards their last year at the school. If you think your class is a tad fucked up, kiddo, you should have seen my class."

Arya stretched and yawned but was paying attention. Sandor smirked a little then looked over the school grounds as he continued in a rough but calm voice.

"Roose Bolton was just like Ramsay except he never got caught nearly as much as his son does. Cat was part of a little group everyone called the Stoneheart Gang. It was made of her, Bethany and Cersei. All lovely mean girls and then there was Petyr. A shady little fuck that always flitted around them, trying to be in the group but always just right on the edge of it all. The group had nothing to do with me and I was glad for it. Olenna was the counselor then and she called me Landscape. Hell, I was fine with it. I stayed in the landscape, did my time as a student and watched the drama from the damned distance."

Arya stopped eating, staring at the sky, laying back on the rock.

"They all did awful shit in between pretending to be perfect and it was nauseating. But then Petyr and Cat got too creative, they got too close to each other and the worst thing happened. They fell in some sort of twisted love, I think. It was no real secret that they were having sex, that they were becoming a couple. But it was more than that. The idiots were all plotting together to take down Kevan and the school. They actually allowed Petyr to come up with the plan. That was probably the biggest mistake. Cat became a shining star here at the school and when she begged Kevan for mentor-ship, he was happy to do it. She spied on him and Kevan let her. Cat tried to seduce him and that is when Kevan let his trap slam shut."

Grimacing, Sandor shifted on the rock before continuing.

"Harold and Bob got the entire plan out of her and all were called to the circle. For disloyalty punishments by Kevan. Only other student besides me that was there was Lancel. He wasn't really part of the school, he was too young but he lived at the house and was made to watch this kind of shit. Cat had called out her gang and Roose as her partners but not Petyr. The doctor back then was a man named Qyburn. He was a sadistic fruitcake that was more than happy to help out in the circle. Do you remember what Unella threatened to do to Sansa? Well, your mother got the full fucking treatment and the bastard made sure it was going to stay that way. Now consider how many kids your mother had with your father. No wonder she went fully fucknuts."

Arya shuddered and hugged herself. "Sansa is repeating after mother, isn't she?" Sandor shrugged. "Probably and we can talk about that later but right now, let's finish this part, okay? Shut up and listen." Arya said nothing further.

"The others suffered some bad times in the circle too. After it was over, none of them would ever speak to Cat again. She lost her mentorship, of course. Kevan found her a husband and Cat leaped at a chance to leave. I don't know anything more about your mother but gossip and what you tell me. Do you want to talk to me about her? Do you want to just rage out or cry? Because you have to keep living, breathing and moving."

"I don't know how I feel or what I want to do about it." But when they hiked back Arya used the dirt bike while screaming for an hour.

Another day and another unscheduled visitor came forth. Kevan had Joff, Arya and Sansa all called to the house. There stood Cersei, long black boots with spikes for heels, black jeans, black turtle neck and a black leather trench coat that floated to the back of her heels. The collar was turned up and Arya almost laughed at how much the woman looked like a villain from a comic book. She strode forth for her son as if every tragedy must have befallen her boy. The girls stood silent and awkward along with Kevan as Cersei fawned over Joff.

Finally, the woman turned and gave Arya a smile that was biting, a cutting glare and a happy voice. "Ah, welcome to our family, my dear girl. What a daughter in law you will make. We can fix it, don't you worry, darling. Once you have graduated and you both come home to me, I can help you, Arya." Cersei winced slightly as she waved a hand in the general direction of the girl's face. "I have an excellent doctor that can fix all of this. And you will be amazed at what a good hairdresser, a cosmetologist and a good moisturizing soap can do for you!"

With a quick dismissive pat upon the stunned girl's head, Cersei said in a stage whisper, "Shut your mouth, darling. Leaving your mouth open like that speaks of bad breeding." Cersei slowly sauntered over to Sansa and gave her a smirk. "Oh my goodness. Do you ever look like your mother, dear. But I welcome you to our happy family as my cousin's sweet new bride. Here is my bit of motherly advice to you since you have none to offer it. Do not be like her, do not end up like her." Sansa simply smiled and replied, "Thank you for the welcome and the advice."

Cersei walked back over to Arya and utterly horrified her by taking her by the hand. "My dear, as your mother in law, it falls to me to be the one to explain certain things to you. You had the wedding but not the other part that will come before you know it. So since your dearest mommy is no longer available, I know that Cat would want me to guide you in such things. Now, let us discuss your menstrual cycle and then we will get into the aspects of breeding hips."

In that moment, Kevan saw how Cersei was digging a quick punishment in for all. He shuddered at the subject matter but both himself and Joff had no idea of how to extract themselves. Only Sansa was extremely amused at the revenge but she held it inside and gave the same blank look instead as Arya looked as if she were being tortured.

Later that same night another unscheduled visitor arrived at the school. Only Hot Pie and Jeyne saw the man, as Jeyne was helping her friend leave the clinic for the dorm house. They could just see the man heading for Kevan's house, his men still at the gate, held there by Harold and Bob. Hot Pie and Jeyne kept going after the man went into the house. It had been so interesting a sight that when they entered the dorm, the first thing Jeyne the Person did was announce to everyone what they saw. "There is a pirate! A real pirate with a patch on his eye and he was even dressed all pirate! A pirate came to see Kevan!"  


	76. Rising Out Of Filthy Waters

Euron entered Kevan's home the way a rock star would enter a concert hall. The lone audience of one was duly unimpressed. He looked at Gilly who gave him a bland polite smile. "I'm here to see Kevan Lannister. He is expecting me." Gilly shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sir. Mr. Lannister is not available to see you but his associates are. Harold and Bob will be happy to speak with you. Please follow me, Sir."

Gilly stopped dead at the thick chuckle and a hand trying to rub her shoulder. "I don't think so, sweetheart. Kevan wouldn't insult me that way. I am not here to see his lackeys. This is about my nephew, about Kevan's student, now MY boy, to leave with me. I have the papers, I have money and a good prize exchange, so be a good little pussycat, bring me to Kevan." He followed his words with a quick smack onto Gilly's bottom.

The girl smiled and turned to face Euron. Her voice was as polite and calmly cold as ever, her eyes blank as the friendly skies. "Would you like a hook hand to go with your eye patch, Sir? I am not your sweetheart, I am not your sally go lucky in whatever port you imagined you just sailed into. If you touch me or speak to me with such familiarity again, there will be consequences."

Euron spread out his arms playfully and leered at her. "Tell me, if I DID continue to bother your feisty self, who would deliver the consequences for you?" Gilly turned and began to walk, hoping Euron would follow and stop being troublesome. "Well, Mr. Lannister would be angry since he has always assured me of my safety and his protection. Or Harold and Bob who get very testy over rudeness. Harassing me and being late to your meeting with them would be very rude. But the consequences would mostly come from me. Do you like tea, Sir?"

With a booming laugh, he stopped walking again and leaned against a wall. "Nope. Hate tea. My men like iced tea though." Gilly smiled and stopped to turn and stare at Euron. "Very well, I will give your men some iced tea. And I can bring you any type of drink you'd like once you've let me lead you to the meeting room." Euron grinned, winked at her and sat upon a delicate, expensive side table. "Nah. Lovey, you are fun, but this is getting old fast. I just saw Harold and Bob outside, left them sneering at my men. Don't you think they would have told me if they wanted to speak with me?"

"No. They told me and I am capable of passing simple messages along. I am also very well trained in leading people to meeting rooms and getting them drinks. They wished for you to wait for them in a proper chair at a proper table with a proper beverage. They are gentlemen. They do not leave their guests to sit upon the antique furniture in a hallway."

Euron cracked his knuckles and shifted, causing the distressed wood to truly be distressed. "I guess I am your first failure then, kitten. Enough games. Where is Kevan, little serving girl? Are you wanting a little fun, is that it? I can offer you a little attention later if you'd like or if you don't like, but I want to see him now." Euron's face had gone from playful to a bit manic. His grin was too large and he was starting to walk towards Gilly as if he were indeed a pirate ready to ravage her. Gilly yawned slightly, put her hand to her mouth.

"Oh, please, excuse me. It's later than I usually work. Sorry, please, go on, Sir. Oh, yes, my name is Gilly. That is G-I-L-L-Y. So you can stop naming me after every poor girl you can recall threatening." Euron stopped dead and his mouth just hung open, then he let out booming laughter. "You are a treasure that can't be plundered! I love it. I honestly, truly do, no joke, no lie. It's actually hot as fuck. Know what? I am going to ask Kevan for you too. It's worth it for what I have to offer him. You have two seconds to point me towards his office or I start finding Kevan myself."

Gilly blinked and shrugged at Euron. "What are you expecting me to do or tell you? Except repeat what I've already told you. Kevan is not seeing you, Sir. Harold and Bob wish for you to wait in a meeting room for them. There. Now, do you have a specific number of times you'd like me to tell you this or can I write it down for you? I have been informed my printing is easy to read."

Euron tilted his head at her as if she were a new species. "Are you a distraction or a trap? Is that it? Are you bait? Can you hear me? I am not going to any unknown room to wait for anyone. I am not seeing Kevan's lackeys. I am here to speak with Kevan about my nephew. Are you a robot? Has that madman started replacing staff with robots? Do you ever stop smiling, do you ever get scared, get a splinter, have to take a mad shit? What is wrong with you? No, wait, that's it."

Smile in place but Gilly's eyes showing the very first glint of irritation, she watched the man become paranoid. "That's it. You are a distraction, a wall of strange to keep me busy while they hide or kill Theon! Or so Kevan can manipulate the boy and others into signing papers to strip me of my rights, of what is mine!" Euron turned and encountered Harold and Bob.

Smiling brightly, the two men seemed utterly delighted to see Euron. "Please forgive us for taking too long. Your men didn't die as fast as we'd hoped they would."

Theon had never wanted to be in his skin. He spent most of his life trying to get out of it. Get rid of the feeling of his father's spit, the taste of blood and dirt as his father would stomp on him. To strip away the ghostly sensations of his uncle, the taste and smell of his semen, the terrible hands, that other terrible, purple bulging thing. The feeling of his sister clinging to him and the feeling of his father ripping her away to make her scream. Balon would take her right on the bed they were hiding under. As if to punish Theon worse, to make the squeaking bed slam against his back, knocking out his breath.

So he tried to cut, fuck, drug and drink his flesh away. Theon would find situations to have go wrong, he would find the bruise, the blisters, the pain somehow. Hurting himself had come first and when he couldn't find anything else, it was always there for him.

Theon was positive that he was going to die at the hands of Harold and Bob, but at least he would get to feel ultimate pain first. That blazes out all bad thoughts and that was a relief. Except it wasn't what happened, it was way worse. Naked, Theon was standing in the center of some closet with his arms and legs stretched out. Ankles and wrists had padded cuffs that attached to chains that were secured to a steel bar on either side of him. He was also blindfolded which didn't ease his anxiety.

Hands touched him, not sexually, as if assessing his skin, feeling previous injuries as well as recent ones. They took turns speaking and Theon couldn't make out who was who. He didn't know them that well, he hoped they didn't ask him their names. But what they were asking for was much worse and he knew the pain wouldn't be something bearable or relieving at all.

"Tell us about your father. Everything about him." "Tell us about your sister, tell us all the details." "Uncle Euron, we want to hear about him. All of it."

Theon refused, he swore and raged which brought about the first physical pain. "This is my favorite new toy. It's very cold." Cold was an understatement. If Theon was ever asked what it might feel like if someone was raped by an icicle, he had an answer for them. Theon cried and begged for it to end. He could feel the men touching  his skin, stroking his arms and chest but they didn't stop the tormenting cold.

He started to speak about his father in desperation and it ended. Something withdrew, a warm liquid seemed to rinse him out. Theon sagged in the restraints and sobbed while he told them of Balon. Nothing was left out, the men kept asking questions until Theon told everything about his repulsive sick father. A bottle of water was held to his lips to sip. His tears were wiped away with something soft and he felt one in front of him, one in behind.

Theon was terrified of what they would do but amazingly, they hugged him. Cuddled him between them and praised him for speaking out. They validated, soothed and lulled him into tired, sluggish weeping. Theon didn't fight the hug, as awful as it was to be touched by the fully suited men, it was also comfort that he was hungry for. Theon felt cold for a second when Harold and Bob moved back from him and he shivered.

"Now, about your sister." The same process was repeated but for the initial punishment. This time Theon told them what they wanted without trying to stall. It was hard to talk out loud about what was done to her. "I know this is very hard for you. But these are the real things you are trying to cut away. Face them, no more running or hiding or cutting it away. See her in your mind, see what you are telling us. We know you can do this, you can heal and grow strong. Have faith in us, we are only going to help you. Talk, tell us, we are with you, you are safe from yourself and everyone in your past. Tell us."

He did and they washed his face, gave him water, hugs and even nuzzled small kisses that Theon didn't find upsetting at all. Talking about his uncle was going to be the hardest and Theon dreaded it. But he was so tired, so mentally released and shattered all at once, there was no fight left in him. This time the men held him, they stayed pressed front to back as Theon spoke. As if to support him in every way. Questions barraged in soft voices and praise was given for the answers. And then the voices stopped asking questions and gave answers instead. Answers to questions that Theon could never articulate to himself.

"You have a right to be very angry." "It wasn't your fault, any of it. What your father did and what your uncle did was not your fault." "You have a right to be angry, to feel as messed up as you do." "There wasn't anything you could have done to change what happened to your sister or to you." "It is okay to be sad or scared over it still, to feel the need for extremes. We are going to show you ways to help you with all these emotions."

After allowing a brief meal, hand fed by the men, Theon was taken down from his restraints to have a nap. His blindfold remained on and they guided him to a bathroom. Theon was led back the way he came, according to the same creak in the floorboards and he assumed into the same room. Laid upon something soft and fuzzy, he recalled seeing a pile of over sized pillows and blankets in a corner.

"The other things you like to feel, Theon, those are normal for a good amount of people. You like rough sex, you like pain and humiliation. Nothing wrong with it and it doesn't mean it's because of what your uncle did to you. We will teach you that." He fell asleep to the comforting feeling of their soft words and the sweeping, reassuring touches. When he was woken up in what felt to be a very short time, it was to be put back into those restraints.

Now the men wanted to hear how Theon felt about different parts of his stories. They wanted him to swear or curse and fling himself against the safe restraints. He was encouraged to release his anger and wail out his grief, pant out his fear. Another bit of water, food, rest, comfort and so on for what felt like an eternity. The blindfold was removed and he was calm. They asked more about his family and he felt calmer, lighter afterwards.

Theon was shown and instructed by Harold and Bob on what BDSM was. They made him feel safe even as they tested his pain levels and sensation limits with several different things. Far scarier was when they showed Theon the various methods they will use to help return his skin to a smoother state. Bob used a cream that started to burn through harsh scar tissue. Theon screamed and begged for it to be removed. Bob was firm that it must do it's job and this will remind Theon to never hurt his body this way again.

Harold spoke enthusiastically about his laser treatments that Theon will try. They both also seemed to believe that skin grafting was a talent of theirs as well. Those things scared and hurt Theon in a bad way. As for the twins, yes, he was not stupid, he knew they were dangerous and should be feared and obeyed. But they also made him feel safe. They cared, offered him something no one ever has, at least not in a way he could use. They offered him freedom from his troubled mind, they helped him dissolve and diminish the ghosts.

Theon had knelt in front of the two men of his own violation. "Please be my mentors?" The twins smiled down upon Theon the way they had stood before Myranda and so many before her. An eternity or a moment later, Theon can't really tell, Harold informed him his uncle was coming to the school.

"Euron won't see Kevan, he will see myself and Bob. The papers are already filed in court, we have been given guardianship over you, just like with our sweet girl. Our little foster children. Euron will never get his hands on you ever again. You do have the right to face him, if you want to. We would stay with you the whole time. Or you can stay here and let us face him. There is no right or wrong answer. Go with how you feel."

Theon whispered softly but the twins heard him and smiled. "I want him dead. I want him to hurt and die. Please?"


	77. Fist Of Fury

Kevan sat in his den, his favorite relaxation room. He was having his own personal blend of soothing tea that Gilly makes using his medical marijuana. Unella had put up one hell of a fuss over keeping such an item at the clinic. So it was kept at his own home and as much as Kevan dreamed of having Sandor grow him some, he dared not risk students smoking his garden.

He was watching one of his favorite movies when the twins knocked upon the door. Sighing, Kevan wiped a tear from his eye as he paused the movie. Lean On Me was at the part where the principal makes his rousing speech to the entire assembly of high school students.

"Ah, such a good movie. Enter, gentlemen. It is very late, you must have been very busy with Euron."

Bob and Harold entered the room and shut the door behind them quietly. Kevan caressed the remote then balanced it carefully upon the armrest of his sofa chair.

"Earlier, I was quite sure that I heard Euron shouting in my hallway. In fact, I could have sworn that I heard Harold yelling too. Now, my hearing isn't very good at my advanced age, but I thought I heard that man screaming about his hand. I really must be losing it because I thought I heard Harold yell something about Euron touching Gilly? Did I hear that right? Did you two play a game that put my lovely housekeeper in a position to be injured or molested? We have spoken of my promise to Gilly that she is safe here. You have both assured me that you were no longer interested in her as furniture coverings. That you would stop trying to snoop on her or provoke her. I thought you would understand that including keeping her safe from your victims or anyone that comes in this house."

Bob spoke up fast, not wishing to allow Harold any words, the man was not right this evening.

"We apologized to Gilly and we apologize to you for our oversight. We had asked Gilly to do no more than escort Euron to a meeting room while we were dealing with the men that came with him. The new electric grid just before the gate worked well but two of them didn't step on it, we had to use other methods. Euron had refused to go with Gilly, wanted to speak with you about a deal. When Gilly persisted in her orders to him, he called her suggestive endearments, caressed her shoulder and slapped her backside. She was not scared or injured but very offended. When Euron understood his men were dead, he tried to grab her as a shield from us. Gilly scratched the cornea of Euron's one eye. This offense to Gilly upset us, it upset Harold enough to remove the man's right hand. Immediately. That is mostly why he was screaming, the eye and then the loss of the hand."

Kevan groaned softly.

"Immediately? As in on my Dornish rugs and blood splatter on my silk wallpaper? My antique furniture? I swore I heard a crash and I also heard Gilly yell something about excessive. Mostly? What does that mean, that was mostly why Euron was screaming?"

Bob tried to figure out how to answer the questions and which one to answer first. Harold leaped forward and opened his mouth as Bob started to sigh.

"Gilly had thrown the old shower curtains she had just taken down that day over the rugs quickly. She held up trash bags in front of the immediate spray so that nothing was stained. The other reason that Euron was screaming was because I had taken his amputated hand and shoved it up his ass. Then I made him apologize to Gilly. It was where I shoved his hand that was having Gilly scream it was excessive. It was her new word of the day, she has one every day. Sir, I wish to date Gilly and she informed me that she was not allowed to fraternize or date other staff. The only way I can get the woman to consider a date with me is to gain your permission."

Kevan stared, having never seen Harold in such a state as this before.

"Good gods, if this is what love does to you, Harold, I am not sure I can bear witness to it. I do not need another Unella and Gregor situation."

Harold took a step forward and pleaded, "That would never happen. I do not live a lifestyle that could include children, I saw to that years ago. Because it was personal I have never spoken of it with you. But if you check my medical records, I had Qyburn perform a vasectomy on me while he was still working here."

Shaking his head, Bob just could do nothing to help here really. But he had to try. 

"Sir, I have never seen a girl have this effect upon him before. Gilly is like no other female we have met. There is no duplicity, no secrets, no fear, no reactions to anything anyone does that causes her to crack even a little. This is driving Harold insane. Perhaps if he dates her, he can pull himself back together again?"

"Or cause Harold to skin her and wear her as a coat if she wishes to break up. I am not prepared for these kind of dramatics at the moment, Harold. You rarely ask me for any favors. So here is what we will do. You may date Gilly only if she wishes to date you. There will be no attacking, no injuring, threatening or skinning my Gillyflower! You treat her with the utmost respect if she does honor you with romantic intentions. If Gilly has no interest in you, or loses interest in you, you will accept it."

Harold nodded. "Yes, Sir, of course. Thank you."

"Now, after you relieved Euron of his hand then allowed him to feel the might of his own fist, did you get around to finding out what he wanted to bargain?"

Calmer, Harold stepped back and looked to Bob to respond.

"Yes, Sir. We took him to the basement and it did take some effort to get all the information from Euron. He was rather upset with Harold and not interested in sharing with us. Turns out that Euron had found out where Petyr and Cat hid the boys. He wanted to offer you the location in exchange for Theon and Gilly. This greatly upset Harold again and the other hand was lost and firmly lodged as well."

Rolling his eyes, Kevan huffed out, "So dramatic, Harold. Really. I assume the man is no longer alive, that you have finished retrieving the information? And please tell me you didn't invite Theon or Gilly to that little gore party?"

Bob shook his head. "No, Sir. Theon's only wish was for us to kill his uncle. And there was no need for Gilly to be there. She cleaned up the hallway while we escorted Euron away. He is dead and in many different pieces, Sir. We are going to return the pirate to the ocean."

"Fine, fine, however you wish to have it done. I assume you are skinning the best parts of him for a pillow or something. Theon needs to return to the school tomorrow. The students are starting to assume that the boy is dead or held here as some captive. Please return the duckling to his counselor after you bring him to Unella for a quick physical. I hope he is in a much better state now. As much as I don't want to make late night calls, I shall call Tywin to retrieve the boys. With luck, I can convince him to send the boys here rather than dispose of them. Well, where are they hidden?"

Grimacing slightly, Bob responded.

"It might not be very easy to get the boys but at least we have their last known location. They are being given sanctuary by Oberyn Martell in the Sandstone casino strip. In exchange, Cat and Petyr gave all control of their works and the boys' inheritance to the man. He is honorable enough to care for the boys properly in every way but he is going to be ruthless with the newfound money and power. That is according to Euron. The boys were dressed well, being educated by tutors, also both are disabled. The Starkling is wheelchair bound, of course, but the other bird is addled in the head a bit. Not badly, but his mother did some form of damage and the boy is a bit simple. Not Damon simple or Jeyne simple, it is true brain damage." 

Sighing, Kevan looked sadly at his paused movie, he won't get back to it tonight. Tywin will raise holy hell when he sees that one of his greatest enemies was handed the boys and control of all that Tywin wanted.


	78. Sugar Sun Invasion Plans

What started as a simple field trip became more of a small invasion on a hapless town. It required a full staff meeting with Kevan to plan it out due to the arguments.

"The city is a better choice, I say! Groceries can be bought at a REAL store, Hot Pie can wander the market stalls for fresh herbs and produce he doesn't already grow. Gregor and Unella can find a true furniture store and the children can have a bit of culture!" Polliver glared at Tyrion then started shouting again.

"The only reason you want to go to the damned city is so you can hit up the high class liquor stores! Just because you and Stannis took Goldilocks and Oscar to the city doesn't mean they can ALL go there! Let me tell you what happens once we bring the rest of the ducklings to the city. Myranda will run off to turn a few quick tricks, earning her nickname right back. SuperD will probably get lost searching for a sugar daddy. Target will steal the first vehicle she sees whether it's a city bus for prisoner transport or a sport car! Death Row and Princess will rape and murder some drunk in an alley. Hot Pie will wind up in a fight with a chef in some restaurant, Jeyne and Sidebitch will get lured into a van with brightly colored candies!"

Raff snorted. "I disagree. Sidebitch will get lured into the van along with SuperD, more likely.Target will steal the actual restaurant that Hot Pie is attempting to MURDER the chef of. Jeyne has never made it to a city. She barely made it the one time Hot Pie took her for his free dinner and movie night. It took myself and Polliver to help her get through the movie and the meal. We went to the smallest town during a matinée of Finding Nemo and the second the screen boomed to life we spent the next thirty minutes playing Finding Feral. You haven't lived until you've crawled under an entire room of sticky seats chasing after a crawling, screaming girl. Jeyne is doing really well and I would like to let her experience a field trip. But you take that girl to the city and she will freak, we will lose her to the sewers in a matter of minutes." 

Gregor slammed his fist on the table and growled out, "I don't care where I get my damned furniture! But I'm not fighting the squirrels for a couch and Unella just grew forty eight sizes overnight! Do you know what it looks like to see her on that air mattress? Ever hear of a beached whale? I don't use weights anymore, I just lift Unella up to her feet twenty five times every night so she can pee then lift her again in the morning! The only thing that fits her now is the damned doctor coat! Want her to start wandering naked wearing just that? Yeah, that twitch in your eye, Stannis, that is NOTHING compared to the real sight of it! We have delayed this trip so Hot Pie could heal and go. We delayed it so the kids could all calm from the wedding and the deaths. Great. Now I need furniture and maternity clothes and baby crap so when the twins are finally born, they don't live in a dresser drawer. We go this week, dammit. And we take ALL the kids. I will need help moving shit."

Stannis glared at Sandor, who glared back. Then the indignant professor, who's nose hairs were quivering in outrage slapped both hands down on the table. In a voice worthy of a judge pronouncing a sentence of death, Stannis intoned, "I want to move that this staff vote and petition to remove Sandor as a mentor! The man is a menace in his new capacity and he has created a menace!"

Tyrion patted the man's hand and nodded sympathetically. "We are all aware of your feelings, Sir. It has been duly noted. But to remind you again, this is a meeting only to discuss the field trip. We don't wish to waste Kevan's time. Save your concerns for the next staff meeting." Sandor smirked at the professor until Gregor kicked him under the table.

Harold shifted and spoke calmly. "I will come on the trip. As a chaperon and I can get some shopping done myself. Oh, I assure you all, that Myranda will most certainly not be turning tricks and Theon will not be finding any sugar daddies. Or climbing into strange vans." The collective groan that had gone up when Stannis made his declaration returned.

Polliver rubbed his scalp and scowled. "Must you? What is your issue, man? Why can't you and Bob just stay up at the house where you fucking belong? You two are driving me crazier than the kids do! It's creepy seeing you just pop your heads into classrooms. Tall and Small yell at me to do something, not sure what they think I can do. But this, just to beg you to stop creeping about the school, the dorms. Now I get to have you breathing down our necks on a damned trip?"

Harold smiled. "I will come to chaperon and shop. Why would you be nervous that Bob and I hang about the dorms and classrooms if you have nothing to hide?" The table exploded off topic in new directions.

Kevan barely noticed. He was watching a silent but fascinating showdown of two predators at their finest.

Unella had eaten everything around her during the meeting. Not a crumb was missed, no food on platters, trays, no one's plate was safe. She managed to eat everything but one croissant. That was sitting on Bob's plate. Kevan observed as Unella watched the croissant and Bob watched Unella. As the woman began to gear up to move, Bob's hand wrapped around his fork tightly. Unella looked at his hand, the plate, then at Bob's glasses.

Kevan could see her grim features calculating the risks. He found himself breathless when the blur of movement came. Unella snatched the croissant as the fork came flying down so fast and hard that the metal tines dented the empty plate before they bent in half. The triumphant woman ate the stolen treat in two bites while staring at Bob, who was growling. Unable to help himself, Kevan laughed and clapped briefly.

"Fascinating. That was impressive. I'm glad that Hot Pie is well enough to begin his cooking duties again. Gregor, you should give a little extra to the boy for all the extra food he must make for your soon to be wife. On this trip, we shall have your bride get her wedding dress and you must get a suit. Polliver, while you are shopping, you will take Hot Pie to the furniture store and purchase him what he might need for his new cabin. Then he will move in with your assistance over the weekend."

Kevan finished his coffee and dabbed his lips.

"Here is what we shall do. There is that quaint little town only two hours from here if we head further into the no man's land. It is very small, calm but it still offers the basic services we all need. We shall make it a field trip for all. I will even invite Gilly, I would enjoy taking that girl for a proper dining experience. I will call ahead to FourHeads town council and let them know we will be making a day of it there. That way no one will be unduly alarmed and it might cause them to pull out their best wares to sell."

Kevan gave a severe look to each person. "Let's address each thing fast so we can get back to our day. The field trip will happen in two days. The children will all go by our bus, staff can bring the two trucks and we shall bring one car for myself and Gilly. Sandor drives the bus, Bob drives the car. The rest you will figure it out. I am taking Gilly to the finest restaurant in town which is the only restaurant. The rest of you will join the children in the town diner for your lunches. Do not allow the students to pet the dogse in the diner. The place is owned by the same man who runs the dog shelter and the little butchery. All his dogs are known to have mange and fleas. I don't want our students to be unsanitary. Gilly and I will shop about while you all divide the children and get your own shopping done. The children will be divided and chaperoned according to what each can safely handle."

Everyone nodded and Kevan continued. "Excellent. Now, let's get to these other heated things raging around me. Gregor, you will have your furniture and your bridal clothing. In four days, I want to have your wedding. We shall use the same spot as we did for Lancel's, except less grand and a way less bloody and wild after party, if you please. I understand the house and yard still need work but it is livable. So plan for say, a nice afternoon wedding. And Bob, I will have you extract a small amount of cash for each student to use for getting them a wedding present."

Unella and Gregor looked as if they were planning a funeral but grimly agreed. Kevan smiled at them and then his eyes found Stannis. He frowned at the ruffled professor then he offered the same frown to Sandor.

"You two. Let us end this once and for all. Sandor, teaching the girl to spy is one thing and I don't mind if you teach her sleight of hand tricks. But using the girl to sneak into the professor's home to steal his CD player is going too far. Having her return it the next day in class wasn't very nice of you. Also, the staff keeps missing minor items that show up new places, it's going to drive everyone insane. Stannis, you are taking this too personally, Sir. I understand that sanctity of your home was broken and your paddling of the girl was justified. Attempting to fail her for the year in all subjects was not close to right or fair. Removing the doors from Sandor's cabin with the forced assistance of Loras wasn't the way to handle things. Sandor, continuing to provoke him isn't going to help. Both of you will strive for peace."

After the meeting ended and all wandered away grumbling, Kevan headed with Bob back up the hill. He noticed Harold was still arguing with Polliver and smirked. Putting his hands behind his back and walking in at a slower pace, he asked, "How is Harold's romance going? Is he still trying?" Bob nodded and gave a brilliant smile to Kevan.

"Oh yes, he is still trying and no, romance isn't happening. Harold has never once dated anyone. He can do many things to women but romance is not one of the things he ever learned here, Sir. He is rather clumsy in his attentions and Gilly is never without a good reason to reject him. It's painful to watch, truly but also quite funny." Kevan snorted and then knowing each other well, Bob said nothing. "Oh, dammit, why do you make me say it every time, Bob? Fine, I want the gossip on this one, tell me!"

Bob grinned and obliged him.

"Harold walked right up to Gilly the day after Euron was disposed of and he declared that he asked you permission to date her. Gilly smiled, shook his hand and warmly congratulated him. Then she said to let her know when he planned on asking "Gilly's" permission and walked out of the room. Harold waited a day or two before trying again. This time he took some flowers from Sandor's garden and sort of thrust them at her. Gilly smiled and thanked him for the new flowers for the dining room vase. Harold said he got them for her room and Gilly got all icy polite. She asked him if it was his intention to see to it that her workload increased by making her care for flowers in every room. Harold took the flowers from her, threw them to the ground and stomped on them. Then Gilly just stared at him until he apologized for the mess." 

Kevan laughed.

"Oh gods. The poor man! You have managed to date and have relationships while remaining here. Why don't you advise him, not that you really got much in the way of actual romance, I suppose." Bob smiled and shrugged. "I was eighteen and foolishly, madly in love with my counselor. It was only an affair to Olenna but to me it was serious for some time. And I was clumsy, but she taught me how to treat a woman you just with to be with. If you recall, Sir, Harold was a terrible friend to me during that time. He found the whole thing amusing and pathetic on my part and here is karma just fixing things up for me."

Kevan gave a brief twitch of his lips. "I was very angry over that affair and I still don't think its something for either of you to boast of. But yes, Harold was quite hard on you and I guess you have a right to enjoy his suffering. I must admit, out of all the darker things that have happened around here, I enjoy the lightness of it." 

The roar of motor bikes got louder and the professors barely moved out of the way in time before Arya and Theon zipped past them. Shaking his fist in the air at them, Stannis yelled out, "Theon, do not allow that thief to steal away your improving grades and behavior!" Tyrion groaned and rotated his shoulders and neck. "That's it, I'm getting a drink. If you want to get out your aggressions, come help me do some more work on our gaming cabin."

Stannis sighed and nodded. "I'm sorry, I know that Kevan is right. I just hate that Sandor taught the girl to violate someone's private dwelling! That the girl takes so well to spying, stealing and just strolling into another person's home and secrets! I have several books in there that would not be appropriate for a child of her age! What if she read the true story of Caligula? It has pictures, Tyrion! Or looked through my journals! Used my computer to order a thousand pairs of socks or to steal my identity!"

Tyrion tried to smother a laugh. "I highly doubt that Sandor or Arya are that advanced. I am sure that before the girl got to our school that she has heard or seen several things worse than a history of Caligula. The girl was caught, admitted her crime, took her punishment from you then got one from Sandor for it as well. What more do you want, man? Her blood?" Stannis snorted. "No, you are missing the whole point. The girl was caught then boasted of the crime to me, got paddled for it. Sandor's spanking to her wasn't for what she did, it was for getting caught at it!"


	79. Rushing To FourHeads

"Waddle forth, Ducklings! Let's g-" Polliver stopped twirling the baton and stared. He was only calling them for breakfast but all of them were in line against the wall fully dressed.

"Guess I don't have to worry about the extra early wake up today being a problem. Everyone is so excited for this field trip, eh? You all understand we aren't taking you to the shining cities or the brilliant sea voyage we've saved for, right? I ask because I am seeing luggage, travel maps and JEYNE! WHY ARE YOU HERE? GET YOUR ASS BACK TO THE KITCHEN WITH HOT PIE AND MYRANDA! FOLLOWING ME AROUND SINCE I WOKE UP IS NOT GOING TO MAKE THIS FIELD TRIP GO ANY FASTER!"

Polliver waited until Jeyne frowned and went out the door before addressing the students again.

"I understand this is different but you are all going overboard. I expect it from Jeyne, not from the rest of you! The rest of you didn't grow up in kennels and corners with nothing but woods. It's just a trip to a very small dusty town that really isn't even big enough to be a town. We can hit every store in the whole town and still be done in less than an hour. So calm yourselves down. It will take two hours each way. Not a fun length of time but not enough to warrant a make up case, Oscar. Sidebitch, why are you carrying Tyrion's tripod and camera? Are you doing a journalism piece on three street towns of Westeros? Goldilocks, first of all, if you want pictures of this trip, you can carry the damned camera gear yourself! Sidebitch isn't YOUR Sidebitch! And why would anyone want pictures of this trip in their yearbook? Fine, bring it but if you break it, Tyrion will bring that damned Princess dress for you this time!"

"Polliver, at this point a field trip to a factory that makes jock straps would be exciting." Polliver twitched as he heard a sound he despises. Slowly turning, his baton already heading in Arya's direction. "Did I just hear you crack gum after you just cracked wise?" The girl nodded and he nodded back. With a quick practiced move, the baton went into Arya's solar plexus.

The gum flew out and landed in Polliver's hand. He firmly affixed the gum to her nose. "That stays there until we line up for the bus later." Joff sneered until Arya's cold eyes pinned on him without any expression whatsoever. Ramsay smirked and nudged Joff. "Your wife is going to attend your funeral before you ever get to the honeymoon." Scowling, Joff crossed his arms and shut up.

Kevan and the twins were having their breakfast and Gilly came through to pour Harold his now daily cup of restorative tea. He smiled up at her and to their awkward horror, Bob and Kevan watched as Harold tried to engage her in conversation. "Good morning, Gilly. You look nice this morning." Gilly had smiled brightly back. "Good morning, Harold. Thank you, I wasn't aware that most mornings I looked less than an acceptable nice. I shall take more care."

Bob shoved his napkin into his face while Kevan pretended amazing interest in the view out of the window. Harold seemed determined today and tried again. "Gilly, you are coming on the field trip today." "Yes, Harold, I am. Thank you for reminding me in case I forgot." "While in town, would you like to see a movie?" "Sure, if Kevan would like to see one, I would be happy to go with him."

Gilly walked out of the room and Bob burst into laughter as Harold got up and stormed away. Kevan tried to keep his composure but found himself laughing behind his hand as Bob continued to outright explode with mirth.

Jeyne wandered through the kitchen and Myranda narrowed her eyes at her before swatting at her with the dishtowel. "Hey, where'd you go off to? Leaving me to set up all alone today? Over a trip to a place called FourHeads? I have given blow jobs in backseats of cars in better places than that! Go set up the staff table, hurry!" In spite of the swat and sharp words, Myranda was smiling, still in a good mood. Ever since she was given her name back, she was in a great frame of mind.

Polliver had gone to Myranda's room the night that she helped attack Cat Stark.

"Do you remember how you introduced yourself to me when you first got here? You said, Hi, I'm Myranda, the new school whore. As long as that's what you were going to be, that is what you would be called. Recently, you have been acting like a student, today you protected another student and your school. That isn't something a whore does, it's something a student, a good person would do. Congratulations, Myranda, you've earned your name back."

Hot Pie's mood was also as high as Myranda's and as excited as Jeyne's. He hasn't stopped babbling about plans for his new cabin and wondering what new culinary delights might be found in town along with furniture. Myranda laughed at him. "Do you think Polliver is really going to buy you furniture? I bet he will do one of two things. He's either going to buy new furniture for himself and give you his old stuff or he will take you scavenging in the town dump."

"Ha! You are just jealous that you don't have a cabin." "Ha, back! I'll just spend most of my time living at yours! And I will invite Jeyne for sleepovers every weekend at your place!"

Gregor was down on one knee in front of Unella near the lovely garden path. Sandor walked by and shuddered, wondering if he was about to hear some declaration of love or wedding vow. "Dammit, woman! This is the last time I am tying your shoes! We are getting you slippers and sandals until you give birth! And I swear to the gods, if you start a fight with any of the staff by stealing all their food, I am not defending you!"

Unella sniffed and spoke primly. "If you'd ordered me shoes and clothing like I'd asked last month, we wouldn't be in this situation. And I cannot help being extra hungry, thanks to your mutant sperm!" They argued all the way into the staff breakfast area. "I don't know why I am expected to waste money buying you a wedding dress! Look how big your stomach is, there is no dress to fit that! We'd be better off just buying you a long white king size sheet and just wrapping it around you. Maybe you can eat the whole wedding cake with your hands during the vows and save us time."

"Have you even attempted to write any vows like Kevan asked? I finished mine. I vowed to honor and respect you as long as you aren't sick or dead." Gregor snorted. "You forgot the vow should be to fear, honor, respect and obey until death do you part me." Unella laughed. "Sure, in that case, your vows shall also say you will fear, honor, respect and obey me until you take sick and die."

Raff sighed and threw down his muffin. "The two of glaring at each other is driving me crazy! At least don't sit on either side of me and glare at each other over my damned head!" He stared at Sandor on his right then at Stannis on his left.

"Both of you are wrong, both of you are being stubborn assholes. You know who pays for all this nonsense? Loras and Arya do. That boy has always been perfect, all his life. This is the first time he has ever felt safe enough to attempt a little rebellion, a bit of tantrum. He spazes out, he gets disciplined and life moves on. Encouraging the boy to sabotage and revenge is not going to help him, Stannis! And you, Sandor! I don't think Unella and I could have been any clearer to you about how fragile Arya's frame of mind is right now! We have put her back on medications and added extra therapy, we didn't do it because we are bored! The girl has no idea what to trust, she doesn't believe any of her memories or her past. Arya is having a serious identity crisis and encouraging her to thievery and deceit won't help her." 

Raff might as well have lectured the walls for all anyone was listening. Sighing, he gave up and reached for the muffin he had tossed down just to watch it go down Unella's gullet. "Dammit! Is FourHeads going to have enough food for you, Unella? Or will you just consume the entire town! Citizens and dogs with mange all screaming on their way into your damned stomach?"

An hour later the students were milling, waddling around Polliver as everyone convened to go. Unella marched over to inspect and fix up the students. "Why are we missing three?" Polliver blinked at her. "We aren't missing three. Two are missing from this line of students, Myranda and Jeyne. Hot Pie is staff now, remember? Three of them are on the bus already with Sandor. Jeyne has never been on it before so Raff wanted them to get her used to the idea before anyone else got on."

He grinned at Unella. "You'd better hope that she does well with the bus. If not, she will have to ride with you and Gregor in the truck. Can't put her with the professors, their truck has only two seats and she certainly can't go in Kevan's car." Unella closed her eyes for patience then snarled at Polliver. "If I get hungry on this trip and run out of food, you'll be the first one I cannibalize." Shrugging, Polliver swung his baton and started to walk away. "At least I'll become famous for something?" He flicked the hardened gum off Arya's nose as he walked past her.

Jeyne walked along the aisle, her arms outstretched, touching each row of seats. She sat in several spots and looked out many windows. Hot Pie and Myranda smiled at her. "See? Easy enough, let's have Sandor start up the bus so you can hear it. It's going to be loud but it doesn't hurt you, just means the bus is ready to get going." Myranda nodded to Sandor who turned the engine on. Jeyne was sitting in a back seat and grabbed the seat in front of her, half standing as the metal around and under her roared to life. She was pale and panting but her friends encouraged her. 

"Its fine, Jeyne. Old metal buses make lots of noise but they get us to all sorts of places. Just like the cars you've been in? Remember when you went with me to the movies and dinner? Polliver and Raff drove us in a car, you came to our school in a car, same thing just louder and more space. Feel how the windows rattle, feel the thrumming on your feet? It's all normal."

Hot Pie patted Jeyne's shoulder and she swallowed hard then spoke, tears in her eyes but not falling. "A Person can ride a bus. A Person can go to a town." Myranda leaned over the seat and grinned at Jeyne. "You are a Person, Jeyne. And I know you can do this. Okay? We good? And remember, Raff is going to be on the bus with us if you get real nervous, okay? But you have this and we are going to have a good time."

As the other kids started to fill the bus, Hot Pie was talking to Jeyne to keep her calm. "When we get to town, you can help me pick out furniture! And when we go to this diner for lunch, I will make sure the cook makes you a really good cheeseburger or I'll make it myself! Don't forget, they gave everyone money to buy a wedding gift for Unella and Gregor. Use a bit of it for yourself too, buy something small that you like. Here we go, don't put your face against the window like that, Jeyne, gross. Just lean and look out the glass like everyone else, okay? Good."

Sansa and Loras sat together up front just behind Polliver and Raff. Harold sat on the other side in a single seat. Behind Harold was Ramsay and Joff, Arya and Theon behind them. The other side had a two seater behind Sansa and Loras that Damon filled by himself, half laying in the seat, dozing. Following him was Hot Pie and Jeyne with Myranda stretched out on the seat at the back. The bus shuddered and groaned towards the town, in hot pursuit of Bob who went from normal driving to a sudden test engine drive on a race track. Behind the bus were two trucks, driving in clouds of gray fumes.

Ramsay leaned over and spoke, bored of watching the same scenery go by. "Hey, Harold. I have a question for you." Harold turned slightly and responded. "Yes?" With sadistic glee, Ramsay inquired, "You and Bob will mentor in a specialized field of escorting, but according to lore that isn't your only big talent. Why won't you mentor anyone in skinning or in killing? Now that I would sign up for in a heartbeat." Harold smiled back at the boy and spoke in a very light voice. "Young man, it isn't that we wouldn't mentor anyone in our other skills, if we felt one was worthy of it. So far, I am not looking at anyone worthy."

Ramsay glared as Harold smiled at him then turned away.   


	80. The WhirlyGig Man

The entire bus cheered at the freshly painted sign that welcomed them to FourHeads.

Only Jeyne was cheering because she was at her first town, the rest because water bottles were offered but no stops at a bathroom along the way. Sandor had to follow Bob and the man had driven as if they were trying to escape the rest of the school following them. Sadly, all had to follow at similar speeds with no stops, the town was too tiny for it to be found on any GPS.

If the town didn't have immediate bathrooms offered, the very staff themselves might cause a riot. When the bus stopped, there was no lecture of behavior before they all got out of vehicle. The need for bladders to be relieved was too great and Polliver led the stampede off the bus. Jeyne was the last off the bus, with Myranda yanking her towards the bathroom.

Kevan got out of the car, helping Gilly out with a gentlemanly hand as he watched his entire staff and student body run past him for the restroom attached to the diner. As they all flew by, Jeyne waved cheerily at them as she was dragged off. Gregor pulled up at the same time that Stannis did. Unella and Tyrion burst out of the respective trucks and joined the rush towards the bathrooms. Stannis and Gregor didn't run to the rest areas, they walked very fast instead.

With a small smile of apology at Gilly, Kevan spoke.

"Sorry, you are not often exposed to our rather unique school staff and students. I wasn't aware how weak their bladders were. Well, this is the largest parking lot in the town and the mayor said he would meet us here. I think the title of mayor is honorary, he pays taxes on time, but he pays taxes to himself then uses the money to fix up the town. I think the title of town might also be honorary."

Gilly smiled and looked about the long main street. "It looks like they are very colorful here. All the signs, banners and flags look new, some of these buildings look and smell freshly painted. Oh, there are people kind of hanging out here and there looking at us. They must be expecting some tourists today, even a lemonade stand and I think that man over there is setting up an old fashioned popcorn machine. How wonderful. Thank you for taking me on this field trip, Sir."   

Kevan gave a rather wry smirk, dusting off an imaginary piece of lint from his best suit.

"You are welcome, dear. I have a feeling everything colorful is brand new and paint is indeed still drying in the wind. We are the tourists they were expecting. When I called the mayor, I explained our special school and their needs. I said we would be purchasing furniture, wedding clothing, baby items and more. I told them the students and staff would be eating at their diner and I expected a table at the restaurant. The commerce moves rather sluggishly as you can imagine in such a little place so I am sure they have pulled out their best for us. Ah, here comes the mayor."

A newly washed and waxed maroon classic Cadillac with bull horns on the grille pulled up slowly. The interior seemed to be leopard skin and fuzzy dice obscured the windshield. The ten gallon hat came out of the car before the portly short man did. It was clear the mayor had tried very hard to wear his own finest outfit. It was also clear that this outfit might have not been out of that closet for some time.

His blue velvet pants were straining to contain everything, the over sized rhinestone belt looked ready to vacate the premises. The dress shirt the man wore matched his pants and it was only assisted by the mud brown sued vest snugly over it. The string tie he wore had a silver woodpecker on it. It was noted by Kevan and Gilly that the cowboy boots, the vest and the hat matched. They both winced even as they smiled.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lannister! Our town is honored by your school visiting us! I hope they and you have a very enjoyable experience here in our town." The man spoke grandly as if speaking to an audience. The lurking townsfolk were his real audience and they were hanging on every word exchanged. Kevan smiled graciously. "Good afternoon to you, Mr. FourHeads. Please, let us not stand on formality. Let's go by Kevan and Cleetus, shall we? Excellent. This is my employee, Gilly. I shall be treating her to a restaurant meal and a fun day of shopping. We are all very excited to be here in your lovely town and we are all looking forward to enjoying ourselves."

As the mayor chatted pleasantly about his restaurant, run by his own dear wife, the others began to trickle out of the restroom. Sandor and Gregor directed the ducklings to all stand in the parking lot while the staff discussed plans. Polliver grabbed Hot Pie and spoke. "I want you to keep them all together, no one wanders off or you call to me. We are going to the diner and have lunch in a minute. You will NOT fight with diner cook, you will act like a staff member. Hear me?" Puffed up with self importance of being staff, Hot Pie nodded firmly.

A shopkeep scuttled about nearby, setting up the best of colorful attractions. He has dusty old furniture that he has been trying to move for years. Struck with an idea, he grabbed some colorful fabric in a box and an air pump then set it up in front of his shop. Jeyne was standing with the others but her eyes were drinking in everything around her. It was a different place, staring people and it was a bit scary. But it was bright colors and stores that all needed her to see what was in them. Like buildings full of gifts! The others were all sneering at the place but Jeyne was silently drinking it all in.

Then a most amazing thing happened. Two long inflatable tube men flew to life, surging towards the sky, long wavy arms, they swayed and flickered fast in the mild wind. One was bright yellow, the other a fluorescent pink. Jeyne stared with her mouth open then clapped her hands to her cheeks and exclaimed, "WHIRLYGIG MAN, WHIRLYGIG MAN!" Loras stopped his complaining to Sansa about the tiny town and asked the redhead, "What is that thing getting freaked over and why is she doing it next to me?" Sansa sighed and looked at Jeyne. "Sweetie, are you alright? They can't hurt you, they are just decorations."

Jeyne wasn't scared, she was delighted, fascinated. She rushed the few feet over to the amazing creations and stared up at them, making a sweet kind of humming sound, swaying lightly. Then she began to whip herself around as if she was a whirlygig man of her own. The shopkeep and the townsfolk watched with a very suspicious and nervous eye. Loras turned red and put his hand over his eyes. "Someone has to stop her. Oh my gods, she looks deranged. Make her stop." Myranda smirked at Loras. "Fuck off, pretty boy. I think Jeyne is having fun, so I'm going to have fun too."

Myranda sauntered over to the flailing Jeyne, looked up at the inflatable tubes and started to mimic them. Her hair flew about her and her limbs reached almost as much speed as Jeyne's. Sneering, Loras rolled his eyes. "What can I expect from a low class whore?" Theon glared at Loras along with Hot Pie who both walked over and began flailing along with the girls. Damon grinned widely and ran over to throw himself around. Arya cracked her gum, then spit it out, walked over and joined the spaz dance around the inflatable tubes.

Joff and Ramsay ran over as they saw the townsfolk making jokes. They joined the dancing but added deranged facial expressions while staring at their audience. Sansa shrugged at Loras. "If you can't beat them, you join them." She pulled the protesting Loras over and they joined the dance, completing a full circle of flailing teenagers around the flailing inflatable tubes.   

Cleetus was in the middle of speaking and guiding Kevan, Gilly and Bob towards the end of the parking lot. He was pointing out his wife's restaurant a few feet down the dusty street. "Eunice has a wonderful chef that is making-uh, is that something they do all the time?" Kevan frowned as he followed Cleetus's gaze, seeing the students doing what seemed to be a ritual pagan dance around the tube men. His smile grew wider.

"Our children enjoy their artful expression dancing. The tubes must have inspired their artistic, flawed little hearts." Bob's lips twitched and Gilly gave a polite smile.

The staff were all clustered together arguing about who was taking who where. In spite of all the meetings and carefully drawn out lists, they were still arguing. Until Harold cleared his throat, opened his mouth, shut it and reopened it, while his glasses seemed to stare past Polliver's head. Polliver narrowed his own eyes, seeing something really strange in those mirror glasses. The rest of the staff finally took notice of the children and stood blinking for a moment. Sandor gave voice to all their thoughts. "What the living fuck am I looking at?"

"Excuse me, ducklings. When you are all done contacting your home planet, it's time to head into the diner for lunch." Polliver tapped his baton into his hand suggestively. All of them but Jeyne stopped. Sighing, Polliver glared at Raff. "You deal with that one. I'm getting them into the diner. Every duckling best be in waddling in a line! Let's go!" Polliver shoved his baton briefly into Hot Pie's side. "I tell you to watch them and what do you do? A pagan dance to a large tube sock! Idiot!" Loras sniffed and spoke in a prim voice. "Polliver, we all did it in defense of that poor feral girl. The townies were laughing at her when she started to dance so we joined her in solidarity."

Loras was stunned and Sansa quietly amused when the baton tapped upon the boy's perfect collar. Polliver backed Loras up a bit and spoke warmly but with a glint in his eye. "How very charitable and kind of you, Goldilocks. You were doing another good deed. Jeyne doesn't need your charity. You don't like her. You wouldn't give that girl a fucking cup of water if she were dying of thirst unless someone was there to see the good boy doing a good thing. Now you have these tiny tantrums, see, there is that flare in your eye, now. I'm catching up to you, boy. Remember, I told you that I don't trust you, you are unraveling and I'll catch on to your secret soon. Stop fucking around with bears, boy or you might get gobbled up."

By the time that Polliver finished his little speech, Sansa was no longer feeling amused but alarmed. Ramsay was grim faced as well even though he wasn't acting as if he were paying attention. Loras is becoming a liability here not a help and both of them knew it. Yet, they cannot act against Loras without Lancel's permission. Sansa planned on making sure Lancel knew on visiting day that his favorite boy toy was breaking. That Polliver has taken great interest in watching Loras.

"Jeynie, it's time to go eat. I'm hungry, aren't you hungry, sweetheart?" Jeyne slowed down and cried out, "BUT THE WHIRLYGIG MAN, TWO WHIRLYGIG MEN!" Raff stopped her motion with his hands, firmly but gently. "Hey, I see them. But you know what, you can see them from inside the diner. Right at the window. We will get a booth next to the window so you can see them while you eat, okay? A Person has lunch with everyone else at a field trip. Then we have so much more to do and see, right?" Putting both hands up, Jeyne whined for a brief second then took a deep breath. "A Person goes to lunch. Okay."

She took a quick skip forward and hugged each of the tubes before letting Raff take her hand and lead her into the diner. They entered and Jeyne let Raff find her a booth near the window. Hot Pie was yelling at the cook at the counter while Polliver was trying to pull him away. 


	81. Shining Day Trip Treasures

The large dog with mange and fleas stayed mostly in the kitchen area. However, there was a smaller dog, it looked like a drowned rat and had one milky eye and too many teeth but not quite enough legs. It hopped about on three legs and wagged it's stub of a tail furiously as he growled at each of the customers.

Myranda ordered a croissant and stared at the powdered donut served to her. Jeyne ate the cheeseburger even though Hot Pie yelled at her saying it was probably rotted dog meat. Sansa nearly screamed when a bit of her salad got up and trundled away. Loras did scream and nearly climbed into the next booth as potato bugs exploded from his own bowl of wilted greenery.

Joff bit into his grilled cheese and started to choke on a fingernail. Ramsay found a mouthful of hairs after he ate just one bite of his tomato soup. Damon and Theon both ordered chicken fingers. Both equally were confused and repulsed at the plate of fried chicken feet. The waitress informed them that the cook ran out of fingers and only had feet left. Smirking at the others, Arya unwrapped another granola bar that she brought from the school and sipped at her own water bottle.

Tyrion and Stannis both stared at their meals then gently covered the slaughter with napkins. They got up and walked over to Loras and Sansa. "Come, we shall go to the stores and find something to eat that is safer, less, moving." Eagerly, the two students jumped up and followed the professors out of the diner. Gregor smiled brightly at Unella. "Order everything on the damned menu, if you get food poisoning bad enough, you'll either miscarry or die before the wedding!"

When Joff and Ramsay yelled at the waitress over their food, the woman cracked her gum at them. "Sorry, boys. Yellow Dick usually does the cooking here but yesterday he just got way more yellow and his cold sores was all pussy again so, hey! Where are ya'll going?" Money was thrown hurriedly by Raff on the counter, Polliver dragged Hot Pie who was nearly apocalyptic in rage. The rest just stampeded back towards the restroom again while Arya simply giggled as she strolled outside along with Sandor. He shared with her his packed beef jerky and they strolled around different stores.

The rest caught up with the professors, who were being comforted by Loras and Sansa. Tyrion looked up at the others with hopeless moist eyes. "The whole liquor store consists of beer. Mostly in cans. The only wine we could find came in a box and all four boxes we found seemed previously opened and half full!" As a group they all wandered towards the stores. They broke off into different groups.

As soon as Joff announced to Jeyne that the mattresses were for bouncing, she leap frogged across them at the furniture store. Gregor caught the girl and put her firmly on her feet. "No. Go try sitting on the couches and chairs, find comfortable ones for me. Damon, go with her." He then turned to grab Joff by his ear. "One more thing and I will buy you a dress at the next store, Princess." Gregor frowned over at Harold. "Hey, chaperon of the year, I have one of your damned students! Get your ass over there, now! Move it, boy!"

Harold frowned as Joff headed over then spoke calmly. "I apologize, Gregor. I am still new and assumed the boy wasn't that stupid. The killer understood that one simple rule, do not walk away from me or you'll regret it. Now Ramsay has been rude and disgusting with his perverse songs, racist jokes and deeply offensive ditties full of swears that would make hardened sailors blush but I gave no rule against it. The one rule I gave him, he followed. Joff couldn't follow one single rule. And yet, Damon and Jeyne are in the remedial classes?"

Gregor looked away to go find a suitable couch while Damon and Jeyne were ass leaping from couch to couch. He heard a screech and turned to see Ramsay pale out. He looked like he wanted to be sick and to jerk off all at once. Harold came back out of the small alcove where Gregor couldn't see into but apparently Ramsay got an eyeful of. Nervously, Gregor waited to see if Joff would ever come out at all and how to explain the boy's death to his great uncle. Joff staggered out a moment later and looked no different. Except for the hollow look in his eyes and the sort of grayish complexion.

Gregor decided it wasn't his problem as he saw Damon laugh and catapult Jeyne onto a very overstuffed couch. He watched as Jeyne bounced onto the couch then off and there was a thud. Gregor sighed. "Nanny Gregor is coming to bounce both of you idiots. Get Jeyne on her feet, Damon. If she is hurt, I swear I'm going to dribble you like a basket ball."

Harold studied the rather unique looking spice rack and purchased it. How could Gilly not like this one? Just in case, Harold planned on buying several different gifts. He has figured it out it had just taken him a bit. Gilly needed to be given the RIGHT thing and then she will date him. Flowers were clearly out and he figured that included plants. The old kitchen spice rack was ugly, this one was nice to look at even if it was only a third of the size. He grabbed Ramsay and Joff by their necks and headed out, Joff carrying Harold's purchase.

"Next store, boys. Oh, Hunting, Antiques, Pawn Shop. Let's try there." The store entranced all three of them from the second they entered it. A taxidermy horror of honey badgers, cobras and fisher cats. Swords, blades, rifles and several traps everywhere. All three became overjoyed and wiped a bit of moisture from their eyes as they entered reverently.

Polliver smiled at Hot Pie as they strolled past the different coffee tables and twin beds. "Here is what I'm gonna do. I want you to pick out one piece you really like and then you keep it. I will uy furniture for me and give you every bit of furniture I replace." Myranda let out a bark of laughter and danced around Hot Pie, poking at the pouting boy. "Ha! I told you! Ha, I warned you that would happen, didn't I?" Her laugh was cut off by a yelp as Polliver's baton caught her smartly on her buttocks. "Shut up, girl. This doesn't involve you. I didn't bring you along for your damned opinion. This here is a staff conversation. I don't mean to burst your bubble, sweetie, but you are still a student. Now, stand next to Theon and shut up."

Grabbing Hot Pie by the shoulder, Polliver leaned down and spoke lower. "Listen, my first set of furniture came directly from Gregor's own damned cabin. He got me one thing and gave me his old stuff while buying new stuff of his own. That is how it works. Raff's first cabin was half Unella's old crap and half Stannis's old shit. Gregor's first set of furniture was even worse, he had to take Olenna's old stuff. His place looked like a deranged tea party. Broke most of his stuff by sitting on it. That is how it goes here. So pick your one thing. Don't open your mouth or sulk like a damned student. Suck it up like staff."

 Unella, Loras and Sansa were at the clothing store. The two most fashionable students kindly offered their assistance in helping her pick out a wedding dress. The owner of the clothing store was all in a flutter and she kept running around, chattering to herself. She had introduced herself as Eunice's sister's best friend. Her name was Coral and her cats names were General Muffins number eight and Madame Crinkles number fourteen. Both cats looked as if their numbers were almost up. The poor woman was beside herself trying to find a wedding dress to fit over Unella's stomach.

"Well, maybe we can find something in the maternity clothes." Sansa offered nicely and the poor woman turned redder. "Oh, yes, perhaps! We, uh, we don't get many breeders around here. So the clothes might be a tiny bit dated but that just makes them classics, right? Probably back in style by now anyway. But there was a dress or two that might work in there. Let me go get the boxes." As they went through the dusty boxes, Loras couldn't help himself. "When was the last time you saw corduroy pants, Unella? Sansa, look at this. What the hell is a Partridge Family and how can this shirt be so many bad colors all at once?" A firm smack to his head by Unella stopped him for a brief time. 

With a squeal of delight that caused Sansa to visibly wince, Coral pulled a purple nightmare of cloth out of a box. "This dress would do it and I know it's not traditional white but it's vibrant colors at least." The yards and yards of fake silk just kept coming. It was dark purple with lighter purple and sparkling blue sequins that created creatures that might have been peacocks or platypuses, perhaps beavers or dragons. Loras covered his mouth and shut his eyes, Sansa turned pale and Unella nearly cried. Sadly, it fit perfectly so, Unella did cry for a second. For perhaps the only time in this school, Sansa and Loras showed their genuine feelings as they consoled the distraught doctor.

After making arrangements to pick up the bed, couch and more later, Gregor led Damon and Jeyne into the clothing store. He saw Unella and the two kids leaving with two bags full of crap. He couldn't understand why the three of them looked as if they had been crying when it was HIS money they were wasting. They all glared at him as they left and headed for the small baby store. Shrugging, Gregor walked over to the saleslady and asked her for a wedding suit. While the woman started to chatter to herself and whirl around, the kids wandered. Jeyne came skipping by wearing sunglasses, a red sun hat and a blue bathrobe. She had dressed Damon, who was now sporting a ski mask, a mechanic's suit and a red purse. Coral popped out behind a rack, saw Damon, screamed and promptly fainted. 

Sandor and Arya passed Ramsay holding a bear trap and begging Harold rather desperately for it. Arya saw Joff trying to steal a few blades left out on a dusty tray and she slid up to him. Putting her head close, her lips almost against his ear, she whispered, "If you don't get caught, you'll give me a least half of your bounty, hubby. Or I'm not only going to tell on you but I'm going to kick your ass. Think Ramsay will stop me? He is your friend only by convenience and deep down you know it." She walked away to join Sandor at the counter. He bought her a pair of binoculars. They went to the general store to see if they could find wedding gifts for the couple. 

Gilly and Bob joined Kevan in heartily thanking the chef, Eunice and Cleetus for an amazing meal. It turned out that their chef was originally trained in one of the top cooking schools that Braavos had to offer. Then he had a nasty scandal, some legal troubles and fled to anonymity to FourHeads. They had been given trays full of stuffed lobster, filet mignon, a crisp, fresh salad, chilled exotic fruits, scalloped potatoes and mushroom risotto. Stuffed to the tip of their heads, they rolled out into the bright sunshine. Kevan shook Cleetus's hand for the fourth time and told him they would go do some shopping now. The mayor looked sad that he wasn't going with them but gave in gracefully.

"MY EYES! AHH! NOO!" Jeyne's shriek and Damon's holler of horror caused Gregor to growl. "This is all you've got that can fit me? No one in this town can be paid to give me their damned suit for a few measly hours?" Coral stammered apologies. "I am so sorry, Sir! But you are larger than most men around here! I was lucky just to have this for you and what I had for your bride. I'm sorry. But it fits you and it's colorful." Kevan, Gilly and Bob entered the clothing store to encounter a wall of red and purple plaid. Gilly gave the brightest, politest smile, Bob's lips twitched and Kevan paused only a second before recovering. "Ahh, Gregor! How wonderful they had a suit to fit you!"  

Loras rocked a strange looking baby cradle and it fell down. "Oh my. No cradles then." Sansa and Unella looked at most of the cribs with deep suspicion. "I remember having a crib like this." This was a comment from not only Sansa but Unella, several times. Loras tilted his head and asked, "When was the last time they made play pens out of metal?" Unella shivered and looked at a baby seat that proudly stated it was inspected in the 1990s, according to it's written tag. It was the most updated thing in the entire store. "Nope. We will go to the city or order the stuff online. I don't care what Gregor says." They did buy some essential baby clothes before leaving the store as the owner cried in the storeroom.

Hot Pie bargained with Polliver until he won a television of his own plus one hour a week of gaming with Polliver. "If you start to get all freaky addicted again, I'll kick your ass all the way to Raff's office, hear me?" Hot Pie nodded eagerly, thrilled with his bargain. Theon and Myranda had wandered off, bored with the bargaining. "How are things going for you? I mean, for me, it gets real personal with Harold and Bob sometimes, it can be hard to adjust between them and the rest of everything."

Theon shrugged as they walked, staring at things. "It did get very personal and it was like, fifty shades of fucked up. Coming back at first, like when I was with them, there was no time. It was them or I was alone and sleeping or left restrained with instructions to meditate or think of certain things. It was way different to come back to school and have my own thoughts and motions again. I got used to it and Arya didn't ask questions or make fun of me. I have been calmer, feeling more focused and able to kind of, get better. They are fixing my skin and I am fixing my head. I am scared and excited about working." 

Raff came by and glared at Theon. "You! I left you in the back of the store where Polliver was for just a minute! I come back and where the hell are you? And where the fuck are you going, Myranda? You want me to believe you are accidentally leaving the store?" Sighing heavily, the girl frowned at Raff. "This store is boring and we need to buy a wedding gift still."   


	82. Popcorn And Presents

Bob raised his eyebrow as Harold walked past him, Ramsay and Joff carrying several bags and boxes to stow upon the bus. Harold stopped and asked how Bob enjoyed his lunch. "It was wonderful. Excellent food and Gilly had a great time. She chatted with the chef about spices and different kinds of tea. How was your lunch?" Harold stormed off with the boys and Bob chuckled.

Harold waited until the boys were done before smiling widely and backing them both out of sight of the townsfolk. Yelps were heard then Harold came out of the shadowy blind spot to walk back towards the hunting store. Ramsay and Joff were behind him, pale and sniffing, carrying a bear trap and blades to return with polite, heartfelt apologies. As the man tried to decide what store to try next, the two boys noticed Myranda go by with Polliver and Hot Pie.

Joff sneered and muttered to Ramsay, "If that whore wasn't so stupid, she could have pleased me and I've given her money to buy something with. Now all she can do is buy some crappy wedding gift for teachers. The creepster twins should rent her out to the staff and students that have a few bucks." Ramsay grinned back but said nothing as Harold stood directly behind Joff. 

"Which one of the students walking by is the whore you are speaking of, Joff? Hmm. I see Polliver, he is a counselor, not a whore. I see our newest staff member and school cook, Hot Pie. He certainly isn't a whore, is he? Then there is my sweet Myranda. Ah, look Bob's walking by. Bob! Joff thinks our sweet Myranda is a whore. He also feels that perhaps we should rent her out to those who can afford her at the school. What do you think of that?"

Ramsay lowered his eyes and took a step back even as he smirked. He has warned Joff before that if he does something incredibly dangerous or stupid without his approval, he won't help him out of it. Lancel told him to tamper things down a little and Ramsay was trying to do that. Bob asked Harold politely if he could borrow Joff and Harold gave exuberant permission for it. Ramsay had a hard time not laughing as Joff was dragged off, his face blank with dread.

Gilly and Kevan were inside the town's one beauty salon. Kevan had asked for hair styling, manicures, pedicures and facial treatments for himself and Gilly. The two women inside the salon were fluttering, thrilled. They were polite, friendly and gossiping without any malice about every person in town. It wasn't hard to follow as there were only twenty people that lived there. Most of them were related, of course.

Doreen looked up at Kevan and grinned a smile full of bright pink bubble gum shining lips.

"I'll tell ya, those kids are really something, must be a handful but they are kind of adorable, too. That dance in front of the tube men, that was a sight to see! I saw that little girl with the shorn head, the large boy next to her then we all sort of figured it out. They are all simple in the head, aren't they? Some of them are high class looking, like yourself, Sir. It's a thing they can't hide. Are they rich kids that are a little touched in the mind? Poor things. I will tell you, my cousin Fred, he runs the store with the balloon tube guys. He set them up and was afraid after he did something wrong, you'd be mad over it. Then he saw how much that girl like those things, he saw her hug them. He already packed four of them for her to take home."

Kevan gave Gilly a dry look that made her stifle a laugh as he replied to Doreen as the woman filed his nails. "Thank you, what a lovely surprise for Jeyne. I am sure that staff won't mind her having them. I shall have to go and thank your cousin Fred myself afterwards." Gilly's feet were just finished in the small spa tub and as she put them gently on a thick towel, the woman working on her named Cheryl looked out the window, her eyes widening. "Oh my. What an interesting outfit choice. Poor boy probably didn't know any better."

Gilly heard Kevan sigh as they looked out the window and saw Harold, Ramsay and Joff walking by along with Bob. The laughing Ramsay was in his uniform, Bob and Harold were in their usual suits and then there was Joff. He was no longer wearing his uniform, instead the miserable looking boy was wearing a very skimpy dress from the seventies disco and cocaine days. The boy seemed to be having trouble walking in the high heel thigh length boots. Doreen gave a sad shake of her head. "The poor kid doesn't know he looks like one of those transvestite whores I'd seen on my trip to Mereen during my honeymoon years ago."

Unella had wandered to the furniture store and was told by Fred that Gregor had picked out all their items. She went to examine the furniture being put aside for them to carry onto the truck. Stannis and Tyrion had reappeared, seemingly appeased and slightly drunk. They had offered to take Loras and Sansa to buy their wedding presents. Eager to be further away from the hideous sight of that wedding dress, even the bag that held it wasn't far enough, the kids nodded thankfully. They left as Unella screeched at poor Fred. "This? All of this is going in MY home? No, no, this is going to have to be switched."

Gregor was leaving the clothing store with bags, a frown and his two students. Damon and Jeyne were thrilled to see Raff since Gregor was getting testy. "I'm taking Theon to the general store for purchases. You two want to join us?" That was when Gregor saw a couch he picked out reverse itself from a store window and his eye twitched. "Please, excuse Nanny Gregor, children. I have to go murder my bride." Damon and Jeyne smiled at Theon and Raff as Gregor started to head for the furniture store with a glint in his eye.

Arya slowly walked with Sandor down the aisles of the general store. "What do we get for a wedding present? Never had to deal with this stuff before. I don't remember what my mother or sister would give for presents. Something shiny and useless, I think." Sandor snorted. "Like I have been to a thousand weddings? Just get them something for hell house." Nodding, Arya started paying more attention to the jumbled items everywhere.

The store truly was general, it had some groceries, a bit of hard liquor that has already been bought out by the two professors. It had cleaning products, gardening items, several hardware sections, a toy area, several bookshelves, long forgotten novelty items and more.

Theon stared at a frying pan then at a blender. Biting his lip, he grabbed both and then some wrapping paper. Damon frowned and shook his head. "I'm not sure about that. What can you make with a frying pan and a blender? Maybe a spatula and the pan or the blender and uh, I have no fucking clue." Jeyne popped up from the top of the shelving unit. "There is a wok and a big steam pot up here. What are woks?" Raff appeared next to the boys and glared up at her, hissing. "Get down right now! A Person doesn't climb on top of shelves to reach things! They ask for help for help. Get down!"

Jeyne blushed and climbed down. Raff grabbed her and dusted her off briskly. "I want you to take some deep breaths and calm down. You are very close to earning a punishment. Don't let your excitement get you in trouble. I want you to be able to walk with me and enjoy finding a present. So breathe and let me know when you are ready to walk." Sniffing, she nodded and started to practice her breathing. Damon and Theon looked helplessly at Raff. "What do we buy them?" Raff rolled his eyes. "I suggest getting them dishes or glasses. Go on and look for those things while Jeyne and I breathe."

They wandered off and found three sets of dishes, two sets of matching glasses and set about arguing who was getting what. Sansa came by and sailed past the arguing boys to pick out a shower curtain and liner before moving on to find bathroom and kitchen curtains. Loras tiptoed past the sight of Jeyne and Raff standing very still with their eyes closed, just breathing. He bought bedding for the new king size bed that Gregor had picked. Loras was confident that was one purchase that Unella wouldn't switch due to Gregor's size.

Jeyne announced she felt ready and allowed Raff to hold her hand this time. "I know what I want to get them. I need the books, please." Raff smiled at her very calm, focused words. "Sure, Jeynie. Much better, good girl! Now I feel like I am escorting a Person On A Shopping Trip." Jeyne took care with keeping her chin up and she walked in time with Raff's pace. Raff watched Jeyne's selections grow and he tried hard to not laugh as he read the titles. "Sweetheart, are you sure that's what you want to give them? A wedding should be happy, the gift should be happy, don't you think?"

Shaking her head firmly, Jeyne clutched her books to her chest. "This isn't a happy wedding just a needed one. They need gifts they can use. That is what I heard Sandor tell Arya. They need these books. Can you help me see if I have enough money for them?" Raff sighed and helped her pick two books out of the bunch. "That it what you can afford. Are you sure on this?" Jeyne could not be swayed and Raff tried so hard to not laugh but he couldn't wait to tell Polliver later. He can't wait to see Gregor and Unella's faces when they opened their present. He hopes they open them in public.

Damon clutched a box of bright blue dishes with red birds in the center of them. Theon balanced a box of bright orange ceramic mugs with matching sugar bowl. Raff told them both they made excellent choices. Raff grabbed a toaster oven box that was yellowed with age and led his charges towards the register. Once they went outside a smell of popcorn and fake butter assaulted their senses. Jeyne sniffed deeply and Damon bellowed that he really wanted, needed, some popcorn. Sighing, the therapist gave in and nodded. He started to dig into his wallet as the two ran ahead towards the small popcorn stand with Theon jogging behind them.

Ramsay stared at items around him and grabbed a gallon of bleach, wrapping paper, sharp scissors and duct tape. Harold stared at the items and at Ramsay until the boy returned the things to shelf. "You can keep the wrapping paper." Muttering, Ramsay threw the paper back anyway and picked a different kind. Shrugging, Harold wasn't fazed at the religious themed paper. Harold grabbed Ramsay by the shoulder and guided him and the carriage towards another area. Joff clicked hurriedly and clumsily past Arya and Sandor with Bob literally breathing down his neck. Arya barked out laughter but Sandor whacked her head to shut her up.

Hot Pie and Myranda decided to buy their present for the couple together. Polliver was impressed at their teamwork as they carried the microwave together to the counter. It was way nicer than Polliver's present of an iron and board. They went outside and joined Raff, Theon, Damon and Jeyne near the popcorn stand. Myranda gave Polliver pleading eyes and Hot Pie only had enough change left to buy one lemonade at the next stand. Raff already was buying his three charges lemonade to go with their salty popcorn.

Cursing, Polliver bought Myranda and Hot Pie popcorn and he got the lemonade too. Polliver drank half of Hot Pie's lemonade and ate half his popcorn. As the others got their purchases made and straggled out, they too came following the scent of popcorn. Jeyne was in pure bliss, the drink and the snack were perfect, it was delicious. Loras barely touched his popcorn, Jeyne started to sneak pieces out of it while he spoke to Stannis. Loras caught her out of the corner of his eye and smacked her hand hard. "Bad dog, keep your filthy paws out of my popcorn, freak!" The staunch professor frowned deeply and snapped out, "Not acceptable behavior, either of you!"

Loras went to respond and caught not only Sansa's eye but Ramsay's flat stare as he came forward with Howard. He stiffly apologized instead. Jeyne gave an apology too but hers seemed disgustingly earnest.  Loras knows that her half brother wants to be the one to kill her but he may just beat the asshole to it. That stupid girl needs a mercy killing. It was like letting a dock rat run around the house and claiming it's a dog. Lancel might feel mercy and pity for the feral but Loras knows that his lover is a bit weak when it comes to his soft heart. But even Lancel knows the girl has to die anyway. Loras hopes it gets to be him that does it.

Fred was nearly in tears, shaking and feeling his angina starting up in spite of his medications. He couldn't decide which was more terrifying. The huge giant bald man looming over woman like he was in a cocaine fueled rage, veins and muscles popping up everywhere. Or the woman with the death stare eyes and a stomach so large and stone looking that it scared him. His wife has given him three children and her stomach never looked quite like that. The woman had no fear of this mutant about to squash her. In fact, she was threatening his life in such a matter of fact and knowledgeable way that Fred was starting to fear for the giant.

He opened the door to let in some air so he didn't pass out from the stress. Fred watched as the woman suddenly caught a whiff of popcorn on the wind. Gregor grinned with triumph as the woman nearly ran Fred over on her way out towards the popcorn stand. He was sure that the woman was drooling when she went by. Gregor spoke with an unnerving cheer to the half dying shopkeep. "She can have the practical changes of no sharp edges or glass for the babies. So we can change the coffee table and side tables. Everything else stays the same. I'd better hurry to get the kids to load this stuff before Unella finishes eating all the popcorn and the person making it."

Fred took the man's money with shaking fingers.  

Unella ate every last bit, every last kernel the terrified popcorn vendor had to offer. She also finished off the lemonade stand, giving them enough change to pay for the three town cheerleaders to buy new sneakers at the general store. The popcorn vendor was their older brother and he earned enough to buy that guitar he saw his cousin sell to the pawn shop a week ago. Once he gets that and buys strings for it and learns how to play, he is sure that stardom won't be far behind.

As Damon, Theon, Ramsay, Arya, Loras, Sansa and Myranda all slung furniture into the trucks, Jeyne gave one last visit to her whirlygig men and danced with them. Joff stood nearby, awkward and embarrassed in his outfit. Gregor had burst out laughing when Joff came to help with the furniture. "Princess, your outfit and boots aren't made for real work. Why don't you sashay over to the whirlygig men and Jeyne. See if you could wiggle that ass and get a ride out of town for a good cock sucking? Truckers come through here sometimes, you might get lucky, whore."

Unella wiped the fake butter off her mouth, Gilly approached her. "Uh, excuse me, Doctor? Kevan mentioned that since I am the only other female staff member, perhaps I can offer my services to you at the wedding? I do not wish to overstep in anyway, we do not know each other more than a base professional level. And a school doctor is certainly higher in profession than a housekeeper. But if you wish to have me stand with you at your wedding rather than a female student, I would be honored. Or any other assistance I can offer to make your wedding go smoother?"

Jeyne stopped her dance when Raff put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Jeynie, look at that!" She followed Raff's glance to see the man from the store walking towards her with a smile. "I would like to give you four of your own tube men, young lady. Thank you for liking them and coming to visit FourHeads." She had to try very hard now, this was HUGE. Her voice was a slight whine but it was clear and present. "I love FourHeads, I love Whirlygig men. Thank you very much, Sir." With trembling hands, Jeyne took the boxes and headed for the bus with wide eyes of a child who saw Santa Claus personally.

Gregor and Unella argued all the way back to the school. Unella angry over the furniture victory Gregor got. But her body decided her revenge for her as the popcorn and the diner food gave her horrific gas. Unable to hold it back, Unella roared from both ends of her body repeatedly the whole two hours. Gregor spent most of the journey with his head out the window, tears streaming from reddened eyes. He tried to yell at her that she needed to ride with the furniture but a bug got caught in his throat.

The same fate befell everyone that had the popcorn or diner food. Arya and Sandor tried to breathe out the tiny bus window that would open. "We didn't think to bring gas masks. Next time we remember to protect our noses." Nodding, the girl agreed with her mentor's wise advice. Loras broke a nail trying to crack one of the windows open for him and Sansa. "This is awful, two hours of stench. I can't. I can just take Joff in that outfit and see if I can sell him to a trucker for a ride home. Hell, I would blow the trucker myself just to get out of this gas pit!"  

Kevan had Bob cue up the small screen he had in the car. "Now, my dear, we have a new musical! This is the movie version of West Side Story! It is older but I am sure it's really no different than any other generation when it comes to the teenagers. These are all wayward teens too." The enjoyed the movie as Bob drove as if he were stunt driving for a race car movie. As he performed a Tokyo Drift move passing a startled deer, Bob softly sang that he felt pretty.


	83. First Golden Son

In spite of being a lawyer, Jaime wasn't the smartest apple on the tree. Or the most observant. That is why he wasn't a doctor or politician as much as his father tried for it in the early years. In fact, in Tywin's mind, Jaime rose the highest out of all three of his children even though he was the dumbest and least observant of the children. Tyrion had dwarfism, Cersei was a female and both had their mother's alcoholism. Jaime was handsome, male and sober. Tywin ran with it.

Jaime enjoyed being the most popular, the most handsome, rich and fit male at every stage of his life. He had his siblings to help him, his father's money to assist him, others could be persuaded or paid to do things for him. Most of his speeches delivered in a courtroom were given to him by others, he was an autograph, a pretty face with a dramatic voice to use on cases that will be need to seen in a handsome light. 

He never felt personal tragedy except for the loss of his hand and his little brother. When Cersei was banished to their uncle's school during their high school years, Jaime only felt relief. He enjoyed having sex with her, he loved her but her drinking and sadism were tiring. Also, her unreasoning hatred of their younger brother bothered Jaime to no end. Jaime enjoyed being able to have the break for those four years.

When his best friend, his own little brother was banished eternally to their uncle's school, it was devastating. Jaime simply removed himself from the guilt and shame of it, he never visited or called Tyrion, it was too painful. He allowed Cersei to sway him that it wasn't their fault that Tyrion was there, why should they save him? But it was their fault, totally their fault and both of them knew it.

Tyrion never would have gone on that bender, never would have touched a drop of liquor in his whole life, if it weren't for them.  He was the smartest sibling, he heard the truth about their mother, regardless what their sister touted. Tyrion had understood the drinking problem could be in any of them, that Cersei was already drinking by the time she was eleven. The boy was determined to never touch any substance that might hook and hamper him.

He had sworn to Jaime that he would become a famous educated man in his own right just to spite their father. But the night that Tyrion had walked in on Cersei and Jaime having sex while Robert was on a trip, that sealed his fate. Tyrion had been only nineteen, in his first year of an excellent university, but Cersei had leaped naked on top of him, beating him, trying to murder him. She tried to convince Jaime to kill their baby brother and Jaime refused. So Cersei water-boarded Tyrion with wine while Jaime held him down, until their little brother was so blitzed that if he ever tried to say what he saw was real, it could be easily denied.

Tyrion never mentioned what he saw and he also never stopped drinking. Instead of being the brightest star among stars at the school, Tyrion graduated just barely above average. His professors all agonized over him, he was brilliant but the drink was destroying him. After causing a scandal at his first and only position as a professor at a school by wandering into his class drunk and naked, Tyrion was sent to the one teaching position he can't ever leave.

The only other time Jaime ever felt true tragedy was over his hand. A group of angry parents who's cancer stricken children would never see any compensation for what Doctor Unella and Doctor Qyburn had done to them, they took away Jaime's right hand. Explaining to them that he only was the mouthpiece in front of the courtroom wasn't enough to appease them. Qyburn got away with no penalty at all, Unella disappeared into the school and Jaime lost a right hand to an angry mob.

He still felt that he got the worst end of that deal. So when Cersei kept calling Joff being stuck at the school a tragedy, Jaime didn't agree though he didn't dare say it out loud. Cersei thought that Joff getting forcibly married to Arya Stark was another tragedy. Every time Cersei feels she has a tragedy, Jaime must drop everything and rush to her side. Jaime had done so but made a mistake after tiring of hearing the woman bitch, not even stopping when they had sex.

His mistake was not keeping his usual silence. "Isn't being forcibly married to Joff just as tragic, if not more so, for the girl?" That caused Cersei to scream and kick him out. On his way out of the dark house, Jaime slipped and fell, mostly due to Cersei throwing a vase at his head. He broke his ankle and spent the next few days in the hospital. Ignoring any family, work or friend calls, Jaime headed for his home.

Jaime had painkillers and a doctor's orders to take a few weeks off from work. He stayed out of Lancel's way and the way of the females. At first he spent time staring at shows he meant to get around to watching. The medication made Jaime sleep a good amount as well. It was very slowly that Jaime started to observe anything wrong. Even longer for him to understand it.

It was all normal and boring on the surface, the younger girls went to school, did chores and played a good amount of the time. The older siblings worked their jobs on the estate, took care of the younger children. Lancel was a father figure to them all, he was always playing a game with them or storytelling over the fire pit. None of this alarmed Jaime in the least. It was all very sweet and boring to him.

That was truly how Jaime figured out anything was wrong, he was bored and blundered into it. After the first few days, Jaime didn't take as many of the pills. They bothered his stomach and his ankle really didn't hurt that much. The shows weren't interesting enough for Jaimie to watch more than a few hours in a day or night. Even x box games didn't hold him. Jaime had never taken the time for them before and had no patience with learning them.

As soon as it announced he needed a tutorial of any sort, he was done. Jaime avoided his phone and computer like the plague. He wanted to be left alone and the quickest way for that to happen is to connect with no one. The second he answers a phone call, makes a text or even wanders online, they will get him, drag him screaming into his reality before he feels ready. This is how Jaime has always dealt with injury or stress, he runs away, hides.

Until his ankle heals, Jaime refuses to be anything less than an elegant hermit and a regal sloth. Lancel had laughed when Jaime had announced that and never given any indication that it bothered him. Jaime had kept his word and interrupted no one. He ate at the same schedule as Lancel as to not hinder the staff any. Bored, Jaime took to just sitting on the porches, patios, decks.

He also started to walk the wooded paths that he could easily travel with crutches. Jaime would take his time, take lots of breaks. That motivated Jaime to start using the small gym building that Lancel had installed. Jaime had always been athletic and those who could hike or climb mountains can escape others easier. So he began to use the weight room as well as the indoor and outdoor pools.

Jaime noticed it at the gym first. He watched with a sort of idiotic admiring smile as Lancel taught even the tiniest scrap of a girl how to fight. "After what they have been through, don't you think they deserve to know how to defend themselves?" Of course, Jaime had agreed with that one hundred percent. Jaime did have a sneaking lawyerly thought later that week. How many women defended themselves from an attacker with kickboxing, wrestling, boxing, karate and guns all at once? Numerous, so this was of no concern.

The girls learned archery, gymnastics, hunting and ballet. Strange, but Jaime certainly wasn't about to questions it. He noticed all of the girls used the pool during scheduled staff hours. Jaime did happen to be around enough to notice a little bit of something odd there. The girls were cheerful as they swam but there was less horseplay than one would expect from the younger ones, at least.

Instead they all played only endurance games or taught the younger ones how to swim way better than most should at that age. Jaime didn't wonder too much until he noticed all the games seemed to not be true games, perhaps. Some of the games were downright suspicious. Hide and seek was taken to new levels, in the dark, sometimes in the woods and even during storms. Jaime was concerned that they were bringing even the smallest into those dangerous conditions. 

But it wasn't his place or problem and Lancel gets so damned defensive, not worth the trouble. Then he started to notice other games, they would all pickpocket each other. One night when he had insomnia and wanted to just walk his energy away, they scared the living shit out of him. They were all dressed in black, skulking about the grounds and mugged him. Leaping at him, Jaime dropped his crutches and fell in shock, as shadows came for him.

It felt like a thousand hands swarming like ghostly ants and then they were gone. Jaime found his items dropped only a few feet away. He told Lancel of it and the man stared at him blank faced. "How do you know it was any of the girls here that did that to you?" "Are you kidding me? Who else would be on our estate that would have played a prank like that?" Lancel smirked at his cousin. "Bring me proof and I shall confront the guilty."

Jaime would try to get close enough to hear Lancel's story times to the girls but it never happened. Lancel would hear him and stop talking or they would move to another location. One day Jaime was wandering the pathways when he ran into the smallest two girls. They were discussing this toad family and Jaime jokingly demanded proof that the toads truly existed.

To his surprise they dragged him to their house and pulled him inside. They proudly showed Jaime the alcove that the toads leave their latest possessions in. Jaime had eyed the toy stunt car with purple parachute fully opened and attached, tiny star spangled helmets on the car seats. Grinning, he told the girls he truly believed them now. Jaime started to head back out of the house, passing through the kitchen to the back door that he'd come in from.

That was when he noticed the pictures on the table the girls must have colored earlier. Stopping dead in his tracks, Jaime looked a bit closer. Sara came over and proudly displayed the picture she made of Sansa and Lancel. She has only a photo to go by for Sansa but she thought the wedding couple looked good. Jaime did say it was a good picture but that wasn't the one he was looking at. He was looking at Mari's picture and asking about that and the other one Sara drew. And at all the photos they borrowed.

Stupid Mari opened her mouth and Sara put her hand over the girl's face. She held the struggling child and smiled widely at Jaime. This was exactly the type of thing her sisters and Lancel worried about. They weren't supposed to ever let Jaime or anyone inside the house and here is why. "Nothing. We just like to draw. We should go outside now." Jaime nodded and left but he looked back at the pictures as he left.

Sara was in tears as she hit Mari's arm. "We are going to be in so much trouble! We have to go tell Clara what he saw and they will know we let him inside! Lancel's gonna make us kneel in cornmeal and whack our hands hard with the rod!"

That night at dinner, Jaime confronted Lancel. "I saw some pictures the girls drew today." With a wry smile, Lancel responded lightly. "Oh yes, I heard all about that. You can bet the girls got holy hell for letting strangers inside their house. Clara and Belinda are very strict on that rule, as they should be. I insist on it for their own safety. Are you concerned about their drawings? They are young and imaginative, aren't they?"

Jaime smiled but it wasn't with amusement, it was a very specific smile only known to Lannisters. His voice was smooth, rich, cutting and cultured as if Cersei came welling from inside, as if Tyrion bloomed in his head and Tywin from his heart.

"I am the slowest of the family in the brains department and I tend not to give a flying fuck what anyone else does but even I am not that stupid or deliberately obtuse. The picture of you and your new bride is very nice indeed. Not sure how I feel about the picture of my sister with blood and blades all over her. Or the picture of your father and a good amount of kids also covered in blood. Don't tell me I don't know that those are what the pictures are of. They had photos of Sansa, Cersei, Kevan and pictures of what has to be every person at his school. My father and Olenna Tyrell were old photos but not that old that they can't be recognized easily."

Lancel sighed and swirled his glass of wine as if unconcerned. "I thought we had an agreement, Jaime. I would never mention how you were fucking your sister all these years and you wouldn't bother me in my affairs. Looks like that has been broken, cousin. Are you sure you don't want to write this off as something else to forget and run from?" With a small laugh, Lancel sipped his wine and put it down, giving a small glance at Clara, who was near the wall, fixing their salads.

The woman walked out of the room silently. "It doesn't really matter that you figured it out a little earlier than expected. Actually, you should be honored, you get to be the first one, the first step to our full attack. The girls need the practice and I was going to be sporting by letting you heal a little more first. I wanted them to see a struggle, how to react to it."

Jaime stared at Lancel, who's eyes were too bright, who's smile was too wide and confident. "What the fuck are you talking about? Why are you doing this? What are you doing? Are you having these girls train to go kill everyone in your photos? Why?" Lancel leaned forward and put his chin in his hands, he looked slightly playful and fully mad.

"I am assuming that Cersei was your first sexual experience? We have that in common, you know. Your sister was very angry at being stuck in my dad's school. She and the rest of her fucked up class tried to come up with ways to get revenge on him. Cat Stark tried to get my dad to impregnate her and failed. Cersei taught me a full sex education in hopes of blackmailing my father somehow. She ended up earning my father's wrath and I ended up with a broken heart. My father didn't blame me for it, he told me I was seduced, molested and a survivor."

Lancel laughed and it sounded like shattering glass. "As for the others, they all just love to help my father and he loves to help them. And if children must be destroyed in the process, they don't care. It will all come crashing down and I will make that happen." Jaime shook his head and stared at Lancel. "That school is full of children, Lancel! Those pictures they drew showed dead children from the photos. If you go and kill the staff and the kids, how are you any different?"

Eyes blazing, Lancel stood up and threw his wineglass against the wall.

"Because those children cannot be helped! They are already brainwashed! But some will be saved and no further students will ever have to suffer there! And once the high and mighty of the north and south are taken down, others will come to take their place. I can make sure I will change the system so it won't be more of the same kind of greedy people. It's not going to be a concern for you though, cousin. My golden cousin, the first son, the first of everything, even at the end, you are still going to get to be the first. The first to die in our cause."

Lancel held a pistol on Jaime and told him he could have one chance. "If you can make it on your crutches to your car, I'll let you go. The girls are swarming out there and I've told them they must capture and kill you. Or I can just shoot you now." Jaime took his chances and plunged out the door with his crutches and headed for the driveway. The littlest girls were standing there, bare knees covered in blood, red swollen hands holding onto large sharp rocks. Tears of pain in their eyes, they clutched the rocks and waited until Jaime tried to pass them.

One rock caught Jaime in the head and he grunted, swaying for a moment. Even when blood stung his eyes, he didn't pause, even as more painful rocks hit him. He limped past the girls and kept going. The others took him down long before he made it near his car.


	84. Baiting Love

Gregor was arguing with Unella and the rest of the staff over the wedding. Tyrion had wagged a stubby finger at the large man. "Listen, at the very least we are taking you out for a proper meal and getting you more than properly shit faced. Sandor will not be drinking, how much safer is that than your own little brother?"

"Only slightly safer than I feel around Unella when she's hungry. I don't want a fucking bachelor party, assholes! How much clearer can I be? It's bad enough I have to be at the wedding and now this bullshit with Kevan having Gilly help Unella. Like she needs any help making her life worse, she's been doing that on her own for years! And what's to plan? Why do anything after but let the kids tear shit down along with Jeyne this time around?" 

Unella smiled brightly at Gregor. "Go. Since I have to have a bridal party with Gilly and the girl STUDENTS here, you go with the male STAFF ADULTS and have a great time. You can try very hard to die of alcohol poisoning, you can rape and murder a pregnant mother of four and get caught, please?" Her hands grasped his tightly. A deranged, almost affectionate look of an owner of a familiar but hated family pet that might finally die, came over her face.

"Go to a strip joint, buy some drugs, any kind, whatever you can find, I'll give you the money for it! Kill two strippers and wear their heads as shoulder pads as you cruise away west! Or maybe you could use all my savings to purchase a gun if you don't want to do up close wet work anymore? Yes? Gregor, think of the adrenaline rush to go back to killing? Here you can't kill anyone, can't even rip off limbs or break bones on purpose anymore! Do it, I'll understand totally, go for it and reclaim those glory days!"

Raff's eyes widened. "Unella is actually abandoning our breakfasts to try and convince Gregor to commit murder. I'd say we are moving into a new and more dangerous stage of her pregnancy. And Stannis, do not tell me to consult further research, the woman is stone cold crazy and pregnant with another stone cold crazy killer's sperm. There is no right thing with this pregnancy." Polliver whistled. "Those are going to be nightmare twin killers. Gonna end up as my evil little ducklings someday, like two Ramsay's or Harold and Bob reincarnate or something. I see it already."

Gilly was putting away the last of the breakfast dishes in the cabinets when Harold entered the kitchen. He walked over to Gilly and waited until she finished putting the last dish away before thrusting a brown paper bag at her. Raising an eyebrow, Gilly opened the bag and pulled out a small ornate spice rack. Harold smiled at her and she smiled back. "It was kind of you to get an extra spice rack for the kitchen. If you have the receipt, I can use the housekeeping funds to return your money. No point in waiting until it's calculated into your paycheck."

Harold had stopped smiling and spoke with a soft but strained voice. "It wasn't a spice rack for the kitchen. It was a spice rack for you. A gift for you." Gilly sounded confused but her smile never changed. "Sir, I have no kitchen in my room. What would I do with a spice rack? A spice rack is something that you put in a kitchen. It is a house gift, a kitchen gift. I am a Gilly, not a kitchen. Would you like a cool compress, Harold? You are flushed." He turned and left the room. Gilly hung the extra rack next to the big one. It wasn't until almost lunchtime that Harold returned to her.

Gilly had just finished polishing the downstairs tables and was heading to prepare sandwiches when he came up to her. They gave each other more smiles as Harold thrust another brown paper bag at her. Stifling a sigh, Gilly reached in and pulled out a cheap black plastic case. Warily, she opened the black case to see a cheap bright assortment of make up squares and tiny brushes. Harold knew right away that this wasn't the right gift either. He was sure of that as her smile turned to ice and her eyes very slowly left the box and climbed up to his. Even though Harold was wearing his sunglasses, he felt her gaze sear through them.

"Is my plain clean washed face that offensive to see, Harold?" He grabbed the case from her and threw it to the ground then stomped on it seven times. Gilly walked away to get the dust pan and brush. When she returned, Harold was standing over the mess holding another paper bag. She almost lost her smile and that gave Harold soaring hope. Any emotion beyond polite smiling was a start! Nearly ripping the bag out of his hands, Gilly reached into it. She pulled out a bottle of expensive body wash, a hairbrush and a cookbook.

If Gilly had been standing on a mountain of ice in another continent, she couldn't have sounded more chilly or distant. "Thank you, Harold. I understand now. You are a polite man and had no other way to explain the situation. My bare face is upsetting, I need to take more efforts to care for my apparent stink, my hair has become an unsightly issue and if I could learn to cook meals better, things would go smoother for you. Message received, Sir." Harold grabbed the items from her and threw them to the ground.

Throwing up her hands, Gilly finally lost her smile and her temper. "Don't you dare, Harold! I swear if you make any more mess I am going to forget how to make tea altogether! I also will vacuum your bedroom rug against it's natural direction until it shags on you! I have had enough of your nonsense today, Sir! If you wish to tease, insult or prank someone, I suggest you try it on another who doesn't have responsibilities to see to! You know I have extra duties right now to help out with the wedding! I do not need to be following messes around all day!"

Harold stomped on the mess anyway and growled out, "I don't know what you want!" Gilly had a new smile now and it slightly worried Harold, just enough for him to stop stomping and back up as she advanced. She held the dustpan and brush as if they were weapons and her voice was only one slight step below nuclear. "WHAT I WANT IS FOR YOU TO GO AWAY SO I CAN CLEAN YOUR MESS! AND I WANT YOU TO STOP BRINGING ME YOUR PAPER BAGS!" Harold obliged by turning and leaving at a rather fast clip. He went right past Bob and Kevan both trying to pretend that they weren't laughing at him.

It was clear that gifts were not the way to a date with Gilly. Harold understood that he needed a new tactic. What was important to that woman? Mess. Mess was important to her. Harold smiled as he came up with a better idea.

Unella grabbed the large knife and ran at Gregor. He lunged for her and thrust his spitting, hot cast iron skillet at her. Hot Pie yanked his hair and tried to not scream. "No, that's really dangerous. If you forget to cut something already in the skillet, leave it until later or pull the item out! You can't lunge at each other like that or someone will get hurt! You are a doctor, Unella! For shame! Gregor, you teach KIDS personal safety!"

Gregor growled out, "Keep insulting instead of teaching and your personal safety is going to be in question." Ever since Hot Pie had become staff he has felt he had the right to open his mouth as much as any other. He had offered to teach Unella and Gregor how to cook and that prompted Kevan to make Hot Pie offer a cooking class for the students. Polliver had to spend a night hearing Hot Pie boast that he could come to actual staff meetings now.

Hot Pie sighed and watched as Unella chopped the large chunk of onion in the spitting oil fast. Gregor threw the skillet back onto the burner and the oil sloshed out. "Oh goodie! Our first grease fire!" He shook his head as Unella and Gregor collided while trying to get the fire extinguisher. As the flames licked upwards, Hot Pie started to get nervous. "Stop fighting, it's not a stone circle of death! Your house will burn down while you are arguing over who saves it!"

Gilly was slipping a casserole into the oven when she heard a muffled thud. Frowning, she stood up, wiped her hands on the apron tied on her waist. Heading into the hallway, she found one of the cursed plants had fallen over. Dirt was tracked, smeared in small bits down the hall towards the back entrance. She went to the small supply closet and got out the vacuum. Just the other day, Theon was running through the back hallway to head upstairs and nearly took out this same plant. 

As she cleaned the dirt, following it's pathway into the narrow, darker back area, Gilly thought of new locations for that plant. Gilly heard a small clicking sound and her reaction was fast, without sight or thought. The vacuum got crushed in the process of holding up the strange steel cage that had come plummeting down from above. With a ponderous frown, Gilly stared at the broken appliance and when she heard Harold thunder down the stairs she was already glaring at him.

Standing in front of the broken cage and vacuum, Gilly watched Harold skid to a halt before her. His smile looked slightly strained and Gilly had no smile at all.

"Please ask your students to take better care when going past the plants. Also, if you wish to practice your traps, please warn me next time. Kevan will be wroth at the loss of a vacuum. This will have to be replaced and since I wasn't watching for a trap, I shall be at fault. Please, get out of the way, Sir, I must go calculate the cost of this out of my paycheck. And I must figure out how to clean up this mess of twisted steel."

Harold let her shove him out of the way and then he proceeded to beat the hell out of the remains of the vacuum. He should have known that the Gilly would have predator instincts and heard the trap fall. The lure had worked and that was something to consider. The woman can't ignore a mess or anything she thinks is a job less than well done. Another plan built in his head as he quickly dismantled his trap and disposed of it.

That night Gregor firmly and nearly violently insisted he wasn't having any damned bachelor party. He kept insisting it all the way into the bus where he was shoved by every male staff member. Tyrion was tossed, Stannis shoved back by his  head, Raff got nailed in the nuts and Polliver was punched into a whole new century. Hot Pie stood in front of the giant, smiling but didn't try and touch him. Instead he just held a drink and waited for Harold and Bob to come up behind Gregor.

Each took one of Gregor's immense shoulders and pressed lightly upon a small bundle of nerves. Gregor slumped down slightly, his whole body momentarily numb. Sandor grabbed his head and held his mouth open enough for Hot Pie to pour a bit of his special lemonade in there. Just enough for Gregor to understand how good it tasted. "I made you nachos, hot wings and more, all on the bus, waiting to be eaten, drinks for drinking and no school, no females. Really, this is the best kidnapping ever, I would think!"  

Gregor gave in and let them drag him into the bus. He ate, drank and let Sandor drive them down the road towards the closest town that would thankfully not be FourHeads. 

Unella sat at her own little party in a special kind of agony. Jeyne had put up two of her whilygig men and Myranda had brought her radio. The tubes and the girls danced in time to the music. Gilly had served iced tea, finger sandwiches and small pastries. Hot Pie had also left a plate of lemon cakes and two trays of cookies for their get together as well. Unella ate nearly everything there as Gilly and Sansa attempted small talk.

The highlight of the party was when Arya got bored and started to see if she could steal food from Unella's plate. Getting to excuse herself from her own party to stitch up Arya's finger was the best part of her night.


	85. School Spirits

"I say it's bullshit!" Arya declared as Joff handed her another patio plastic light to hang. "I understand Cersei visiting you. Why do I have to see my mother in law on visitors day?" He shrugged and grinned. "My mother is the only adult relative to stand for you until Sansa turns eighteen. Then it's your intolerable perfect sister that can lecture you and visit with you. Until then, I am sure that my mother will be your favorite visitor! At least she won't try to scalp you, she just uses her voice to rip you apart. I mean, it's easy to do anyway so-AARRGGGHHH! BITCH!"

Arya smirked as Joff held his finger that she accidentally on purpose kicked at. "Sorry. You were saying?"  Joff sneered up at her. "Do you think I'll always let you have the upper hand? Someday we leave this place and you know my mother will always be on my side. My family won't stand aside and let you act the way you want to. And then it's me you'll have to beg for anything at all." She smiled at him. "That is years away. Who knows when we get to leave here? And by then, I'll have thought of a way to get out of this. One way or another. Hand me another light. First we have to survive another wedding before we see your Mommy."

Jeyne was sad because Gregor had told her if one single whirlygig man appeared during the wedding or the party afterwards, he would shred all of them. "That is a PROMISE, Jeyne. Hear me? Nanny Gregor is PROMISING I will shred every single one in front of you. Keep the one in the cornfield up but that is all." Damon and Jeyne were already banned from Hot Pie's cooking class over the tube men. They had come up with a brilliant idea or rather Loras had. To rig one of them to fly into Hot Pie's cabin bedroom window during the night. It scared the hell out of the poor young cook and earned the two of them a strapping from Polliver.

They did not mention to Polliver, Raff or Gregor about Loras giving them the idea. After all, he wasn't really to blame, he wasn't. He didn't actually TELL them to do it. Loras had just laughed and started with, "Wouldn't it be funny if you could do this?" Then he laid it all out but then said nothing further. Damon and Jeyne chose to act upon the idea. But Jeyne lost the right to use her tube men without permission and only the one Sandor used in the cornfield got to stay up. Hot Pie was really mad and told her that she couldn't take his class. Instead her and Damon were stuck on the new school decorations committee with Arya and Joff while everyone else got to bake stuff.

"We are slave labor! They got bored giving us detention, the hell house is nearly complete so they needed to come up with more things for us to do! It's all a racket so they can just get shit done they are too cheap and lazy to do themselves!" Joff yelped when Tyrion came up behind him and replied, "I don't think you have the right attitude towards this, nephew. Detention and house restoration wasn't helping your attitude either. So we are trying this. A little school spirit, perhaps if you had to take a greater part in the school, you'll stop wanting to act up and participate."

"I wanted to participate like a Person! Now I am just slave labor!" Joff laughed as Jeyne yelled. Arya yelled back, "Yeah! You go, Jeyne! Fight the fucking system!"  Tyrion rolled his eyes as he surveyed Jeyne, who was hopelessly stuck in hot glue and streamers. "Don't mimic their behavior, Jeyne. That is what got you here in the first place. Damon, are you trying to untangle her or make her into a decoration for the wedding?"

Myranda raised her eyebrows at Hot Pie as she whisked the last tray of cookies out of the oven. "You don't think you were at all harsh? I mean, to ban Jeyne from the class? She got a strapping, she apologized to you, so did Sidebitch." Hot Pie didn't even look up at her as he cruised past. "Nope. They can take the class next month." Stabbing a finger at Ramsay, who stared back innocently, Myranda hissed, "You let him take this class! Death Row tried to freaking murder you in this very kitchen and he gets to take your class."

Hot Pie spun around to glare at Myranda. "That happened while I was still a student. Ramsay was punished for it and has apologized. I am staff now and that gives him a clean start with me. Jeyne and Damon pulled their prank after I became staff. It's not the same anymore. So they can take my class next month." With a shriek of horror, Loras pointed at Theon's cookie tray. "What is that?" Hot Pie stared in disbelief at Theon's third and worst try yet. "How? Theon, I watched you put them into the oven, how are they still gray and soft like that? Why are they gray and soft like that? It makes no sense!"

Loras and Sansa had achieved perfection with their cookies, Myranda had done a passable job. Hot Pie deemed Theon unable to boil water and he just stared at Ramsay's tray of gingerbread penises. With a very polite voice and cheerful grin, Ramsay asked, "Do I get extra credit for having frosted them, Sir?" Theon snorted and muttered, "We never made any frosting. I am NOT taste testing those cookies." Hot Pie pointed towards the door while staring at Ramsay and hollered, "OUT! ENJOY THE SCHOOL DECORATIONS COMMITTEE!"  

Gilly was standing with her clipboard when Ramsay came sauntering over, whistling. "May I help you, young man?" Ramsay smiled at her with all his charm and she smiled back with the brilliance of the Sunspear Strip. "I am the newest member of your decorations committee." Joff hooted welcome and Tyrion sighed. Gilly added Ramsay's name to her list. "Welcome to our wedding decorating session, Ramsay. Please go up to the service delivery area and bring down the stack of boxes, please. I believe it should take you a total of fifteen minutes to move the heaviest of them."

Ramsay gave the sweetest smile to the dumb servant. "I shall do my best to be on time with all the boxes. Uh, what do I call you? Housekeeper? Ma'am?" "Just Gilly, is fine. Thank you." He giggled as he headed up the hill. That was the easiest he has ever gotten out of a detention in his life. Whistling, Ramsay sauntered past the boxes, stopping to urinate on two of them. He nearly peeled out of his skin ten minutes later when Ramsay turned a corner and ran into Gilly.

"Young man, you forgot the boxes. Also, it appears you have a urinary issue. I have taken the liberty of making you an appointment with Doctor Unella about your clear incontinence issue. It is really nothing to be embarrassed about. I also texted the issue to the rest of the staff so that they will be sympathetic and discreet about your need to wear adult diapers until you are better. In fact, Polliver said he is rushing to bring you one right now."

Tyrion was yelling at the students when Gilly returned. Apparently, Joff was trying to knock Arya off the ladder while the girl was trying her hardest to kick the boy's head in. Damon and Jeyne were not setting out tablecloths and centerpieces, instead they were whipping each other with the cloth. Sighing, Gilly marched past Tyrion and cleared her throat. "I suggest a switch. Jeyne, would you climb and put up all the lights, please? Damon, since you are the tallest, would you please assist her? Arya and Joff can work on the tables."

Jeyne was thrilled to scamper up the trees, hang upside down as Damon handed her the lights. They mapped out their own unique design which was unsightly but Gilly believed in letting the small things go. These children need a careful balance of discipline and reward as she has been told by Kevan. He was very detailed in discussing the students when he found out that Gilly was running the school decorations committee.

"It was very nice of Unella to nominate me and Harold to second it, but I am nervous, Sir. I don't wish to make things worse for those poor students. Or make a mistake like I did with Sansa." Gilly had taken notes on everything Kevan had said. She was careful to show compassion and firmness all at once. Tyrion drank and let Gilly run things. He couldn't help but smirk when Ramsay came back with boxes, a huge crinkly backside and a mutinous expression on his face. Gilly turned and gave Tyrion such a censuring look that he actually felt slight shame.

Jeyne and Damon shared an amused look but said nothing, continuing their work. It was too much for Joff and Arya, both had to start with the jokes. Gilly turned her look upon the two and came forward with a smile of hard brilliant white. "I will not tolerate any bullying of this poor young incontinent boy! I will not tolerate any bullying of anyone. Ramsay, I want you to know that you are not a victim, you are a survivor. Please, why don't you work on the tables and I will find these bullies another area to work in. Young man, young lady, I have another job for the both of you."

Tyrion drank longer swallows so he wouldn't grin or laugh as Gilly put Arya and Joff to work on sweeping the dirt from the dirt pathways.


	86. Forever Bound

Hot Pie ignored the knocking for as long as he could then flung the cabin door open. "WHAT?" Jeyne stood on the steps with her head down. "Please don't keep being mad at me? Raff says I have to treat you like staff. What I did was Not Respectful. I wouldn't dare to put a whirlygig man in Raff's window, I get it now. Can we still be friends if I treat you like staff?" With a heavy sigh, Hot Pie nodded and slumped in his door frame.

"I am still your friend and I'm not mad at you anymore. But we have different rules now with each other, okay? And you can take my class next month. Now, I only have a little time to rest before I have to go finish the last of the food for the wedding. So let me sleep and go let Myranda help you get ready. Maybe she can put that make up on you and do your hair again?"

Jeyne nodded and started to head back to the dorms. Polliver grinned as she went past him and he drawled out to the half asleep cook, "You can't be friends with students. You can have favorite students but only staff can be friends. It's lonely at the top, right?" Scowling, Hot Pie muttered, "I am Jeyne's friend. We both know she isn't ever leaving this school. She can't cross the line with me anymore but we are staying friends. Myranda will graduate and eventually leave this place. I will be all Jeyne has left for a real friend."

Polliver sighed and shook his head. "The girl will be allowed to graduate out of being a student when she's ready. I am sure that Kevan is going to find a job she can do here and then she will be your equal. It's a long way off compared to you or even Myranda but it will happen. Until then, keep those limits firmly in place. It protects her as much as it does you, the rules are there for a reason. If an emergency happens or if Jeyne is in danger of hurting herself or another, who will she listen to faster? A friend or a staff member?"

Smirking, Hot Pie tossed back, "As a friend of hers, I can assure you, we can see the signs of her distress long before staff does." Twirling his baton, Polliver walked away but not before replying. "True. And as her friend, you have never once managed to talk her out of bad ideas."

Loras turned the corner fast and nearly ran into Ramsay. "Hey, just who I was looking for. Tonight. After the wedding." Turning slightly pale, Loras narrowed his eyes at Ramsay and hissed. "Why are you talking to me about this here? We are behind the staff cabins, not really in private. Leave a signal like usual next time, if you please." Wincing slightly, Loras saw the glint of red hair as Sansa appeared, Damon lingering a bit away. Ramsay smirked as Sansa backed Loras into a tree. "Are you setting that mad dog on me, is that it, Sansa? Or is this risk because you are hoping we all get caught?"

Sansa smiled at the arrogant but frightened boy and shook her head. "No, dear friend. I am not the one calling this meeting, Ramsay is. I am the mad dog he is unleashing to make sure you show up." "Are you shitting me? Since when do you need such high handed tactics to get me to a meeting? Have I done anything disloyal? I dare you to say that I have!" Loras glared as Ramsay's head appeared next to the tree. He felt blocked by them both, smothered even though neither touched him. Ramsay was speaking a very soft reasonable tone but his eyes were boring through Loras's head.

"Would you rather we bring our petty concerns to Lancel? Or have us speak with you in private first? We do not accuse you of disloyalty to the cause or to Lancel. We are accusing you of disloyalty to us." Loras gasped and clenched his fists tightly. To bring such a thing to Lancel would spell out a circle punishment that could rival Kevan's own version. "I will be there tonight. I am not disloyal to either of you." Sansa smiled and patted the shrinking boy's shoulder. "See? That is what I told Ramsay. That we are probably having a miscommunication issue. We can talk and then reconnect as we were taught to do."

Ramsay gave a cheerful grin and a pinch to Loras's tight cheek. "Great! Can't wait to clear it all up and refocus ourselves. Well, gotta get ourselves all fancy for a wedding. Too-da-loo!"

Stannis surveyed the decorations and muttered to Tyrion, "Did you offer the students your wine or lemonade before they started putting up those lights and streamers?" With a chuckle, Tyrion admired the insane cobweb patterns above them and commented, "Gilly felt as long as Damon and Jeyne were being industrious to work we should let them be as creative as they chose. I am thinking of nominating the woman to run detentions. Gregor won't be able to run them anymore. He has a baby coming and he is mentoring Damon, plus half mentoring Jeyne. You and I are sick of running the detentions, medical staff refuses to do it. Polliver likes to run personal detentions but always shoves groups off on others. Gilly was amazing at it, she even had Ramsay in line!"

Gilly had asked Sansa and Loras to assist Unella with her hair and make up. They did as much as they could. Loras commented, "From head to neck, she makes a rather nice looking bride. If we could just bring her head and leave the rest behind it would be perfect." Sansa had agreed wholeheartedly as they headed away from the house to get themselves ready. "Those outfits are so awful. I don't think I can stand to see them standing together like that. Something in me screams and dies every time I look at that dress." Loras snickered then he added, "When she walks down the aisle, it's going to look like we are sacrificing a goddess to a volcano."

Gregor and Unella were fully dressed and stared at each other for the first time across the bedroom. Gregor's left eye twitched and he grumbled out, "You look like a planet." The doctor was wide eyed at the huge expanse of plaid, the clownish purple tie and she uttered, "There are no words to describe you. If anyone takes pictures we kill them. I mean it."

Kevan fixed his ascot in the gilded hallway mirror and turned to see Gilly rushing down the hall. "Ah, look at you, my dear! That dress is divine upon you, the lovely sales lady was right! FourHeads managed to rustle up the one decent dress and it looks splendid upon you. I must say, I have become very impressed as has the staff at your dedicated work for this wedding and with the children." Clutching her clipboard, Gilly smiled at Kevan. "Thank you, Sir. It has been a truly wonderful experience for me as well. I must make sure that the last details are seen to. Might I say you look very distinguished, Sir."

Harold thought the teal dress was perfect on Gilly but did not try and tell her so. He thought her rich chestnut hair looked dignified in the long complicated braid swaying gently down her back. Her only jewelry was the lovely pearl strand that Kevan had gifted her. The dress covered Gilly from collarbone to knees and yet something about it drove Harold crazy. Everything about it swayed, her hair, the necklace, the hemline of the dress and it was a matador to a bull. He knew that his plan tonight was going to work. After the wedding nonsense was over, Harold was no longer going to take no for an answer from this maddening Gilly.

Kevan stood and waited with Gilly to one side of him and Sandor to the other. The rest of the staff and the students all sat in chairs under the crazed lights and streamers. Unella and Gregor walked together but the colorful stomach led them down the aisle between the seats towards Kevan. By the time the two had exchanged vows and rings with stone faces, there wasn't a dry eye in the chairs. Loras and Sansa's eyes were tearing out of the pain of fashion sights so ghastly that they felt somewhere a rule in nature might have been broken. The rest of the students and staff alike were in tears from suppressed laughter.

Everyone cheered when Kevan announced Mr. and Mrs.Clegane and the two of them shared a kiss as romantic as a cobra kissing a coyote.

Instead of the traditional cutting and feeding each other wedding cake, Gregor chose an alternate approach. He slid the whole cake over to Unella and gave her a fork. In lieu of a wedding dance, Unella had the children do the dancing for them. Jeyne stood on Damon's feet as he stomped around in a circle, Arya and Joff were locked in a death embrace that only seemed to squeeze tighter as they both turned purple. Loras and Sansa spun past them all in a perfect waltz as Myranda and Theon did some sort of sensual dance together. At Gilly's freezing smile, Ramsay sighed, lifted up a chair and started to dance with it.

Tyrion nudged Stannis. "See? The woman is splendidly terrifying with the children. A perfect detention guard."


	87. Gentle Night

Kevan announced that they would have normal weekend curfew since the next day was visitors. Gregor and Unella were grateful for it and escaped as soon as they could. In spite of Raff's desperate urging, the two refused to open any presents in front of the others. They were the first ones to abandon the party, right after cake, student dancing and then a nice dinner made by the half asleep Hot Pie, they took off. 

Sitting on the couch wearing their bathrobes, wedding attire already in the trash, they opened the presents. Nothing matched anything else and a good amount of the items were random but nothing startling. Gregor stared hard at the present from Ramsay in several different angles. "I don't get what the hell this is. What's it for?" Unella peered at it while lifting it carefully from the box. "I think it's a dream catcher but with lots of fur and bones on it. In Ramsay's mind, maybe it's a baby mobile?"

Tossing it aside to the back of the couch, Unella watched as Gregor threw a heavy gift on her stomach. "Here, you open this one. It's from Jeyne and I have this fear of a fucking whirlygig fucker popping up at me." Snorting, Unella ripped open the wrapping paper to stare at the two books. "We have a heartwarming collection of letters and poems from parents in prison that killed their children. However, I suggest we start with this gentle tome that warns how to tell if your partner might beat or kill you and your children."

They stared at each other and then shared the first genuine moment out of bed they've ever had as they laughed their asses off. It ended when Unella noticed the dream catcher scaling the wall out of the corner of her eye. Gregor had to spend the next hour trying to chase the squirrel stealing the dream catcher out of the house while Unella screeched unhelpful suggestions.

Gilly had been escorted to the house by Kevan, who wished to retire as soon as the wedded couple did. Tired and not used to such celebrations or workload, Gilly was happy to leave with him. Kevan wished her a good evening and Gilly headed towards her room, humming. She was almost past the twins suite when Harold called out from the half open door. "Gilly?" "Yes, Harold?" "Would you come in here for a moment?" "No, I don't think so, Sir. I am going to read a book then fall asleep. Goodnight Harold."

She only got a foot away before Harold spoke words that froze her. "I wished to speak with you about an error you've made. Our specialized couch was recently waxed by you, wasn't it? It has a discoloration now." Gilly spun around and marched like a warrior heading into war into the doorway. "I beg your pardon, Harold? If there is a discoloration on your couch, I can assure you it wasn't there when I waxed it. I demand to see this discoloration immediately!"

Harold smiled from his spot near the couch and he waved her forward. "See it for yourself then. Everyone makes mistakes sometime, dear Gilly, nothing to be that upset over."

That did it and Gilly steamrolled into the room with eyes ready to destroy. Gilly's indignation brought her over to the couch which she studied with a critical eye. "Where is this stain? I see nothing, Harold." She heard the doors slam shut and lock. Harold watched Gilly slowly turn to stare at him and cross her arms across her chest. "Why did you trap me in here? You lied and tried to make me doubt my own work. That is the meanest thing you have done. Do you know what I think you might be, Harold? A bully."

Bob joined the rest of the staff in the gaming cabin. Hot Pie served pitchers of his spiked lemonade and Tyrion even offered up two of Kevan's finest wines. They drunkenly attempted to understand Tyrion and Stannis's table war game. Hot Pie had one drink and fell asleep in a stuffed old chair abandoned from Gregor's former cabin. Polliver, Raff and Bob ended up playing cards while blasting heavy metal.

Stannis and Tyrion were locked in a war that ended in a grim drunken tie. Sandor was assisting Tyrion in the battle but doing so in such a drunken stupor that Stannis almost won that time.

Ramsay had obtained the wine, Loras obtained a light sedative and Sansa mixed it.  With a grin, Ramsay showed it to Joff and where it would be hidden just before the wedding. As expected, Joff had made the mistake of bragging about the wine to Arya and the others. Now Arya was passing around the wine bottles as they all hid in Hot Pie's vacated room upstairs. Even Jeyne got to take a swig, though not until Myranda made sure the door was locked so the girl wouldn't run off if she had the drunken urge.

Sansa and Loras had made sure to keep Damon away until the group of them were out cold on the floor. Leaving the drunk and sedated group behind the locked door, the three went to the bunker. Damon stayed in the living room, staring at the television and drinking the untainted bottle of wine he stole personally.

Loras was standing with his arms behind his back as Sansa and Ramsay circled him. They were not in their regular clothing anymore. These weren't the uniforms of students, these were the robes of disciples. Golden silk ties in wheat colored threadbare shapeless robes.

Sansa's hair was loose, flat and no longer perfect. Her face no longer had that sweet polite smile. The perfect teeth snarled and gnashed as the eyes snapped wildly with some unspoken but dreadful hunger. Ramsay had a stare that saw the moon and all it's madness but his smile had a terrible compassion that was as terrifying as the sudden bestial girl. Loras's hair was flat with sweat and the look of a cornered but rabid hyena shone from his shifty eyed face.

"You are deliberately crossing the lines. I am the trouble maker, that is my role here, but you suddenly have not only Polliver suspicious of you but Stannis. Sansa saw you being called into his office over your behavior. It will be in the report to your grandmother. It will be in our report to Lancel. What did you tell him, what did you say?" Ramsay smiled as Sansa bit gently into Loras's earlobe and whispered fast, "What did you tell him, what did you say, what did you tell him and what did you say, tell us, tell us, please, huh, pretty little Loras?"

Loras snarled and tried to pull away from Sansa. "I can't answer with you doing that! I simply recited the same crap Raff said! That I was just trying to fit in, having a small rebellion because it's safe to not be perfect here. Stannis accepted it, told me some tired stories of when he was younger and told me to try harder. That was all!" Ramsay stuck his face in Loras's. "Great. That is good to hear. Why are you acting out for real, Loras? Is it because of Sansa marrying our leader? Do not hide the truth or your feelings from your family, Loras."

Tears streamed and Loras hung his head in defeat, nodding. "I have been upset and acting out over it. I'll get over it, I'm sorry." Ramsay moved back and smiled brightly. "There! See how simple it was, Sansa! All good now, right?" Sansa surged up against Loras and licked the tears from his face. "Why did you mess with Damon and Jeyne, sweet Loras? Do you see what you have reduced me too? Your jealousy made you act petty, it made you make me jealous, I don't like others fucking with my things. You have made me the beast that Lancel brings out of us, the beast we all are to keep hidden and tamed."

"Because you got to marry Lancel! Why should you get to keep Damon as your dumb pet too? And why does Ramsay get to kill Jeyne? Since when do we get to hand pick who will kill? It's not fair. I let my emotions get away with me, just like you are doing now." Ramsay laughed at Loras's indignant reply and pulled Sansa back a bit. Ramsay put one hand one each side of Loras's face gently but firmly as he spoke with slow, careful reasoning.

"That was a confession if not an actual apology. Sweet Loras, we must all work together, we are a family. If Lancel feels that we are not a good working team anymore, it affects all of us. Sansa is not taking Lancel from you. She had no choice in the marriage and you know that. Leave Damon alone, let her have him. He means nothing to you but he is important to all of us while we still need to sneak around. Jeyne is my half sister, she means nothing to you. Leave her to me. For me, it's very personal. I believe she killed my brother and I want her to admit it just before I murder her. So leave her alone. Pick any other you want and we will respect it."

Loras sneered. "Arya. I want to be the one to kill her." Sansa froze and her eyes shot through him like daggers. "How very petty of you, darling." Ramsay blocked Sansa from coming forward and he grinned at Loras. "No, we will respect that, Sansa. Arya is Loras's kill and we will not interfere with any fuckery concerning her." With a small pout, Sansa nodded. "Fine. I am ordered not to interfere with Arya anyway." Ramsay patted the redhead's shoulder then circled around them both, his hand drifting over the small flames in the candles that lined the bunker shelves.

"It has been sorted out then? We have no need to let Lancel think anything is wrong, that we aren't ready to do as he wishes us to. All that's left is our own reconnection. Do you both remember, when we spent that summer with Lancel? That cabin is where we learned how to be a true family, how to be one with each other. We all ate the same meals, drank the same drinks, wore the same clothing and did everything together for eight whole weeks? And when we bickered, when we fought because we couldn't take it any longer, what did Lancel teach us to do?"

Loras squirmed but Sansa's eyes grew heated and she pressed up behind Loras, forcing him forward with her body. Ramsay started to remove Loras's robe slowly, gently and his voice could melt butter. "We empty our minds, erase the bad thoughts by using our bodies to regain our focuses. Just like we did at the cabin, I think it's time for us to become one again. We must be in sync when our leader comes tomorrow." Whimpering, Loras began to step out of his robe as Sansa and Ramsay nearly tore each others robes off.

It was the last thing Loras wished to do but he also knew it was this or pain. He would rather have degrading pleasure than be physically hurt by either of these two. The three of them thrashed and writhed together. It was bestial, it was tender and it was ritualistic, a strange limbed dance in the flickering candlelight. It wasn't the actions that were remarkable but the words Ramsay used were. He had the talent of a storyteller, similar to Lancel and he used it to send the other two into soaring dark pleasure.

Ramsay had yanked Sansa's head back by her hair as he forced himself into her backside while Loras licked her in a prissy but thorough manner. Whispering just loud enough for both of them to hear, Ramsay began to detail Sansa's favorite kill fantasy.

"You will tie Unella's hands above her, dangle her so her tiptoes just barely brush the ground. If she cries, you can lick up her tears and if she begs, you can taunt her. A large blade, the largest you can find, the sharpest knife in their kitchen. Will you tease her with it first? Run it carefully along the bare stomach and tell Unella how you'll do it? Or use the blade to cut off her clothing and say nothing at all, just smiling? Then you'll slice into that hard full flesh and cut out those babies, hold them to her face." Sansa screamed as she shook in orgasm.

Loras hated the taste of Sansa on his tongue but she used her mouth upon him in return. Ramsay didn't finish inside Sansa, he had pulled out still hard after she finished. Instead, he ripped off the condom and put on a new one. grabbing for Loras. Even though he doesn't care for Ramsay or Sansa, both knew exactly how to give pleasure. That summer they all learned exactly how to make each other into a puddle of tormented sexual mush. Sansa was flicking her tongue in a way that made Loras groan. Ramsay thrust in a spot that made Loras see stars and whine, pushing against him.

"Sweet, lovely Loras, what will you do to Arya? Hmm? Want to draw it out, I bet? How about one of Gregor's hammers? You can smash out her knees and elbows, then watch the little bitch crawl? Or maybe your bow and arrow, you are pretty good with archery? Want to tell her to run, let her have a small hope before you start to make her bristle like a porcupine? No, I think what you really want is to make it very, very personal. I think you want to make sure Sansa sees every last dirty, messy detail. Yes, that is what you want. That's okay, look, Sansa is stroking herself while sucking you off to the thought. I like the idea of it myself. You could tie the little bitch to that scarecrow cross that Gregor hung you on. Remember how Arya laughed at you and threw stones when no one was looking? You could hang her there, nail her hands and feet to the boards. Stone her and set her on fire. Jerk off onto her burning, shrieking body as she begs Sansa to save her."

Loras filled Sansa's mouth as he cried out in pleasure. He relaxed a little in Ramsay's grip and noticed that a very hard and not at all relieved cock was still inside him. Wiping her mouth, Sansa moved back and continued to rub herself, smirking at Loras. Ramsay used the hidden taser on Loras and rode him harshly to the hard floor, making it a violent, savage rape instead of a connection.

"This is the punishment you thought you were escaping. We have forgiven you and we have all reconnected. But you still must suffer for your bad behavior towards us. So suffer it and be a good boy, superstar." Sansa climaxed again when Ramsay made Loras beg and cry. He relentlessly used the taser as he fucked Loras's thrashing body. She reached her peak one last time when Ramsay stiffened in his own orgasm while Loras drooled and sniffled under him.

Harold strode towards Gilly who was standing her ground. "I am not a bully. I am a rapist, a killer, a torturer, I am many other things too. I am not a bully." Gilly snorted and put her chin up. "You rape, torture and kill but you aren't a bully? I also know that you interrogate, flay others alive for their skin and that you are a glorified pimp to those poor students. But you are no bully? That makes no sense. You don't ever make any sense, Harold. I am tired and want to go to bed now." Shaking his head, Harold kept coming, his arms outstretched now. "I'm going to rape you, I might torture you or kill you, I am not sure on that part yet."

Her voice full of irritation, her smile as hard as ever, Gilly responded. "Kevan will be very upset with you if you mutilate or murder me. I think your reputation should mean something to you, at least. Fine, if you are going to rape me and torture me, then get on with it, please. I am tired and want to get some sleep soon." Harold roared and attacked, tossing Gilly onto the couch, ripping her dress off the front of her. It was maddening to look up and see Gilly's blank face and hear her bored voice. It was so deadpan and bored as if she were reciting a script. "Oh no. Please. Oh, please, no. Don't rape me, I am really very scared."  

His hands wrapped around Gilly's throat and he started to squeeze. Harold smiled then he caught sight of her flesh under the shredded dress. The countless scars, how Gilly was just limp, as if she couldn't bother to care. He let go of her neck and threw himself off her. Harold sat slumped on the couch, trying to calm himself down. Gilly stood up and fixed her dress the best she could. "We can forget this ever happened." Harold simply nodded as Gilly went and unlocked the door to let herself out. As she shut the doors behind her, Harold threw a vase at them and screamed, "Why won't you just go on a date with me?"

Harold heard a very un-Gilly like response roar back from down the hallway. "YOU NEVER ASKED ME ON A DATE!"

He flew up and ripped the door open but she was gone. He heard her door slam shut then Harold heard Kevan's voice snapping at him from a distance. "Harold! If you wish to join the other young men in carousing please feel free to do so! Down at the school grounds, not in my home!"   


	88. Tick Tick Click

The last thing Gregor wanted to see first thing in the early morning light besides a wife, was a blue whirlygig man flapping in the sky out of his window, just a few feet away. As he sat up, he saw the other two near the top of the hill, just barely could see the cheery streamers flapping on the breeze. Unella sat up and frowned at the window. "Jeyne isn't usually this rebellious, she knows what you'd do. I wonder if one of the other kids are putting her up to these stunts?"

Gregor threw himself out of the bed and yanked on the first pair of pants he saw, slammed his bare feet into boots, tossed on a shirt. "I don't give a fuck why she did it or who might be whispering in her brain damaged ears! First I'm keeping my promise and then I'll ask her what the fuck she was thinking."  Unella groaned and pulled herself out of bed to head for the bathroom. "You told her only the wedding day. It's visitors day." "I told her not without permission, forget that part?"

Jeyne saw Gregor come flying out his door and she screamed at the top of her lungs, leaping in front of the closest whirlygig man, her hands splayed out. "Wait! Please! I got permission from staff! I have permission for visitor day for the whirlygig men! Nanny Gregor, don't rip them up, I got permission!" Looming over her, Gregor growled, "Who gave you permission to put them up for today? Because you KNOW I didn't want to see them."

Hot Pie flinched when he heard Gregor slam into the kitchen. The angry giant had Jeyne in one large hand by her rather scrawny neck, dragging her forward. "Say it again, Jeyne. Tell everyone in here what you just told me outside." Jeyne let out one sob and whined. Polliver and Raff were both just getting their coffee and blearily looked up. Twisting her hands against her chest, Jeyne lifted her head and spoke fast. "Hot Pie said that I could blow up the whirlygig men for visitors day. I didn't ask, he told me I could. So I did."

Gregor glared at the cook and the other two staff looked a bit surprised at Hot Pie when he nodded. "I did. She looked sad this morning and had a headache so I thought it would cheer her up. I told her to put them up but she didn't ask me if she could, I made the suggestion myself." Growling, Gregor grabbed Jeyne by her shoulders and lifted her up so she was face to face with him. "You have them up until the guests leave and then I want three back in the boxes. You will not spend all day dancing with them, you hear me? Go get ready for the day and for your breakfast. Now."

Jeyne scampered off as soon as Gregor set her down and he waited until she was gone before turning to snarl at Hot Pie. "Are you a qualified counselor, teacher or doctor here? Because I thought you were just the fucking cook. Next time you want to cheer her up, give her a cookie!" Throwing up his hands, Hot Pie yelled, "It's a few tube men, what's the harm? It makes her happy, it calms her down. Today is stressful enough, visitors day always stresses Jeyne and it was just a simple kindness." Polliver rolled his eyes and Raff sighed.

The giant slammed his fist on the counter hard enough to make Hot Pie jump. "Remember that prank she played on you with the tube men? This encourages shit like that. You knew I told her that I didn't want those fucking things waving around! That girl needs to have firm limits or she will get confused. Once a rule is given, do not change it. The next time you have a brilliant idea why don't you check it with me or another staff member first? Because if a single problem is caused by Jeyne or her damned tube men today, everyone of us will point directly at you."

Gregor stormed out to go shower and Polliver shook his head in despair at Hot Pie. "Don't overstep bounds with the students or the staff. Didn't we just have this discussion the other day?" Raff got more coffee and took several gulps before he finally felt ready to use words. Hot Pie listened but still sulked as he continued to cook breakfast. Raff's voice was devoid of anything but reason which made the cook pay more attention.

"Jeyne's whirlygig men are something we can use as a reward for positive behavior. But if we use them as distractions every time things get stressful for Jeyne, it's just another crutch. She hid behind her hair and she tunes out to the tube men. What if Roose wants to speak with her today? Instead, she might decide it's too stressful and to just stay with her tube men. How will it look if she has a tantrum over leaving them to see her father? We have spent a long time teaching Jeyne realistic soothing techniques and we have spent even longer getting her to trust us to help her through rough times. Using the whirlygigs the wrong way might cause a setback."

Hot Pie slumped and nodded. "Fine. I'm sorry, I fucked up. She just looked so sad and sore this morning. I was only thinking to make her happier. Next time, I'll check with one of you first." Polliver headed for the door, ready to go make sure the students were all up. All ready he noticed that Myranda was running late. "Just pray Jeyne doesn't lose it today or Gregor might take it out of your hide."

Roose patted Walda's hand as he helped her out of the car. "Don't be nervous, dear. All three of my children are kept quite tame by the school staff. Only Ramsay is truly a danger to watch for under normal circumstances. Damon is large but slow, just easily swayed by others. Jeyne is simple and not very feral at all anymore. They will be happy to see we have decided to marry. I am sure only Ramsay will be upset to hear that you are pregnant as he thinks the very world of himself. I will introduce you to Kevan and ask that he has the staff get my children together."  

Olenna Tyrell thumped her cane firmly forward then halted at the gates. Her eyebrows raised at the sight of the flailing colorful tube men greeting her. Peering up at Kevan Lannister as he came forward to smile at her and the Boltons, Olenna asked, "I am confused if I am here for the usual visitor day or if this is an every student must go half price off sale?" Kevan chuckled warmly. "We recently took the kids on a field trip. Our Jeyne was gifted some of the tube men and she thought everyone would enjoy their cheerfulness today."

"What a dreadfully boring story, Kevan. Now, where is that cook I plan to steal from you and my beloved grandson?" Olenna didn't wait for a reply, just began her trek down the hill's gentler pathway.

Walda smiled at Roose and at the tube men. "Jeyne? That is your daughter that set up these balloon men? That is adorable. I can't wait to meet her." Kevan shook Roose's hand after warmly congratulating Walda on becoming Mrs. Bolton. "Roose, we did not have the usual report meeting yesterday due to a wedding. So I have not met with Damon, Ramsay or Jeyne in my office. However, if I had known you were coming with such shocking news for the children, I would have made time to see and prepare them for it."

Roose gave a cold smirk to Kevan. "Oh, I was assured by my own children last time I was here that they can all handle anything. They were so eager to show their independence from me.  And your staff worked so closely with them, showed me just how much influence they and this school has upon my children that I knew it was finally time. Time to be able to find happiness again. Get married, have another chance at children now that I am older and have more time to dedicate personally to their upbringing. So I thought it would be a nice surprise for my children to see my own newfound independence."

Kevan sighed at the man's petty revenge and texted for Raff and Gregor to gather the Bolton teenagers.

Cersei and Lancel arrived at the same time and both stared briefly at the flapping inflatables before striding past to greet Kevan with a smile. When Kevan led them both down the hill, he told them warmly of FourHeads and the gift to Jeyne. Lancel hung on every word and laughed over the thought of the circle of children all dancing in the middle of the tiny hick town. Cersei yawned and rushed off the second she spied her son all neat and tidy in his uniform next to that wretched brat girl he was forced to marry.

Lancel and Kevan shared a heartfelt groan watching how Cersei fawned dramatically over Joff who not only accepted it but expected it. Kevan leaned closer to his son and muttered, "There is Joff's true problem." Lancel smiled at his father. "Cersei smothered Joff with love and entitlement, spoiled him, taught him that the world was his whipping boy and protected him from his own mistakes. It created a little sadistic killer. Roose chose distance, abuse and degradation to heap upon his children and it created three little killers. Olenna raised Loras with a mix of both parenting styles and he is a fancy accidental killer. Seems like the parenting styles chosen doesn't really seem to matter."

Giving a gentle shove upon his son's shoulder, Kevan shined a smile upon him. "Not true. I raised you correctly and you are not a killer, sadistic or otherwise." Lancel chuckled and shoved his dad back a bit. Sansa was heading for them with a gentle welcoming smile and hugged Lancel tightly. "I am so happy that you could visit with me, husband." Kevan gracefully excused himself to allow the couple a chance to sit down and reconnect. He did clear his throat gently and try to be tactful about his rather awkward words. "Son, I know you are aware the rules must be followed, even in these situations. The staff will be ready to speak with you about Sansa's student conduct and progress. Please make sure to add that into your visiting time so that we can sign off on the paperwork."

Sansa blushed as Lancel gave his father a playful grin. "If she has a bad grade on something, does that mean I can bring her to my old room and give her a specific kind of discipline, father?" Kevan pursed his lips but his eyes glowed and he made a shooing gesture to Lancel as he walked away. "Oh, you! Be a rascal to your new wife, not to your father. Enjoy your visit and I shall see you for coffee afterwards."

Arya narrowed her eyes as she sat in the chair staring with disbelief at Cersei. Joff's grades were actually less than hers, both had the same amount of detentions. He didn't even have a mentor and Arya had that plus her newly raised grades in spite of attitude issues. Yet, Cersei had screamed at Tyrion in defense of her son, she told off the entire staff, accusing them of deliberately trying to fail Joff in every way you can fail a child. Then the vile contradictory woman hung on Stannis's every word about her daughter in law's pranks and stunts. Cersei drank in reports of Arya's detentions and mental fragility as if it were a fine wine to revitalize the soul.

Only Sandor's watchful eye kept Arya from snapping or swearing at the woman. Arya did manage to kick Joff hard enough for tears to enter his eyes when he told his mother how abusive Arya was to him. Cersei set her eyes hard upon the girl before turning back to Unella. "Please, explain what you mean by Arya's mental disabilities?" Growling, Arya blurted out, "I have no mental disabilities! They never said mental disabilities. I'm not mental!" Joff snickered as Cersei and Sandor both stared coldly at Arya. She could practically hear Sandor urging her to shut her mouth.

Clearing her throat, Unella began again. "It's an identity crisis, really. As we said, as Arya tries to relearn how she views the world, she will have these ups and downs. Her grades have improved, her attention span and abilities to identify coping skills has strongly improved-" Cersei waved her hand impatiently. "Yes, yes, we heard all of that. If I only wanted to hear the positive meaningless things, I wouldn't have seen you in front of the girl. What I would like to hear about is why my daughter in law has been allowed to abuse her husband in front of staff? I would like to understand how long the girl's mental sadistic retardation might last."

Joff smiled with triumph at Arya who slumped down in her chair. Cersei gave her son an adoring glance then pinned Arya with a stare that made the girl feel as if she were a bug under the woman's shoe. "I believe you and I should have a private chat, darling. I think you should call me mother and should think of me as such. Come, let us go for a nice walk, just the two of us, Arya." Warily but with no choice, Arya stood up and let Cersei take her hand as if she were a child and lead her away.

The only comfort was seeing that Sandor remained only a few feet behind them. Cersei narrowed her eyes at Sandor and spoke in a clipped tone. "I want privacy with my daughter in law." Sandor nodded and continued to follow them only drawling out, "Sure thing. I am not listening to your conversation. But as you said, Cersei, the girl has a sadistic mental retardation. Wouldn't want to risk putting yourself in danger, so I'll just follow along in case Arya's mental affliction causes her to attack you." Arya gave a tiny smile at that but was soon frowning as Cersei began a scathing lecture.

The delightful cheese and crackers that Hot Pie brought Olenna allowed Stannis to speak for Loras without interruption. Polliver was able to say his piece as well before Olenna finished her tea. Unella was the first one to actual receive any response to her words. Olenna dabbed her lips with a napkin and pinned the pregnant doctor with a narrow look.

"So, you say that Loras is working in the clinic with you and doing well at it, but you are not convinced he wishes to be there. You tell me that my grandson has decided to feel safe enough to have a few tantrums and incidents. Stannis tells me that the boy is still working at the highest level in every way. Polliver tells me Loras's dust ups are minor and for the most part Loras is a model student. But Polliver also feels that Loras might be having some secrets brewing but there is no proof of such, just a general sense of feeling, of a counselor's instinct. What am I to make of all that? Am I to be comforted or concerned?"

Loras squirmed and Stannis patted his knee. "Do not get upset, boy. You have done very well here, better than any other student besides Sansa." Nodding, Loras faked a smile as he felt his grandmother's gaze on him. He shivered when he also felt Lancel's eyes on him as he went by with his cursed wife.

Gregor had Damon by one shoulder and Ramsay by his shoulder, propelling them both forward. Raff held Jeyne's hand and spoke with a soft reasonable calm to all of them. "Roose wishes to see all of his children at the same time today. He has news to share with all of you." 


	89. Composure

Jeyne looked longingly over at her whirlygig men and started to sway before Raff jerked sharply on her hand. "No, Jeynie. I need you to focus on me and what I'm saying. Your father is waiting to introduce you to someone. Can you pay attention like a Person and greet your father?" Ramsay snorted and muttered, "If father brought someone to see her, he doesn't want to see a Person, he wants to show his prized freak. It's a show of all his freak kids, the feral, the hulking moron and the crazy killer." Damon frowned at Ramsay but he did grumble out, "I thought we didn't have to see him anymore. Me and Jeyne told him we didn't want to see him anymore."

Gregor shoved the trio forward and spoke with a brittle cheeriness. "Because no matter how much you might hate him, that man is still your father. And if he chooses to visit with his children, he can. On our terms. And the better you all behave towards the man, the easier it is for us make it a more miserable experience for him. So remember that. All of you can keep your tempers, hold your tongues and be polite for about twenty minutes, can't you? Do that for twenty minutes and I'll get you all out of there. That's a promise."

 Jeyne leaned over towards Damon and Ramsay to whisper solemnly, "Nanny Gregor always keeps promises." Ramsay sighed loudly and groaned out, "We know that, dog sister. Thanks for the information though." He winced as Gregor's large hand swiped across his head.

Whatever Roose expected to come of the greetings it wasn't what was happening. Gregor and Raff took great joy in smirking at the man's ire filled eyes. Ramsay had held Walda's hand with a careless charm and a crooked smile. Eyes full of innocent pleasure and a light honeyed tone had Walda smiling back. "Welcome to our family. I am so thrilled to meet you. Shall I call you mother?" Walda flushed and tittered. "That would be wonderful, but only if you wished it, Ramsay."

Damon swallowed the plump white hands in one of his own large sweaty ones. His face beamed with good natured pleasure as he looked at the round short woman. "It's nice to meet you. I don't mind calling you mother if you want." Jeyne had tried very hard to be a Person and shook the woman's hand stiffly. "Mother. Congratulations. I have been to two weddings. I am sorry I missed yours." Walda smiled at the girl with the short spiky hair and darting eyes. "Are those your tube men that I saw out front? They are lovely, Jeyne."

Ramsay sneered slightly along with his father as Jeyne's eyes lit up and went round. For the first time since being near her father, Jeyne looked up and truly focused. "I could show them to you? Mother? Damie, can we show her? Let's take her!" Raff nodded tiredly as Gregor rolled his eyes. Roose gave a smile that warned Ramsay that his father had been holding onto a zinger. He was right. "Damon and Jeyne can show you the tube men, Walda. But be careful not to join their dance, you are pregnant, after all. Best not to take chances, darling." Roose frowned as both Damon and Jeyne just smiled and congratulated their new stepmother.

Raff ushered Damon and Jeyne out along with Walda, leaving Gregor to keep watch upon Ramsay. Roose was rewarded by watching Ramsay's eyes darken a bit. Roose added, "Ramsay, the most wonderful news is, Dr. Qyburn is sure it's another boy! Don't you love fresh starts?" Ramsay tilted his head and inquired with a cold politeness. "Is this your way of telling us you won't be back anymore? Are you letting me know that I am cut from your will? Have you decided to fully abandon your old fucked up kids to fuck up new ones?"

Theon and Myranda were able to avoid the visitor day since they had no visitors. Instead they were with their mentors traveling to Kings Landing for a quick visit. Theon was utterly terrified no matter the assurances offered by Myranda. "Calm down. This is where Harold and Bob brought me for my first clients too. There is nowhere safer, really. Varys will inspect you, he will speak to our mentors then we will go downstairs. We drink, we dance and we let men fall all over us. If someone would like to see us in a private setting, we see Harold and Bob about it first."

Shivering, Theon was trying to not panic as he stared hard out the car window as the city grew around them. Towering buildings with bright hard sunlight glinting off too many windows. "It's been a really long time since I've seen the city. It's way brighter than I remember. Its a lot bigger too. I can't do this, will they skin me alive if I tell them I can't do it?" Harold sighed from the front passenger seat and Bob looked away from the road, scaring everyone in the car. "We can hear you. We aren't going to skin you, not after all the energy we have put into trying to help your skin. And you can do this."

Myranda hugged Theon as both winced while Harold nearly screamed at Bob to watch the damned road. They narrowly missed a truck and a train before Bob stopped deliberately staring at Harold instead of the road. "Why are you being such an asshole, Bob?" "Why are you so distracted, Harold?" Ignoring the sniping of the twins, Myranda composed herself and tried to calm Theon.

"Think of all the training you've done with them, with me too. You can do this and you might even find yourself having some fun. This isn't a place where you go to find the real sadistic or kinky kind of client. This is a bunch of rich fools that like to gamble, drink and fuck teenagers that act very impressed. It's only a first try and trust me, Harold and Bob will always know what you are ready for. They won't let you get into danger." Theon nodded but looked terrified as Bob parked the car at a luxury resort.

Cersei spoke with an acidic tone as she confronted the little brat in the cornfield. "Do you know how silly and pathetic it will look when Joff leaves this school and you are still stuck here? With your attitude and current actions, it will be hard to ever convince my uncle to release you into my care even if you graduate academically by some miracle." Arya looked up into Cersei's eyes and smirked in a way that made Cersei itch to smack her face.

"Good. Take Joff home and I will stay here. I would rather live here, become part of the staff. It's more freedom than living in your home, being forced to pretend I like Joff. I am not a brood mare and I will never be a society wife. You want my inheritance so badly? Have it, take it all, I don't want it or your fancy world. Keep all of it including your precious golden son."

For one tense moment, it seemed like Cersei might be about to slap the girl into the next century. Then Cersei threw her head back and let loose a laugh like crystal smashing. "Oh you sweet summer child. Aren't you such the original rebel? Isn't she, Sandor? No, not really, even you know that, right, Sandor? You were in my class, a runt tagging along behind us all. The only one who did anymore skulking back then besides Petyr. Let me tell you something, Arya." Sandor looked away as Cersei put her face in Arya's and began to back the girl up. Arya did not look fearful but she was mildly alarmed by Cersei's closeness and intensity.

"Your mother didn't want to marry your father, I didn't want to marry Robert and Roose didn't want to marry Bethany. None of us wanted what we got. We were all rebels, that is why we were sent here, the same as you. Same families, same privileges and the same burning hatred to change, to break free of it all. And look at you and your sister! Family slaughtered, your reputations already nearly destroyed and both married to Lannisters, both without any family but this school and your own hated enemies to rely on. Do you have a better plan than any other student had here to get free? Because staying here wouldn't buy you any freedom either. You are already married because you were forced into it. How hard will it be to force you into my home and into my whims? Not hard at all, sweet girl. You'll find that out soon enough."

Arya smirked at Cersei and opened her mouth in a moment she instantly regretted but couldn't take back. "The last mother that told me what to do died by my hand. I only mention it because you say history repeats itself." Sandor swore in frustration as the crack across Arya's face came hard and fast. The girl fell to the dirt but smiled up with a bloody smear at Cersei. She regretted her actions but it was too late now. Cersei advanced upon her. "Little arrogant child, do you dare to threaten me?" Cersei ignored Sandor who was creeping closer just in case. "Young lady, I have survived Petyr, your own mother, my husband, Bethany and countless others. I will be here every month for you and my son. I will be in your life, in your presence and you will not only endure it, you will learn from it whether you choose to or not."

Laying in the dirt while Cersei stormed away, Arya spit out blood and muttered, "And I will survive you." Sandor's shadow came over the girl and he growled out, "Yes, but will your ass survive my hand? And we can start with duct tape again." 

Lancel heard glowing reports from everyone about his wife, of course. The funniest was seeing his own father about Sansa, since she mentored heavily with him. He made sure to have time to simply walk about with Sansa. "Ramsay had us reconnect last night. It was needed. Loras is not balanced, he is struggling with some inner demons. He is loyal, of course, but this place seems to weaken his resolve, his spirit. Loras confessed and apologized, he has reconnected and felt discipline. It is troublesome that Unella and Polliver are still suspicious of him but I am not sure he can help that. Stannis and Raff both believe that Loras is just having some small rebellion and have no concerns."

Giving Sansa a gentle hug, Lancel whispered into her ear, "It's too late to try and pull him out now. I cannot put another in his place at this late date. Things have begun, my love. Truly have begun, the girls have tasted blood and thirst for more. If he presents a true problem before our finale, I will expect you and Ramsay to notify me then do whatever must be done. I think I shall take you and Loras to supper tonight at the nearest town! Won't that be delightful? I am dying to hear more about your calender work with Loras and I am sure my father won't mind."

Ramsay gave his father a polite look as Roose started to speak softly to him. "I am responsible for all of your fuck ups? All of them, Ramsay? I will admit that I allowed Bethany too much free reign around Jeyne. I am half responsible for her condition. I had no idea Damon was in the condition he was in and I only tried to improve things for him. My only part in his fuck up was allowing you to be too close to him. So am I responsible for every one of your numerous issues and problems, Ramsay? Are you no more than the shattered image that I tried to create? Is that what I am to understand?"

Roose smirked and shrugged. "Well, then you will be relieved to hear I plan to be a full time father from the start with this child. This boy will know my presence and two loving parents from the very beginning. No traumas, no hidden secrets, no bitter feuding with step parents, no absentee father. Walda is a very sweet docile woman that I truly enjoy the company of. Not only is the match profitable, I have found a wife that is loving and biddable. It's a blessing I intend to fully enjoy as much as I'll enjoy raising a second family. And the silly thing actually thinks my three bastards are adorable. That is a pure miracle alone, don't you think, son?"

With a smile, Ramsay nodded. "The woman is beyond silly. Not only does she think your freak show is adorable, she is stupid enough to like and trust you. Have your second family, the first one doesn't need or want you anymore. Go sulk with your fat pig of a wife." Roose slapped Ramsay's face and went to strike him again. Suddenly a huge fist had the raised arm at a standstill. Gregor rumbled out, "I let you have one strike for his insults. That's all you get. I think this visit should end, Mr. Bolton. Let's all walk to your wife and the kids. Ramsay, Damon and Jeyne can walk you and your new wife to the gates."

Ramsay smiled and slid past his father, the hand print burning upon his face. "I think that's a great idea. I am going to apologize for what I said, father. I will take the higher road today. I'm sorry for calling Walda a fat pig. It wasn't very nice of me, but you do bring out the worst in me, don't you?" He skipped off towards Damon, Jeyne and Walda who were just coming up the pathway. Raff finally had managed to pull them away from the damned tubes and was thrilled to hear they were leaving. He and Gregor held back a bit while the strange family strolled towards the fence and the two whirlygig men flapping goodbye and hello to all.

Walda was beaming and was babbling in a way that made Damon and Jeyne smile brightly. "Oh, I shall ask Kevan myself if need be, children! I am sure that you can be allowed short visits! For the holiday, perhaps? I promise to ask and next month when we visit, I will bring so many presents for all of you!" Too late did Raff and Gregor see the silver flash in Ramsay's hand. Roose was the first to see that Ramsay had stolen his razor pen, a similar one to Kevan's. For one horrific moment, everyone paused as Ramsay lunged. 

Jeyne's eyes widened as Ramsay plunged the razor pen into the fabric of one the whirlygig men. As he did so, he hollered to Walda with a bright smile, "Hey, I just figure you should see us at our normal state." Jeyne screamed loud and long, grabbing her hair, tearing at it then racing to try and save her deflating, destroyed whirlygig man. "WHY? RAMSAY, NO, NO, WHY?" Damon turned and gave Ramsay a bestial look as he growled out, "You are such a fucking asshole!" The larger boy attacked but Ramsay was smiling, even as he started to punch Damon back. It was clear that Damon would win the physical fight since Ramsay no longer held the pen but it was also clear that Ramsay just didn't care. He caused the chaos he wished for.

Roose had pulled Walda away fast but the woman was watching with sad pity as the girl rocked and screamed until the blond counselor gave her a shot. Gregor had yanked the two boys apart and was shaking them while growling something that seemed dire. Walda shook her head and allowed Roose to guide her towards the car. "I refuse to give up on my step children, Roose. They are truly just hurt children trapped in teenage bodies. The poor things, they never had real mothers, they never had any maternal love. I can change that. Ramsay might be very difficult but I am sure after some time, he will feel less need to get my attention in a negative way."

Roose did his best not to laugh as he patted his naive wife's thigh as they put on their seat belts.

 

 


	90. Just This Once

They walked up a plush hallway and into a gold gilding and mirrored elevator. Myranda pouted at Bob and Harold while Theon tried to cower in a corner. Sighing, Harold finally asked, "What, sweet girl?" "Just today, can I please, please, not have an elderly client? We are only here for Theon's training, can't I just have a younger man, just someone not over fifty? Please? I love Varys, I loved coming here and I just want this one time? To dance and flirt and not sleep with someone wrinkled with dentures."

Harold shrugged and looked at Bob. "I have no objection to it. Myranda hasn't had a chance for a little change or a visit here in quite some time." Bob nodded slightly. "I do remember how much you liked these visits. Very well, dance, flirt and find someone to your own taste to bring to us. This once." Myranda gave them both an exuberant hug and bounced off the elevator.

Theon watched as Myranda became a bouncy, cheerful sweet sixteen year old. She was full of energy, sex and a sweet kind of innocence about the idea of choosing her own client. She was acting as if it was a holiday present that she always wanted. Bob put his hand on Theon's shoulder as they walked and he nearly leaped into the air. "Calm down, sweet boy. No one will hurt you here, I can promise you that. This is the safest place to start your training." Theon looked at Myranda skipping ahead to knock upon a door with Harold behind her.

"Is that an act? Is that how Myranda just changes personalities for clients?" Bob smiled as Theon slowed down as the door opened and the other two went inside. He gave Theon a slower pace to reach the door so he could compose himself. "She does put on acts for her clients, but no, this is a place Myranda likes. This is how she really is when she is happy." Theon shivered. "It's kind of like how she acts with you two when we are in your room, the young innocent girl thing she sort of goes into? Except this is like, without the smut part of it. I've never thought of her as a happy clubber kind of girl."

"Well, that is because Myranda never had the opportunities to become that type of girl. She was born into extreme poverty, she was whoring just to survive at a very young age. The school is the cleanest, safest place she has ever been in. But it doesn't provide the opportunities of a normal teenage girl, does it? No dances, no sneaking out of home to a club or concert. No football games, no double dates at the movies. This place allowed her to dance, to feel like men adored her, as if she were truly just out at a club. All the teenagers you'll see here act like that. Varys knows how to make the experience a good one for everyone, not just the clients."

Bob finished speaking just as he propelled Theon through the open door and shut it behind them.

Kevan was just distracted enough by the sudden chaos that he instantly agreed. "Fine, Lancel. You certainly won't have a peaceful visit with your wife here. Go on to dinner and it is very nice of you to offer to take Loras. Are you sure you don't want to just be alone with Sansa? The lovely girl truly misses you and enjoys your company." Lancel smiled.

"Well, I will admit I would like time alone with my wife, Father. However, Loras and Sansa have worked so hard together and I was so impressed by it. When I mentioned dinner to Sansa, the poor boy looked so sad even though he said nothing. Since they both are at the same level, I figure why not share a reward for hard work by taking them both to dinner out of the school?"

They only briefly paused as they walked, to see Arya with duct tape on her mouth over Sandor's lap. He was sitting on a wooden bench near the edge of the cornfield and his hand was wielding vengeance over her backside. Lancel winced as he could hear the crack of the man's large hand and muttered, "I always wished that you offered padded backsides in the pants we wore here."

Lancel and Sansa caught up with Loras as he was walking Olenna to the gates. He had done his best to charm and appease his grandmother and could only pray that it had worked. The woman was quick to ask prying questions, she had quizzed Loras until she was disrupted by Jeyne's screaming over the ruined whirlygig man. Moments after that, Cersei had come storming out of the cornfield to demand why that little retarded child was screaming. The woman also was attempting to stomp upon Tyrion while shrieking about Arya being a rabid unfit little bitch.

Loras managed to use the chaos as an excuse for his grandmother needing to leave. "See how Gregor is dragging Ramsay and Damon like that? They did something and there is that poor feral thing. Raff is almost carrying her, must have needed to sedate her. Plus, Cersei is screaming and here comes Kevan, grandmother, this will be the end of our visit. Kevan always shuts things down if students or others lose control." Olenna had sighed heavily and stood up.

"Yes, that was always the way here. But I also know when someone is trying to get rid of me, young man. You are hiding something and I know it. I don't know what you are hiding and I wish you would talk with me. However, I cannot exactly torture the words out of you, can I? Very well, I shall leave and hope that next month you will have either a better report or something to tell me." Loras went between being thrilled to spend time with Lancel, to terrified that it was because Ramsay and Sansa said something to him.

In the car, Loras sat in the backseat while Sansa got to sit next to her husband. Lancel turned on the music and reminded everyone to fasten their seatbelt. He said nothing further as they drove. After about twenty minutes, as Loras noticed that they were passing the only two dusty towns around. There was nothing but hot sand and jagged rocks with twisted trees until the city for some time.

"Lancel? Where are we going for dinner?" Loras's voice was quiet and respectful but nervous. Without looking the mirror to see the boy, Lancel calmly responded. "We aren't going to dinner. At least not yet."

Gregor tossed Damon to the ground in front of Polliver. "Sidebitch wants to fight Death Row for Jeyne's honor. Isn't that sweet as our cook's pastries? Speaking of our cook, thanks to fucking tube men, I have two in trouble and one in the clinic. Take a fucking guess which one is sobbing all over Raff in the clinic?" Glaring at Polliver, Gregor growled out, "I need to deal with our whirlygig executioner. You get the large duckling who found his testicles dropping and wanted to have a dick fight." Gregor pointed at Damon. "As your mentor, I am still going to kick your ass for you later, no matter what detentions or pains you get from Polliver."

Arya was in a full sob and her ass was on fire as Sandor lifted her to her unsteady feet. "You'll live. Stop crying and wipe your damned nose. What the hell were you thinking to challenge that woman? Would you walk up to Kevan and speak like that? Want to walk up to Gregor and tell him to fuck off? Stroll over to Unella and spit in her face? Where do you think this shit will get you? Did this work out the way you hoped for? Know your enemy before you attack them. We discussed this. Do you know Cersei Lannister? No, just because she is your mother in law, just because you spent some summers visiting her home does not mean you really know her."

Sandor gave Arya a handkerchief to wipe her face but he didn't remove the duct tape. "You can wear that until Hot Pie serves your supper. I am removing your wandering privileges tonight. After you eat I want you to stay inside the dorm house and do a little homework. You will write down for me everything you know about Cersei Lannister. Everything you know, things you might suspect but have no proof for can be written out. Tomorrow after your classes, we are going to go over that list and I am probably going to be showing you how very wrong you are."

Hot Pie moaned as the professors relayed the story of Ramsay slashing one of the tube men. He was cooking supper and couldn't wander off just because he heard chaos in the distance. He was glad now that he was stuck in the kitchen and doesn't eat with the staff. The "I told you so" from Polliver will be irritating but he had no idea what Gregor might do.

Tyrion drank deeply of the lemonade that he and Stannis persuaded Hot Pie to serve them. "Don't fret too much, Hot Pie. Jeyne is with Raff in the clinic. She will calm down and besides, she still has three other tube men left." Stannis frowned deeply. "That boy is detestable. Poor Jeyne tries very hard and has never done a thing to Ramsay. I hope Gregor gives proper justice."

Gregor was dragging Ramsay to the cornfield just as Sandor was dragging a muted Arya away from it. The brothers gave each other grim nods as they passed but said nothing. Gregor didn't stop until they reached the area where the whirlygig man Sandor put up was, it was next to the wooden cross meant for a scarecrow. With a cheery smile and a booming voice Gregor spoke as he dumped Ramsay to the dirt.

"Nanny Gregor has had it with your bullshit. You maybe have a few hard truths to deal with that are making you act out. So we are going to discuss those things while I strap the living hell out of you. Then I am going to give you some time to think about what we've discussed." Removing his thick belt, Gregor watched Ramsay smirk and stand back up, dusting off his pants. "Should I remove my clothes so you can reach my back and thighs? Want my bare flesh or just my khaki covered ass over your knee?"

Ramsay found himself devoid of everything but his undershorts and socks a moment later. Gregor had backhanded the boy for his comment and it dazed him long enough. Long enough for Gregor to strip, lift and tie him onto the scarecrow cross, facing forward. A wide smile on his face, Gregor patted Ramsay's face until he was back with him. "Are you with me, summer child? Do you see Nanny Gregor, little boy? Good. Now, you are tied to the scarecrow post and all night you can have a whirlygig man keep you company. See him nodding so happily, dancing just for you, Ramsay! All night long. But first, I owe you a good strapping, don't I?"

The first three hits upon his chest made Ramsay grunt and flinch a bit. Gregor let the strap of the belt dangle for a moment while he spoke.

"Jeyne is your sister. You don't have to like it but that doesn't change it. Jeyne is your sister and Damon is your brother. Daddy sucks and likes to push your buttons and you just let him. Walda is your new step mother and you are going to have more little siblings to deal with. You will have to deal with it. What you did today, all it did was hurt you, Damon and Jeyne. It didn't hurt Walda, the baby or your damned father. Was it worth it? What was the point of it, Ramsay? I really want to know. Tell Nanny Gregor why you think being a cunt helps you?"

But Ramsay just snarled and found himself sobbing after a flurry of strikes came relentlessly for his thighs, chest and stomach.


	91. Seeing Violet

Jeyne sobbed without end, clinging to Raff, she had been sitting on his lap for so long, his legs were numb. Her arms were tightly wrapped around his neck, nearly strangling him. One of his hands rubbed her back soothingly and the other ruffled her hair gently. He looked up with a desperate plea for help and freedom when Unella came into the clinic. Her stomach poked into Raff's office and the rest of her squeezed in behind it.

Unella looked down at Raff with sadistic mirth and then at Jeyne with a detached sympathy. "Jeyne, Gregor has packed up the whirlygig men. We cannot fix the destroyed one but you still have three left. One will stay in our cornfield and you can visit it all you'd like during your free time. The other two have been locked away and will be safe until you use them again."

"Can I bury him? Please?" Unella stared at Jeyne and asked, "Who? Bury who?" For a moment, the doctor was sure that Jeyne was asking if she could bury Ramsay alive. With red eyes, Jeyne sniffed and looked up at Unella. "My whirlygig man. A Person would bury him." Raff's lips twitched and he shared a glance with the doctor. "Sure. Let's go bury him, sweetheart." Unella shrugged but tried to get away which was no easy feat with her stomach.

As she started to leave, Unella noticed something at the same time Raff did. She sucked in her breath fast and tried to remain calm as possible. Raff closed his eyes briefly and then he regained his composure. Very firmly but carefully, the therapist pulled Jeyne back to her feet. "No. A Person walks on two feet. I know you are very sad right now. But a Person has feelings and has to find ways to deal with them. Like we are doing now, by burying your whirlygig man." Jeyne gave no reply but walked besides Raff and Unella who has now decided to join them.

This was their reputation as a doctor and therapist. It was never as clear to them before until now. It surpassed books, freedom, prestige and all the other things imagined by them. Whether Kevan wanted a feral or a reformed one no longer mattered. What did matter was how long and hard they both have studied and worked with this girl to advance her, to advance themselves. She was their greatest challenge, the biggest puzzle they might ever see. It was the rarest thing, a feral child and they have never given so much to a project before. They would be damned if some asshole like Ramsay was going to regress the girl.

Jeyne's eyes were vacant, they were hollow and she kept brushing imaginary hair over her eyes. The angles of her limbs were wrong as she moved and they could feel her desperate need to go back on all fours. To run away and hide from emotions, because emotions were never safe. Raff took her hand as she started to hunch over a little and he straightened her back up. "A Person needs to stand up and speak a eulogy when she buries her whirlygig man." Unella sighed in relief as Jeyne's eyes focused a bit upon Raff. "What is a eulogy?"

Theon entered a room full of glass tables, indoor fountains and gardens, overstuffed couches everywhere. In the center of the room was Myranda being hugged and fussed over by a bald, stocky man. The man was pale, dressed in a silk kimono and adorned in jewelry. He was gently chiding Harold for not bringing Myranda by for so long. Myranda seemed to genuinely be fond of this strange man.

In a sweet, excited voice, she told him, "Harold and Bob said I can choose for myself this time." The man threw up his hands as if he was delighted. "Well, then! That is the most wonderful thing! Go on, head back and get yourself ready. Since it's your choice, you may pick out whatever you would like to wear, my love!" Myranda ran off into another room with Howard following behind her.

Theon felt slightly abandoned but then the man was coming towards him. "You must be Theon. I am Varys. Welcome to my resort and I am so happy to meet you, young man. Aren't you a lovely sight for my old eyes. I always enjoy seeing new blood come to visit with us." Within moments, Varys was working his magic and Theon melted into the charming compliments and gentle touch.

Somehow the man made Theon's stripping nude and being redressed after examined an experience that wasn't humiliating or scary. He showed Theon a variety of outfits and picked out a few for the boy to try on.

"Now, see how every one of these outfits has a little silk square on it? This tiny red square let's my patrons know that you are new here, new to any experiences of this sort. It allows the right clients to seek you out and the wrong ones to stay clear of you. Myranda's outfits have a little purple square on them. That means she is of top quality and skill so the right sort may enjoy spending time with her. This system prevents misunderstandings in a very discreet way, don't you think?"

Harold winced at a few of Myranda's choices while she tried on a variety of unique looks. Shae came by and grinned at Harold. "You didn't like her cat suit look, Harold?" He smiled back at Varys's hair stylist and cosmetician. "Not particularly, I was relieved she changed out of that and that other atrocity full of glitter and bell bottoms. Allowing the girl her own tastes allows her to be sassy and taunt me with annoying outfits she knows I would never let her wear."

Shae laughed and set out the curling iron and the make up she will offer the girl. "It is very nice of you two to let her have a little bit of fun every now and then. One of the ways we see girls burn out so fast in this business. They are so young and all they know is work, they turn hollow, they kill themselves or turn to drugs, end up on the streets or dead. So many handlers forget to allow the kids a little breathing room, a small chance to have a moment of their own."

"I chose the perfect outfit! This is the one I am wearing downstairs." Myranda called out as she headed towards them from behind the row of cloth. Harold prayed that it wasn't a sailor dress or a leather bikini with matching cowboy hat. He looked at the thigh high boots, leather shorts and the lace blouse with matching black leather bikini. Sighing, Harold slumped in the chair. "Sweet girl, it is truly a club outfit. Very well, why don't you let Shae help you with your hair and face?"

Myranda hugged Shae in greeting that started to chat with her as the woman gently sat the girl in front of the large make up mirror. "Now, what are you thinking you would like, honey? It's your look, tell me and I will do the best I can for you." Harold was no longer listening, thinking of Gilly. With his sunglasses on, Shae and Myranda weren't aware his eyes were miles away. When he heard Shae ask, "Harold, are you sure that you are alright with Myranda's hair idea?" He just nodded and said yes without really hearing or seeing what was happening.

The squeal of delight should have warned and alarmed him but Harold was thinking of Gilly. She hadn't mentioned anything to him about his behavior or anything about a date. Gilly had yelled that Harold never asked her on a date but he had been positive that she knew he wanted one with her. What did it matter if he said the specific words when it was clear that was what he meant? If Myranda, a mere teenage girl could understand by implication what Harold wanted, why couldn't Gilly? Myranda would never waste his time asking him to spell something out that she already understood. Why would Gilly?

Harold dozed while still thinking about Gilly. Of course, he was comparing her to Myranda which was silly. He was fond of his sweet girl, but she was a teenager and she had a purpose to fill for him and Bob. Gilly was someone Harold couldn't get out of his head and she wasn't as old as he was perhaps, but she wasn't a student. And he couldn't image her ever doing the things he has Myranda do. Maybe that was the problem, after all. Harold expected Gilly to act like Myranda or most others do around him even though he likes her because she doesn't act that way. 

He was startled by a sound he rarely ever hears. The only one of the twins to ever lose their temper is Harold, he is the quick tempered one. Quicker to shout or strike out. That is why it was so startling to hear Bob shouting, he was standing over Myranda who was looking back with defiant tears in her eyes. "WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO YOUR HAIR, GIRL? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR, YOU TOOK ADVANTAGE OF OUR GENEROSITY!" Myranda hurried to plead her case, as Shae backed up. "No! I wouldn't do that, Bob, you know I wouldn't! I asked Harold first and Shae even asked him a second time, both times he nodded and said yes out loud to us!"

Shae nodded and spoke. "It's true, Bob. I asked Harold if he was sure that he meant to give Myranda permission to dye her hair. Don't worry, it should fade out within a few weeks. Lucky that violet is a nice color on Myranda, with the goth make up she wanted to add, it really works to make her look like a kick ass teen girl." Harold stared at Myranda's new purple hued long hair in horror as Bob seethed. "But you aren't distracted, right, Harold?"  

Lancel drove and let Loras really sweat and shake in the backseat. Sansa said nothing, listened to the music and leaned her head out the window as if at peace. Finally, he pulled over in a rather desolate location. Grabbing some blankets out of the trunk, Lancel smiled at Loras and Sansa. "It is a gorgeous evening. Still early, the moon just beginning to reveal itself to us. Let's go greet it and spend a little time together as a family."

They walked past the sand until they reached the rocks then they climbed until Loras was drenched in sweat. Lancel seemed to find the spot he was looking for, the steep edge of a long drop down. The clearing itself was soft with sand and the view of the rising moon amid the pink sinking sun was amazing, breathtaking. Sansa spread the thick blankets out on the sand and then she and Loras knelt at Lancel's feet without any prompting.

He slipped them each a tiny piece of paper on their tongues and waited for their eyes to grow wider, rounder. Sansa's eyes tracked tears as the sky turned purple, it turned into a thousand shattered stars. Loras was gently swaying back and forth, his eyes watching the moon beckoning him. Both listened attentively to the soothing sound of their beloved leader.


	92. Magic Night

Help comes from the most unlikely places on occasion. Stannis had wandered past Jeyne who was carrying a shovel and her tube man with Raff and Unella watching her carefully. The girl was clearly having trouble remaining a Person under her grief and Stannis stopped, clearing his throat. "Are you having the girl bury her feelings along with the tube man? You animals, you will allow the girl her chance to mourn correctly. Jeyne, dear, if you don't mind waiting for a just a few moments, we will make a proper true burial service for your departed friend."

A half an hour later, Jeyne stood in a circle of staff and students. With a gentle nudging from Stannis, Jeyne spoke over the box holding her deflated whirlygig man. "He was the first whirlygig man I saw out of the box here. I loved him because when the other whirlygigs would be fast, he was fastest. He made me smile and want to dance. And I am very sad he is gone." Stannis surprised them all by giving a small sad song about life gone before it's time. Even more shocking was Arya coming forward and offering a last dance with Jeyne for the whirlygig man.

 Hot Pie did the burial of the tube man while Damon winced past the pain of the baton beating earlier to dance with the girls. Tyrion used his cell phone to put on music for the kids, soft music that they can gently sway to. Joff rolled his eyes at it all but he was feeling smug enough about his successful visit with his mother to be agreeable tonight. It had brought him great pleasure to see his mother nearly unhinged with rage over Arya. He was over the moon with joy when he saw Sandor beat the hell out of his brat wife's ass. He only wished it were himself that could have done it.

Joff wouldn't have spanked her with a belt, paddle, hand or crop like they were all used to here, he would want something that would truly shred her. What Joff would never admit to himself was his rage was born mainly of fear. Who would admit to fearing their own wife?

Lancel laughed and twirled Sansa back from the deadly drop as she danced, giggling. He made sure that she wasn't about to go dancing off the edge again before he turned towards Loras. The boy was laying on the blanket, staring at the stars appearing in the darkening sky and humming to himself. "My love, my shining star, is the moon so much more interesting than me?" Pulling the drugged boy to his feet, Lancel asked Sansa to turn the music on his phone up a little.

He was amused at how well Loras danced, how amazing he becomes when he is fucked up. Loras was suddenly all smiles, seduction and charm. Lancel swayed against the delicate body and he started to speak.

"This is the boy I fell in love with, that I sent to the school for the most important work I have ever had. This charming, handsome confident young man. Smart, able to use his charisma to help me change our world. My wonderful devoted Loras, my greatest lover. The man I plan to marry as soon as we have completed our mission. Once we have cut through the worst of our enemies and control it all, once we have burnt out the corruption of my father and the school, we can do anything we want. Hell, I can keep Sansa as a society wife if I choose, while I marry you. She can provide you and I with a child or two, would you like to raise a child in our image?"

Sansa seemed to laugh soundlessly nearby but had given no indication to hearing them. She continued to dance by herself and her eyes were closed in some inner glory she has attained. Loras was sinking under Lancel's fantasies and was agreeing while trying to kiss him. Lancel allowed Loras a few minutes of kissing and caressing but then pulled away just as the boy started to become truly heated.

"My superhero, little superstar, do you remember the story of how I met Ramsay and brought him in? When I chose to spend some time mentoring troubled youth I was lucky enough to meet our young rabid Ramsay. He had been suspected of skinning several animals alive and sent to be tested by a top institution that I just happened to be interning at. That poor child was so abused, neglected and angry, full of chaos and the need to be loved, to be validated. He is your new family, he is your brother and loves you as much as I do. As Sansa does. But why did I send Ramsay with you to the school? Not because of how savage a killer he is, no, I can use killers anywhere, can't I?"  

Loras hung on every word as Lancel began to dance him closer to the edge. "Like you and Sansa, Ramsay can act, he can use charm and charisma but he explodes, he needs violence, chaos. That is why he works as our distraction, as our wild card as well as the killer we shall need him to be soon. I chose him as our special risk taker, as our focus for the staff's ire. That is what Ramsay does best because he has so little fear, he thrives on causing upset and cares little for the consequences." Lancel maneuvered Loras so the boy was nearly hanging over the dark abyss as he spoke.

"My lover, you were chosen to be the perfect wonderful shining star along with my Sansa. Why are you trying to take on the focus from Ramsay? Why do you suddenly feel the same needs as he does, for chaos? Do you feel the same urge for chaos, do you feel up to facing the consequences like he does?" Loras screamed when he found himself dangling over the edge, staring into what felt like an endless pit.

Bob glared at Harold. "I want to concentrate on caring for Theon through his first night, not have to babysit you and Myranda! But since you just let our girl make herself into a comic book villain, I am afraid to find her sold off to a rich Mereen banker by accident by the time I check in to see if you are still distracted!" Harold had growled and stomped off with Myranda for the downstairs club.

The girl had truly thought Harold had given permission and couldn't be held to account for his slip up. Plus, Myranda had cried and apologized to both of them for misunderstanding. She cried until Varys calmed her and told her she looked amazing, would be more popular than ever downstairs. As they went into the elevator, Myranda gave a small smile to Harold.

"You helped me out, letting me change my hair even if you didn't really mean to. Thank you, Sir. I really love it, I love this whole look." Harold frowned. "I hate it. Bob hates it and Kevan will most certainly hate it." He didn't add that her usual clients that Bob had already begun booking again would hate it as well. Harold can already hear Walder Frey and Pycelle complaining about the purple hair.

"I know, I am sorry. But since you did me a favor even if you didn't mean to, I want to do one back. So here it goes. You need to walk up to Gilly and say, Would you like to go on a date with me? If she says yes then take her to a dinner she will like and a musical. Gilly loves musicals. Don't look so shocked, Harold. As if Theon and I don't have eyeballs." The elevator doors slid open and Myranda skipped out, leaving Harold staring after her.

Bob entered the club with his arm draped casually over Theon's shoulder. Varys had explained things to Theon while putting the last fashion touches to his shirt while Shae finished tousling the boy's hair. The boy looked like a young rich teenage playboy and Bob liked the look, even better, so did Theon. While Theon was admiring his new looks, he listened to Varys's voice.

"It is very important for your safety and for everyone's clear understanding, who you came with. Who your handlers are. When you enter the club, you will do so with Bob or Harold. If you leave the club room for any reason but the bathroom, it should be with one of them. You do not leave for a breath of fresh air or a walk with anyone. You do not leave the club area with anyone without permission and escort by Bob or Harold. For any reason. There is never a good reason for anyone to make you leave or do anything to you without Harold or Bob's express permission." 

Theon nodded and repeated it back. Varys gave him an approving smile and counseled softly as he turned the boy over to Bob.

"Walk in with Bob, make sure you walk to where he will be sitting, so you know the location. Then you go dance, have fun and when you are offered a drink or a man wants to spend more time with you, that is when you tell him you would like to introduce him to Bob. Easy enough? The most important thing is to have fun, to relax, dance and enjoy yourself for a bit before making any choices to bring to Bob. Now, it might be Bob that introduces you to a particular man that approached him first, that is not a big deal. Smile, know that no one knows you better than your handlers. If he brings someone to you, there is no reason for nerves, just a chance for a fun time."

The first thing Bob did as they entered the club room was scan for the purple hair. He found her seconds later, Myranda was surrounded by a near harem of males. She had half the male teenage workers dancing with her as well as the female ones. Every client in the room was drooling, watching the group of slender bodies writhing to the pulsing music. Harold was sitting in a booth only a few feet away, close to the dance floor and he appeared to be using his cell phone. Gritting his teeth underneath his smile, Bob steered Theon towards Harold's booth.

Bob had Theon sit between him and Harold long enough for a waitress to come by. After Bob ordered a drink, he patted Theon's shoulder. "Would you like to go join Myranda in dancing? Do you feel ready to go have some fun? You seem calm enough and I can feel your foot tapping to the music under the table. Go enjoy yourself for a while, Theon." Taking a deep breath, Theon nodded. "Yeah, actually, I think I really want to go dance for a bit. Have a good time." Bob stood up to let Theon out of the booth and sat back down, watching the boy head for Myranda.

"What the hell are you doing? What is so important on your phone? That girl could have gotten married or sold into slavery before you would notice it." Harold grunted and finished with his phone, putting it back in his pocket. "I have known where she was the whole time. Myranda is dancing, making almost every teen in here join her, making all these clients that much closer to spending huge amount of money upon them." Bob gave a sound of disgust and sipped his drink, observing Theon dancing with Myranda. The rest of the teens and clients that weren't watching, were edging closer now.

"What were you doing?" Smiling at Bob, Harold responded proudly. "I got tickets to a musical at a town near the school. Only an hour away and they have a restaurant. I am going to ask Gilly on a date."

Tyrion walked towards the gaming cabin with Stannis after the burial and service. "That was a very stand up thing to do for that girl, Stannis. A very proper send off and the girl was already looking better at the end of it. She was standing straight and speaking so well, you helped her out." Stannis walked with his hands clasped behind his back and his frown sternly in place.

"It was the decent thing to do. That poor doomed thing has so little and those stupid flapping things mean so much to her. I want her to have the chance to become a true student, a Person. The girl needed to grieve, she needed to express her feelings and I hope it's enough to help her a bit. It's not much but I could do at least that much for the poor thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sansa, Loras and Lancel: In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins  
> Whirlygig Man: Knocking on Heaven's Door by Guns N Roses


	93. Knowing What Is Best

Loras cried out in terror, mindless awful panic at the large mawing darkness below him as Lancel pulled off the boy's pants. Hush, trust me. I won't let you fall, honey. I love you, why would I let you fall to your death? This is just how Ramsay likes it when I fuck him. Do you remember seeing that once or twice during our summer together? Hmm? We went hiking and I took him right over the edge of that quarry and it scared you half to death. You weren't into risks then, were you? No, you were my perfect golden boy, ready to spy and stay unnoticed until the time was right. But now, you want to be a little bit more like Ramsay, have a little fun, take a few risks, love?"

Sansa crept closer, her eyes dilated and her breathing a soft purr, Loras's fear was like a siren and she followed it. Lancel smirked at her but he continued to prepare Loras for the scariest sex he will ever have. Sansa watched, whining and rubbing herself as her husband dangled Loras over the edge, only pinning him down by his legs and waist. Loras sobbed wildly and his hands scrabbled uselessly for purchase against the smooth stone. "Please, I'm sorry! I swear I won't act out anymore, please, Lancel, please! Let me up, please?"

"Do you wonder if this black hole ready to swallow you down, is that what staring into Ramsay's mind is like? I bet it is. That boy just loves living and trying to die on the edge. How does it feel, Loras? Don't cry so hard, you'll hyperventilate, honey. I won't let you fall and I promise you'll come as hard as I do, as hard as Ramsay ever did. I can't stop no matter how much you plead, baby. This is something you need and no one knows better than I do what my Loras needs."

Sobbing, Loras allowed himself to go limp, to trust, even as he pissed himself in his fear of falling. "Yes, my leader. I love you so much, I am so sorry I disappointed you. I want to be punished, I want to be forgiven. I want to please and serve you, I'm your shining star and I love you."

Myranda has never had so much fun in her life really. Even in the past here, as fun as it was, it was never her choice how she looked, danced or slept with. She danced with the other teenagers which was a strange but good experience. They all were like her but all of them were joining her happy dancing as if in defiance of what they were. After a time, shortly after Theon joined her, the clients began to close in like sharks. That wasn't bad either though. Due to her hair, her aggressive yet youthfulness, only a certain type were drawn closer to her. The older ones shied away from her bright but defiant smirk.

A few middle age rich men were interested as well as a few very rich and young professionals from good families. Myranda didn't need to hear credentials to tell everything she needed to know about them. She has been in this business long enough to read clients and knew who to pay attention to and who to discard. But dammit, this was HER night and she was going to do things her way, make her own choices up to the very limit her mentors will allow. Of course Myranda had known Harold wasn't paying any attention, that is why she asked for her hair color change.

It took a very long time, but Myranda was finally learning how to trick and surpass her own mentors. She will learn to conduct her own business if need be. This is her secret back up plan if Kevan is lying and never places her out of the school. Someday, the twins will retire or at least slow down and Myranda might just be able to become the next handler at the school. Quite a few men came over to Harold and Bob to speak about both teenagers. Most of the requests were for Theon of course, he was new and utterly adorable in his outfit, dancing so carefree with that crooked grin.

They gave permission for a few of the men to buy Theon a drink or spend some time dancing, talking, flirting. But none of them received permission to take the boy to a room. There were four clients that were already trying to woo the boy on their own and two of them were the perfect sort for him to start with. Still they waited, even when Theon brought the four to meet Bob and Harold. Instead they warmly invited the men to spend time with Theon in the club. The few men that came to ask about Myranda weren't turned down nor given permission. Harold would give them a brilliant smile and all received the same response.

"We are training our lovely sweet girl how to find the best of clients on her own judgment tonight. You must impress our violet beauty first, then speak with me." This was new, fresh and intriguing. Before long, Myranda was sitting at a table with numerous clients around her. They bought her drinks that she only sipped once, complimented and flirted with her. Bob took a break from his Theon watch to glare at Harold. "That is entirely too many around her. I don't like how she is teasing them, it is a risk, I know our girl is responsible with the drinking but two of those men are drunk already. And one sip of a drugged drink we don't see and our sweet girl is gone."

Harold sighed and shook his head. "Why don't you concentrate on finding our boy the right client while I worry about our girl? There is no danger, she is handling herself fine and will make a good selection out of that group of clients." Bob let out a brittle laugh and sneered as he tilted his head towards Myranda. "A great choice, huh? Look who she is sitting in the lap of? And of course, she is smiling at you and you are smiling back. Are you a fucking idiot? You will let her choose him? Our girl is going to waste her time with Jaime Lannister's crooked friend just stuffed with new money and old arrogance?"

Giving Bob a cold spiteful grin, Harold nodded to Myranda who beamed with delight. "Bronn has wealth, he has no record of abusing girls, in fact according to Varys, the man gives way more than he asks to receive. Why not let the sweet girl have a little pleasure for herself? He will behave and so will she. We don't want to burn our young Myranda out, do we? If I were you, I would concentrate on the fact that Theon has just been offered a third drink and he isn't just sipping."

Ramsay was grateful for the cooling breeze that soothed the raised red welts upon his flesh. He hung like meat and felt his limbs going numb then he would flex them and feel terrible red ants biting through his body as his nerves moved and twitched. Several times when the torment and misery were too much, he screamed curses at the stupid fucking whirlygig man taunting him a few feet away. Earlier, there were noises, sounds. Cars driving away, talking, at one point Ramsay even swore that he heard his staunch professor singing and he even heard music.

Now it was silent, only the rustling of the corn, the stupid flapping thing and the moon high above him. Then he sensed it before he saw a shadow emerge from the stalks of corn. Ramsay giggled and shook his head as he filled with a mix of frustrated anger and amusement all at once. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He watched as Jeyne twirled and flailed around the whirlygig man. "Hey, stupid dog sister. It has to be past curfew, shouldn't you run to your doghouse and dream of chasing rabbits through a field or digging to bury a bone?" 

Jeyne ignored Ramsay while she danced for a while then she turned and began to stalk towards him. Her face was stiff in Person composure, but her limbs twisted and Ramsay squawked in surprise when the girl ran at him, snarling.  Like a spider monkey, the girl launched and climbed up the cross to stare Ramsay in the eyes. They stared at each other and then Ramsay lunged, trying to bite her. Jeyne moved her face out of his reach but didn't let go and stayed hanging over him. "Bad dog sister, get down, bitch! Unless you want to try to rip my throat out, you'd better fuck off."

Looking intently into his face, as if trying to search out an understanding of him, Jeyne tilted her head and spoke. "Why? Why do you hate me? I am mad, so mad at you. I want to hurt you, kill you. A Person uses words not violence. So I am trying to be a Person." Ramsay laughed and spit at her. "You aren't a Person, you are just a dog sister. I hate you and I want to kill you too." Jeyne wiped the spittle onto his arm and then gave him a savage look that was desperately trying to be a calm look.

"I had a brother that liked me. Domeric was nice. He brought me candy, we played when his mother was busy. It was secret because she would hurt me if she knew. One day she found us and was so mad, hurt me so much, Domeric got in the way and her stick hit him so hard in the head. So much blood and he never moved again. I ran and ran and ran. I hid but I went back. And I killed her, Ramsay. I killed her for killing someone I loved." Jeyne was breathing hard and her eyes were far away but her body was tensing and Ramsay was starting to worry a little.

"You killed something I loved and I want to kill you. I can't because I am a Person now. So I forgive you. To heal us."

Ramsay let his mouth gape open for a moment then he started to laugh hysterically. "Aww, gawds, it's too fucking much. Too fucking precious, dog sister, too fucking pathetic. Listen, you will NEVER be a Person no matter how hard you try. Never. You forgive me? That is real nice of you, feral freak. I don't forgive you. Because of you, Domeric and Bethany died, father let me take the blame for it. He let me feel as if I did it. You got shuttled off to nice counselors to help you become a Person and what did I get? I got all the abuse, neglect and humiliation you left behind for me to have."

Jeyne looked sad and confused that Ramsay wasn't reacting like a Person should. She jumped down and tried to keep her composure. Ramsay kept cackling and yelling after her as she started to walk away. "Do you even understand that Kevan likes you as his little feral freak? Do you really think Unella and Raff care about your well being? Or anyone here does? They just each want to be the first to say they tamed the feral, freaky dog kid."


	94. Dancing On A Wire

The taunting and laughter hurt, seared and how dare he when she was trying to be a Person and DO THE RIGHT THING? Jeyne turned and snarled, racing for the ungrateful, mean, evil, murdering brother. Ramsay seemed to be all for it, his teeth gnashing, hoping to rip her throat out as she was going to do to him. Pudgy hands grabbed her and tried to hold her back. There was no real thought to it, Jeyne reacted and only stopped when she heard Hot Pie cry out in pain. "Hey! Jeyne, no, stop! Ow, that fucking hurt! Stop, you can't hurt him, you can't kill him. Stop, you've done so well, don't blow it over some asshole like him."

Wrenching out of Hot Pie's grasp, she snarled at him and stalked towards Ramsay with stiffened legs. Hot Pie was holding his bruised ribs but kept trying to grab Jeyne until she turned and advanced on him with full fury. Snarling, screeching, hands curled like claws, Jeyne got into his face. "Fuck off! I am too angry for Person! I am angry! Fuck off, fuck you! Gonna kill him! I tried! I tried!"

"I told you I heard voices! I told you that Jeyne would sneak out here tonight!" Gregor snarled at Unella who was following behind her husband, half asleep. She had been attentive all day and evening then just was done. Her entire body gave out and she started to snore upon her feet. Gregor had dragged her up the stairs, no easy feat squeezing her stomach around corners into the bedroom. The second she dropped onto the bed she was dead to the world. Gregor had gone to make sure that Raff had sedated Jeyne for the night. That Polliver had locked her door after getting her into her room.

He was assured of both and went home to bed. But it bothered him, something wasn't right and he couldn't shake it. Starting to doze, Gregor wondered if Ramsay was enjoying the damned whirlygig flapping in front of him. He planned to get up in about three hours to release Ramsay from the cross and let him go to bed. By then the boy will be truly sore and probably driven mad by the tube man. The whirlygig man. Gregor's eyes popped open and he launched from the bed, dragging a protesting Unella along with him.

Gregor just made it to the clearing as Hot Pie suddenly jumped in front of Ramsay on the cross. Jeyne stopped but growled with true menace. Hot Pie stood as tall as he could, made his eyes and voice cold, distant but very calm, unafraid. "If you attack him, you will be forever banned from my cooking classes." Jeyne gasped and the claws scraped at the front of her chest. "I only allow Persons in my class, not ferals." Unella slammed into Gregor's back and he hushed her, staying still, watching. Polliver and Raff were almost plowing into Unella's back, which sent her stomach slamming into Gregor.

Unella turned and harshly hushed at the men. Gregor had texted them fast when he was dragging Unella towards the cornfield. It took moments for them to find the open window and the half digested pill in the toilet. Both had flown for the cornfield right after that. Now they stood there and peered past Unella and Gregor. Jeyne seemed unsure of herself but Ramsay started to goad her. "Come on, dog sister! Have a fucking spine and brain, you aren't that fucking stupid! Come on, bitch, go for it! Aren't you tired of pretending to be a Person. You aren't a person, you never will be."

Hot Pie took a step towards Jeyne and gave her a stern look. His voice was authoritarian. "Young lady, you swore at staff. That is a detention. You struck a staff member in the ribs. That is another detention and a report to Raff. A Person needs to accept consequences for their actions." Hot Pie was terrified on the inside that she would launch past him anyway. He hated being mean, hated not being a friend but this was a dire situation. Jeyne stood there for a second, frozen but he didn't miss the quick look of relief in her eyes. A path was found back to being a Person. Only a Person has detention and consequences, a feral is just tested on, studied and tamed.   

Jeyne nodded and twisted her hands together as she walked away. Gregor muttered, "Impressive work. Still gonna kick his ass though."

Loras gave in with such grace and allowed himself to fill with so much fear and pleasure that Sansa whined. She scraped herself over small rocks and inched closer. In her hazed mind, she was a true beast now and here was the prey. Why does Lancel get the prey? Just like the other night, it was really Ramsay that got the prey then too. It wasn't fair and it wasn't like Loras was destined to be truly part of the family. He blew it and why wait when this was such a lovely night for blood and screaming? The screaming was already happening and that wasn't enough for Sansa the beast.  

The boy's arms swayed, his head was down and Lancel was thrusting into him ruthlessly. After a bit of this, Lancel yanked the boy onto his knees, forcing him to put his palms down and stare down into the abyss. Grabbing the boy's golden locks, Lancel continued his brutal assault but this time his other hand snaked around to grasp Loras's cock. "Good boy, my boy. You are taking your lesson well, keep staring down just like Ramsay would. You aren't like him, look how much you cry and shake, you aren't really a risk taker, are you?  No, you want to be my shining star and my little pretty spy, don't you? You want to serve our cause, you want to support our family and you want to love me. Now I am giving you permission to enjoy this. I know how scared you are but if you are truly my love, I can't imagine you wouldn't enjoy what I wanted you to."

Wailing, Loras stared down and yet somehow stars were shooting up towards him. It was a sign, another true sign that Lancel was truly in love with him, that this was just a way to earn his divine forgiveness. As if magically, his terrified testicles and cock decided to spring to life, born to pleasure under the tender gardening hand of Lancel. For some reason, Loras saw himself as a delicate rose being manipulated, cared for and grown tall by Lancel as a holy gardener. Moaning, Loras bucked into Lancel's hand, even as he stared down and cried in true anxiety.

Sansa softly keened and moved ever closer. She settled as close as she dared and panted while rubbing herself. Lancel was coaxing his tormented prey to an orgasm while he was riding himself into a brutal peak. Loras screamed because the very second he began to orgasm, Lancel lunged them both forward so that Loras was dangling dangerously low off the ledge. Lancel finished to the terrified screams and Sansa wiped drool onto her arm. When both were back on solid ground, Sansa tensed. Lancel released Loras and moved back, that was what the beast girl was waiting for.

Lancel had watched with cruel amusement out of the corner of his eye, on his rabid wife creeping up. He knew that the drugs would bring out the mean in her, it was what he was hoping for. Better to bring out their worst qualities and squash them here than allow them to fuck up at the school. The drug fueled session might fade in their minds, but certain parts won't. Feelings, emotions and the knowledge that Lancel knows everything, every tiny bad thing they think and do. He moved back as her haunches wiggled and she launched.

His fist caught her hard in the stomach. Lancel let her writhe for a moment while he wrapped Loras in a blanket, speaking softly to him, telling him he was forgiven. That he was still loved. Loras shivered and stared at his lover with large black pupils. He kept whispering how much he loved Lancel and trying to kiss his hands. Lancel told the boy to stay and rest. Standing up, Lancel walked over to his wild, naughty wife. "And you. Did you think I wouldn't notice your spiteful little nose twitching for Loras's blood? I think that my shining Loras isn't the only one that needs a lesson. You are my wife, yes. That does not give you the right to attack my lover, my disciple, my family. Not without my permission. My dear Sansa, I am afraid we might be having our first domestic."

Bob leaned over Theon and smiled at the bartender. "He is only to have water, please. Thank you." The bartender smiled and nodded. Theon pouted for a moment then he felt Bob's hand hold his jaw in a way that almost hurt. "That isn't a playful pout, that is a real one and it's not very attractive. You have had enough to drink. I want you to come with me to the mens room. We are going to splash some cold water on your face, wake you up. If need be, we will get you a cup of coffee. Next time, you must only take a sip or two from each drink offered to you. Nothing is less exciting than a sloppy drunk arrogant teenager."

Lowering his eyes a bit, Theon muttered an apology and Bob steered him towards the restroom. Bob stood over Theon as he splashed cold water on his face and tried to sober up. When the two went back into the club room, Harold, Myranda and Bronn were gone. Varys was there, however, he was waiting for Bob and Theon. "Gentlemen! I truly hope that you are having a good time? Bob, I have someone who would like to speak to you about our dear Theon." It was a client that had been watching Theon all night from a corner table. Bob had been holding off on picking several others that would have done well for this reason.

The person was one that would offer up four times the amount the others would. Styr was a truly dangerous man, he was a Northern gangster of the likes that even the Starks did not tangle with. They have fingers everywhere, their men and women were large, strong and deadly, perfect for security and private illegal activities the rich on occasion needed to use. Since the Starks were dead and the Boltons have risen to their former place, Styr's group has been sent to fill that vacuum. They did the work Roose had done with a cold ruthlessness that pleased Tywin to no end. What pleases Tywin also tends to please Kevan.

Styr was dangerous to the world but not within the brothels. His reputation there was quite sterling. Bob knew that his profile matched Theon's almost perfectly and smiled at Varys. "Sure, let's go talk. Theon, I want you to sit at our booth, please. And if the waitress comes by, order yourself a coffee." Varys snapped his fingers and the waitress seemed to magically be next to Theon. "Let me walk you to your booth and bring you some coffee. How do you like it?" Theon nervously sipped at his coffee while watching Bob and Varys talk to someone that he couldn't see in a high backed booth.

When he saw the tall, muscled bald man slide out of the booth after shaking Bob's hand, Theon nearly swallowed his tongue.

Harold sat in the discreet room that was provided for the handler while giving the illusion of privacy for the client. It was really just a tiny furnished den in front of a heavily curtained bedroom. He kept looking at the small sharpened pencil stub that sat upon a tiny pad of paper on the small coffee table. The urge to drive that pencil through his eardrums was strong.

First Bronn had Myranda giggling like blushing school girl with his witty little jokes and now he had her crying out in piercing delight. As her mentor, Harold knew what Myranda sounded like when she was acting for a client and he knew what she sounded like when she was truly having sexual pleasure. There was no doubt in his mind that his sweet girl was having the time of her life.

He found himself picking up the pencil and paper to list different ways to ask Gilly out.


	95. Been Shook

Theon was flushed and shook, not looking up at the giant that was nearly pressed up against him. He was desperate to beg Bob to call this all off, he thought he would have a bit of say, a choice of some sort. This giant was in his thirties and was huge, oppressive and there was a danger about him that made Theon cower a bit. Bob smiled at Theon and grasped his hand, squeezing it.

Theon had just gone blank, he would have bolted if he wasn't trapped between Styr, Bob and a table. Bob and Styr shared a grin at Theon's sudden frozen fear. Styr spoke and Theon just, melted. His deep timbre shivered up his spine and Theon looked up for the first time. "Hello, Theon. No reason to look so scared, I won't hurt you, little rabbit."

"Rabbit? A little rabbit is what I look like to you?" Theon's crooked grin had grown out of nowhere and Bob leaned back, smiling. Styr nodded and one large warm hand sat lightly upon Theon's thigh. "Yes, a little spooked rabbit, ready to hop away. Now you look a little more like a mischievous rabbit." A mix of fear, curiosity and some lust grew uneasily within him and he found himself squirming a little. Styr smirked and rubbed Theon's leg gently.

Bob allowed Theon to finish his coffee and helped the boy make small talk when needed. Then nudged Theon slightly, whispering. "We are going to go a private room. I can stay in the room with you or just outside the curtain of the room. Whichever one makes you feel safer." Theon started to tremble again and he grabbed the table with white hands. "Please, can you stay in the room?" Bob patted Theon's hands and gave him a reassuring smile. "I will stay in the room, nothing bad will happen, trust me to know best for you."

The bedroom was plush, expensive and had the largest bed that Theon has ever seen. He was impressed but found himself feeling small and terrified as Styr pulled him close. Bob was sitting in the room, on an overstuffed chair in the corner. Every now and then, Theon would glance over as if to reassure himself he wasn't alone with this unknown giant. A hand cradled Theon's head, firmly but gently guiding the boy into a kiss, a deep forceful one.

Theon found himself relaxing as Styr was full of the implication of force without using any. Styr was dominant, he whispered, gently teasing Theon about his nerves, but he didn't hurt him. In fact, the man seemed as interested in Theon's pleasure as his own. "What fun is it for me to just use your body? I like to play with my little rabbits, I like to make them squirm and hop for me."

 Loras was a wild rose, he was just a red silk petal fragile thing, he lay within the blanket and the cosmos watching the scene before him. A lion, a fierce golden lion was attacking a red wolf. The wolf dared to snarl at the mighty beast, but it found itself cowering, howling then groveling. The lion was fearsome, claws and teeth gnashing, a voice that roared and it fell upon the snarling bitch until she was bleeding, bruised and bent before the lion.

He floated into the car later, he wasn't sure how. Lancel was driving and Sansa was sniffing, sitting stiffly in the passenger seat next to him. In a cheerful, warm voice, Lancel announced, "We are not going to dinner. It's very late and Father will be angry that we are way past your curfew. I have texted to tell him we had a flat tire. Besides, my two shining stars have been a little naughty, going to bed without dinner isn't too harsh of a punishment for you both, is it?"

Lancel had helped them both out of the car and slung an arm around each as if they were just chumming about. "My father will be on the porch, in his bathrobe, irritated that I am late. You will both go straight to the dorms unless he calls you over. Sansa will give her hubby a little kiss goodbye and both of you will go straight to bed. Dream of me, dream of our cause. Dream of being the shining stars that I have taught you to be. Remember how much I love you both."

"Fuck you! Fuck off! I am very angry! Leave me alone, don't you touch me!" Polliver and Raff widened their eyes as Jeyne had whirled upon them as they followed her back towards the dorm house. Raff spoke in a very icy tone. "What did you just say? You will not speak that way." Jeyne snorted in disbelief then yelled, "ALL THE KIDS TALK THAT WAY! BECAUSE THEY GET ANGRY, I AM SO SO ANGRY!"

Polliver raised an eyebrow at Jeyne screeched, bounced up and down to rip off her shoes and throw them hard against the side of the dorm house. "Yep, that's anger. A full Person anger too. Good for you. Now get your ass over here. We are going to the clinic first, since you decided to toss up your pill earlier. That is going to be a fun discussion for us to have, won't it? Why you threw up your pill, about how you decided to climb off the house like spider-Jeyne and you KNOW I hate it when you do that. I am sure that Raff can list anything I forgot. Is there anything I forgot, Raff?"

"Besides swearing at staff, sneaking to confront a punished student, out past curfew and striking a staff member, no, not really." Jeyne's only response to the men was to screech that she was angry and dodge out of their reach. "I am taking myself to the clinic!" Polliver yawned and muttered, "Maybe she can lecture and punish herself too. Saves time and trouble." Raff groaned out agreement then narrowed his eyes as he saw someone else walking past nearby.

"Hey! Hot Pie! Get us some coffee! You caused this late night with your great ideas today! Get coffee!"

Gregor pulled Ramsay off the cross and dragged him to Unella, who stared blankly. "I don't want him." Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Gregor struggled for control. His grin was far too wide and his voice was hoarse with strain. "I don't want him either. But since I did beat him with a strap and tied him to a cross then Jeyne attempted to climb and eat him, it might be a great idea to get him checked. By a doctor. Just a quick check to make sure he's okay then I can put him to bed. Do you happen to know any doctors around here, Unella? Take your time, we have all night to stand in the cornfield."

Unella groaned and snapped, "Fine! Let's get to the damned clinic." Ramsay's limbs were stiff and he ached, Gregor nearly had to drag him for a bit before he got his footing back. He was walking almost normally by the time they made it to the clinic. Which was about the same time that Raff and Polliver managed to steer the angry girl there. Jeyne wouldn't go near the men and kept getting fits of rage that made her stop going towards the clinic, causing her to hop and run for a minute here and there. Ramsay saw the girl as she was stomping towards the stairs to the clinic door, Polliver and Raff a foot behind her.

"Dog sister, what's wrong, need another crazy pill to help keep the feral down? Stop trying for Person, be the rabid bitch you really are!" He laughed even as Gregor's hand came hard and fast on the worst swollen stripe on his chest. Jeyne roared in rage and tore the screen door off of the clinic and threw it. It landed with a thud on the stairs and Raff blinked. "Well, that answers the question of whether or not she has any pitching qualities for this spring softball game. The answer is no." Polliver spoke in the same casual tone. "We also watched her rip the screen door off the hinges. So I am thinking to find a number for the X-Men or the Avengers or some shit."

Gregor pointed at Jeyne. "Go drag that damned door over to the side of the porch so Raff can unlock the clinic and let us all inside. You'll be fixing that screen tomorrow. I don't give a flying fuck how angry you are, darling. Nanny Gregor is just as angry and I'm holding Ramsay while standing next to Unella. You throw one more thing and I'm going to throw them at you. MOVE!" Jeyne muttered angrily but dragged the screen door away. Raff hurried to unlock the metal door to let them all inside. Polliver waited for Jeyne and tapped his baton impatiently but didn't touch her as the angry girl stormed into the clinic.

Bronn had given Myranda a last playful smack to her bottom and a kiss before leaving. Harold took the girl to shower and change back to her regular clothing. Myranda was in a great mood, humming and dancing around. Harold smiled at her. "I'm glad you had a good time tonight. It seems we have a bit of a wait, let's go get something to munch on."

He escorted her to a little coffee shop that was directly across the lobby from the nightclub. It was often full of handlers and their teenagers as well as clients that were stated from the nightclub and the rooms above them. Harold got himself and Myranda sandwiches and coffee. "It took Theon a little longer to get upstairs. He was nervous and took a bit of convincing. They shouldn't be too much longer."

Taking another bite of her cheeseburger club, she asked, "Who did he get? Anyone I know?" Harold twitched his lips. "Bob is still mad at us, I think. He wants to show us up for taking a low key client. Bob sent a text to let me know that Styr paid four times the amount to be Theon's first time as a worker." Myranda's eyes went wide with surprise.

"Holy shit! Really? Sorry, Sir. I didn't meant to swear like that. It's just, Styr is really imposing. I mean, no one I know has ever complained about him being with him as a worker, they all say he can be really scary and gentle all at once. But, for the first time to see that giant, knowing his reputation out of here? I hear things, he doesn't treat his boyfriends nice. It's like he uses any softness he has on the newbies but out of this place, he'd destroy those same boys with a smile."

Harold shrugged. "I have heard the same stories, of course. Don't worry, Bob will only allow it this once and I am sure Styr is lavishing all his kindness upon our Theon. Since our sweet boy will never see Styr out of this place, I think we are safe enough to not worry over it. I forgive the swearing, easier than I can forgive you allowing my sore eyes to stare upon that head of violet hair." 

Myranda quickly changed the subject. "Did you order tickets to a musical for Gilly? I saw you on the phone earlier while I was partying with Bronn in the club." Harold gave a brief nod. "Yes. It is called Guys and Dolls. And I reserved a room at a restaurant. In a town only forty minutes from the school. I am not sure that Gilly likes the city." Myranda smiled and gave a look of something that made Harold squirm. "It's just so adorable! I am sure she will enjoy that musical, I have seen an old movie version of it, it's really good. I bet your favorite character will be Sky! You'll see."

When Bob showed up with Theon, the two of them had their heads together chatting intensely. Bob frowned as he got closer and realized that Myranda was trying to give Harold dating advice. Thrusting the nearly limbless, goofy grinning boy into a chair, Bob caressed Myranda's horrid hair, smiling. "Sweet girl, please go order something to eat and drink for Theon." Myranda nodded then gave a grin to Theon. "Good time, huh? It's really awesome when you get a great match, isn't it? Want a burger and iced tea?"

Theon dozed and Myranda bounced off to give his order to the woman behind the counter. Bob sat down to stare at Harold who stared back then finally threw up his hands. "What?" "What is wrong with you? You are getting advice from a teenager that has never been on a real date. Do you plan on fucking Gilly on your first date?" Harold scoffed. "Myranda gave good advice. She told me dinner and a musical and how to ask Gilly out. Gave me ideas on what to talk about. And if you don't like me getting my advice on dating from a student, then as my friend, maybe instead of laughing, you could have helped me out!"

"What fun would that be? It was better watching you buy stupid things, make a mess of it and set your pathetic traps. What were you going to do if Gilly actually got caught in one of those things? You are lucky that woman hasn't tried to murder you yet."

Harold leaned closer and hissed, "Let's talk about your own bad choices tonight. I might have needed teen dating advice and accidentally let her dye her hair, and allowed Myranda to have a bit of slumming tonight. Bob, you gave our tender new boy to Styr? That man is too dangerous. How many stories have you heard about him luring boys from their handlers into his own personal hell? You know how I feel about clients that I can't trust once we clear the door. And a poacher like that isn't worth the money."

They stopped arguing when Myranda returned with Theon's food and coffee for Bob. Theon was roused enough for him to nibble on his food. "Can I see him again? That man was scary and dominant and everything I love except I'd want maybe to go a little more hardcore. I wonder if he would spank me with his belt if I asked him to?" Harold's silent stare at Bob spoke volumes.

Myranda rolled her eyes and giggled. "That isn't how it works, silly. This is only for training and if we happen to be in the area. Most of our normal clients we will meet at their places or at their own choice of hotels. The clients you see here you won't see again. Never, ever get attached to a client, anyway. Golden rule, remember?"


	96. Delicate As A Chainsaw

 Kevan had been irritated at the very late night all four of the students had.

When midnight passed and Kevan had not seen the return of Lancel, he was concerned. The boy texted that they had a flat tire and that was reasonable but still annoying. Lancel didn't return until one in the morning and Kevan was tapping his foot, waiting in his bathrobe. He flew out the door as he saw his son escort Loras and Sansa inside the gates. "Children, I hope you had a good evening, please head to your beds as it is past curfew."

Kevan watched sternly as Loras thanked Lancel warmly for a wonderful dinner then walked away towards the dorms. The boy seemed half asleep and Kevan knew that Polliver would be waking and whacking tardy tired ducklings in the morning. With an impatient frown, Kevan had waited while Lancel kissed Sansa goodnight and she seemed to be half asleep, a little stagger kept getting to the normally graceful girl.

Lancel walked over to his father with an easy but apologetic smile on his face. "I am very sorry, Father. Truly. We got caught up chatting, I, uh, I must admit, I did allow them a little bit of my drink, then we blew a tire on the way home. I know, I know, they are too young for drinking and I kept them out past their curfew. Its hard for me, awkward, father. Sansa is my wife, I wish to know her more and I guess learning how to treat such a young wife, is still going to take me time." Kevan did give his son a brief stern lecture. But it was very late and he was tired. Lancel was offered his room for the night but chose to head home instead.

Just as Kevan went inside and finally towards his bed, he heard Harold and Bob return with Theon and Myranda. Kevan chose to head back downstairs and confront them. Harold and Bob usually tried to make sure that they are back by curfew or around it when they return. The students must visit with Unella in the morning now, which means they will also be late to classes and probably be tired during classes. He only saw the children's shadows in the dark as they avoided the lights, heading down towards the dorm. That was when Kevan had glanced down the hill as he was lecturing the twins then stopped talking to throw up his arms.

He saw that the clinic windows burned brightly and Hot Pie was heading towards the clinic with a full tray of coffee. "What is going on here tonight? Everyone late, those who should be asleep in bed running about willy nilly with lights and coffee! Is there a damned party happening in the medical clinic?" Kevan had been wroth at everyone by the end of the night and went to bed frowning.

Gilly had managed to have her coffee, wake up fully and begin cooking breakfast when Harold entered the kitchen. "Good morning, Harold. How may I help you?" Harold matched her bright smile and responded. His voice was a tad slower and stiffer than usual as he tried hard to speak the right words. "Good morning, Gilly. Would you go on a date with me? To see a musical and have supper?"

Her face stayed the same bright professional blank mask but there was a slight something stirring in her eyes. It gave Harold wild hope and he held his breath. Gilly gave a small nod and calmly responded.

"Yes. I will go to see a musical and have supper with you. But only that. If you shred my only other nice dress, I will not forgive you for it. Should I bring my blowtorch and toolbox in case you have an urge to set up traps along the way, Sir?" Harold flushed a little but he smiled as he started to back out of the room. "Yes! I mean, no, no traps and I won't rip your good dress. We shall go in two days, I have tickets for us and a reservation! I will let you get back to your duties."

Kevan has never seen Harold dance before, he has never witnessed the strange smiling twin do a pop and lock or a robot dance before. He hopes it is something he never sees again. Bob also held this sentiment as Harold went dancing past the two of them in the early morning light towards the dining room. Harold was in great spirits as they dined on omelets and fruit salad. Kevan was glaring at both men and only Bob was smart enough to not smile.

"I cannot believe it. I want to see Myranda right after Unella does this morning! What judgment allowed you to let the girl have purple hair? I shall see how bad it is before I decide if we need to cut it off and dye what we can keep. Can you imagine what her older, distinguished clients will think when seeing Myranda with purple hair?" Harold was still flying high on triumph and was dumb enough to speak.

"Walder Frey, Dr. Pycelle and Manderly aren't distinguished and all of them enjoy debasing her, calling her names, having another reason to punish her. This only gives them heightened reason to do so. Pycelle will feel she needs a longer whipping, Walder will be delighted to have more reason to call her bad things and Manderly has never once noticed Myranda's hair or face." Kevan and Bob stared at Harold. Bob kicked Harold hard under the table.

Kevan was gripping his fork and butter knife tightly and his voice was even tighter when he replied. "That was distasteful of you. Gilly is in earshot, she just served our coffee. That was not something for ears out of an office or an establishment." Kevan waited for Harold to apologize before continuing. He buttered his toast angrily.

"Not only did you allow the girl to turn purple, you allowed her free choice of a client? First and foremost, I find that quite a dangerous thing. She is a young girl unable to make such adult decisions for herself. Hence, the purple hair. You allowed her to choose one of the lowest men there. Bronn may be my nephew's friend and employee, but he is low brow and shifty! I understand the burning out rate, Harold, I do. And I understand that her request was reasonable, it was your reaction that was unreasonable. You could have let the girl have curls in her hair and a younger paramour with better breeding for the evening." 

He set his butter knife down and put his toast upon his plate with mild force.

"We are not pimps turning out kids on the street. You are not human traffickers, are you? No. I will not have that girl working like she did before she came here. She will not be prey for any ruffian that has a fistful of crumpled hundreds. I am offended for you, Harold. I am offended for Myranda. It will not happen again. Theon will visit Varys's establishment a few more times as usual for training and when you bring Myranda, you will do better by her! You will immediately repair any damage to her sterling reputation there that might have been harmed by letting her be seen with Bronn. I want only the very highest caliber of client for her there every time, Harold. Every time."

Harold nodded and Kevan's ire and gaze turned upon Bob.

"And what were you thinking, young man? Styr is indeed a financial gold mine and the affiliation with our family is firm, yes. I understand the motives. But if I can hear rumors of the man all the way here in my secluded location then I assume you hear even more when you are out and about with MY students. Styr is known to poach, he is known to brutalize, imprison, mutilate and murder young men that are lured in. Were you that driven by the money, Bob? Or was this reckless decision decided because you were fighting with Harold? Because I have already received a call from Varys, who has been contacted twice since last night by Styr. The man wanted to know if Varys would reserve Theon for him the next time, in fact, every time he shows. He also asked if you would be willing to sell our boy to him. And what shall we do about that, Bob? If we deny him access to Theon while at Varys's, it could be seen as a slight. So prepare yourself for carefully watching Styr try and catch our boy during his training. Both you and Harold will carry arms any time you attend Styr with our young boy."

Bob squirmed and muttered, "Sir, Varys doesn't allow weaponry of any kind within his facility. Once you enter the hotel, its a neutral zone. Even for a Lannister, Varys cannot bend the rules or he shows favor. But like last night, I would never leave Theon in the room alone with the man. I will say that it was the best match to relax Theon into his new work and for that part, it did work. Would you rather we complete his training in another location? There are a few other options, they are a bit of travel but are safe and have excellent reputations."

Kevan seemed to consider this then shook his head.

"No, it would look as if we were snubbing Varys or avoiding Styr. Both are moves that are too delicate to make, not while Tywin is trying to take over the northern vacuum left behind by the Starks. We have new affiliations with the Wildlings and the Freys among others. The Martells and most of the west despise our family name but they are in a tentative truce, things are too tense. Bring Theon for his training to Varys's establishment and you will carefully watch him with Styr. I mean very carefully. And the man is to understand very clearly, that our boy is not up for sale, nor for anything beyond the training he is receiving at the hotel. As soon as the boy finishes his training, there is to be no more Styr, no more risky clients."  

About an hour later, Kevan was staring at Myranda's long violet hair. "Well, it is clear from your face how much you enjoy your new look, young lady. I cannot say I feel the same about it. However, I will agree that it does give you a rather exotic kind of look. You may keep it until it fades out, I truly don't wish to have all that hair cut off. However, this will not happen again. So let us be clear, I, the director of this school am ordering you not to dye your hair again without MY express permission."

Myranda was grateful to keep her hair and the color and was exuberant in her thanks. Already the students have complimented her look. Even Polliver, Raff and Hot Pie liked it, they told her so. Myranda said nothing of course, but thank you and ran out of the office as fast as she could. Kevan watched her violet head bounce away down the hill from his office window and sighed. Working with teenagers is always interesting but challenging. Kevan noticed Tyrion coming up the hill and passing Myranda with a quick smile and some wit that made the girl giggle.

When Gilly showed Tyrion into Kevan's office, that easy going smile was gone and Kevan felt cold at the dread and concern in Tyrion's eyes. "Sir, I have a concern that I need to speak with you about. I am not sure how to approach it, so I will speak to you as my uncle. As your nephew rather than just your employed drunken professor. I am actively giving up my own coffee break to be here so you know it's important."

Tyrion settled in the chair and took a deep breath, looking at Kevan squarely.

"I do not interfere in things that do not concern me or my work. However, the condition of each and every student here is my concern. Sir, this morning I had both Loras and Sansa for their first classes of the day. I had expected after their late night for them to be tired and possibly uninspired during class time. What I did not expect is the actual condition of my star pupils after they had been out of the school. Loras's hands were shaking all morning and his eyes looked wrecked. That boy has the look of someone who has done some very heavy drugs, Uncle. And Sansa, Sir, that is even more upsetting to me. The girl seemed to be moving very stiffly, Polliver had noticed and offered to take the girl to the doctor. Sansa declined the offer and came to my class. I accidentally brushed up against her back while showing her something in her book  and the girl nearly screamed. Against the girl's fervent wishes, I personally escorted Sansa and Loras to the clinic with Polliver's assistance. Uncle, you will not like the report you'll be receiving from Unella." 

Kevan sat as straight and cold with pride as Cat Stark had ever done. He stared at his nephew and twirled his pen. "What is wrong with Sansa and Loras? Carefully, Tyrion, please speak clearly and carefully." Tyrion cleared his throat and stared out the window rather than look at his uncle. " Both children were tested and have some rather strong hallucinogenics in their systems. Loras seems to have much more, Sansa had only a trace amount in her system. The girl's lower back, her breasts, stomach and inner thighs are covered in bruises and bite marks. All the areas no one can see, of course. Just like any good high up husband knows to do."

Kevan spoke in a hard tone. "Get out of my office. You will say nothing to anyone who doesn't already know Loras and Sansa's condition. I will not have you spreading vile gossip about my son or my new daughter in law, Tyrion. Go have your coffee break and add a little extra something to your cup as always." Tyrion nodded heavily and stood up. "I am sorry, uncle, I really am." He left while Kevan stared after him, saying nothing, staring at the door as it closed.

Before Kevan could come up with a reason in his mind of how Sansa could have become injured that didn't involve Lancel, how they could have obtained drugs and taken them without Lancel seeing it, the phone rang. Kevan answered the call to hear a sound that only made his day even worse. Tywin angry or obsessed was bad enough, Tywin in grief was a whole new thing and he wasn't prepared for it. Nor was he prepared to hear that his nephew Jaime's head was just found with Martell land. In the same location that Oberyn has dangled Bran and Robin.

Oberyn was a usual brash western man, he makes sure that everyone can see the two boys they cannot reach. It was a taunt that everyone has managed to ignore. His older brother Doran ran everything and kept his wilder younger brother in check. It was enough for the truce to continue in spite of Oberyn taking the Stark and Arryn-Baelish boy. A decapitated Lannister head found practically on Oberyn's door was harder to ignore, harder to keep a truce through. Kevan held his head in his hands as he listened to his grief struck brother's voice lament about his gone golden boy. 


	97. The Blame Game

Kevan alerted Harold and Bob immediately. After accepting their heartfelt condolences, Kevan grimly gave instructions.

"Bob, I would like you to escort myself and Tyrion to my brother's home. Harold, I am leaving you here in my stead until I return. Don't pale out so, I am aware of your date with Gilly. There is no reason you cannot leave for a three hour evening. Bob has directed for me before, it's time you had a chance to try the desk chair out. Besides, no offense to you, Harold, but Bob drives faster. You have no reason to be alarmed. This school is in no present danger, I intend to keep it that way. That is why Tyrion and I are going to see our grieving family members before any services."

Telling Tyrion his brother was dead was going to be hard but facing whatever happened with Sansa, Loras and his Lancel, that was going to be downright horrific. Therefore, Kevan chose to deal with that head on and walked straight to the clinic. He felt a quick sense of pride and admiration to see Sansa standing ramrod straight, her chin up and looking as richly offended as any Lannister. She was not backing down to the doctor or the rest of the staff and when she saw Kevan, her icy eyes sought him out. "Sir, I should not have to explain my private married life to the staff. If they wish to examine my sexual congress with my husband, then I want him called, please."

Loras stood next to Sansa and truly, he looked worse. He shook but his eyes were clearly focusing even if they were fireshot. "Sir, the drugs are mine, not Sansa's or your son's. I swear it. I bought it while we were at FourHeads from a local teen there. I didn't know it would be so strong. And I put a tiny bit of it in Sansa's food because I thought it would be funny to see how she acted around Lancel. I'm sorry. I think I see where my stupid pranks are leading. I'm done with the rebel thing, I think. Doesn't seem like I am very good at it."

Raff nodded and drawled out with a dry sarcasm, "Oh yeah, I noticed FourHeads was full of dealers offering LSD. I am pretty sure the whirlygig men were just signals for the customers."

Kevan decided not to care, at least not for now. "I want the boy disciplined for buying and sharing illicit drugs, please. Stannis and Unella can surely handle that as his mentors. Perhaps they need to explain the dangers of drugs more than a doctor and scientist would be expected to give!" It was obvious that not a single staff member was buying Loras's ludicrous excuse for the drugs but no one dared to challenge Kevan.

 Turning to Sansa, Kevan took her hands. "My dear, I will be calling your husband. I am afraid we have some terrible news. There has been a death, Lancel's favorite cousin, Jaime, has been murdered in a most foul manner. Lancel may or may not have you attend him. That is entirely up to him since he is your legal husband." Sansa gave condolences and so did Loras and Raff.

Unella wasn't distracted however. "Sir, I am terribly sorry for your loss. However, those marks upon Sansa need to be addressed. I am very sorry if it seems pushy or distasteful, but the girl was out of our school and came back bruised and bitten. It is in my very job description that you created to ask and confront such things. No different than when I examine and speak of Myranda or Theon, Sir." In that moment, Kevan felt a quick black blast of hate for the doctor then he collected himself. It was reasonable and if it were any other student but one married to his son, Kevan would find her actions justified.

"And what did she tell you, Doctor?" He stood as tall and imposing as Tywin would have and Sansa was nearly as formidable looking next to him. Another blast of emotion, this one admiration for his lovely step daughter. Unella sighed, seeing the closing of ranks and muttered, "Nothing, Sir. Sansa told me that it wasn't my business what she and her husband might do in sexual congress. Her exact words." Kevan nodded sharply. "There is your answer, quite clearly. Put it in your report. I shall speak with my daughter in law personally and my son if need be. This will relieve your mind and I do hope it will help prevent any gossip among staff."

Raff and Unella shared a small glance then nodded. Of course, this would be told by lunchtime to all of the staff. "I must go inform my nephew Tyrion about his brother, he was very close to Jaime and will take this hard. Then I must call my son. I will be leaving with Tyrion to see Tywin and Cersei for a day or two. I expect that the staff can handle replacing Tyrion's classes with qualified staff members. Do not ask poor Stannis to teach everything, last time that happened the poor man developed a twitch. Harold is being left here in my stead, please alert him to the new scheduled teachers for Tyrion's students." 

Sansa rushed to follow after Kevan and it made him wince to see her struggling not to hurt. "Did Unella treat your pain, young lady?" Flushing, Sansa looked down and nodded. "Uh, yes, Sir. I was given an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxant, thank you. I am fine, truly. It's just, I wanted to ask you, may I please be the one to call Lancel? Isn't it my duty as his wife to bring him any news I hear that might impact our family, Father, I mean, Sir?" Sansa stumbled then and acted terribly awkward and embarrassed.

Kevan helped steady her and smiled warmly. "Of course when we are not in front of the other students you may call me father. You may go ask Polliver if you may use your cell phone. Call Lancel if you wish and break the news gently. My dear, I want you to understand that I am very proud and respectful of how you care for your husband and family. It is admirable and I do admire you, daughter. I also want you to know that I am aware that my son does have a small bit of temper. It appears quite rarely. But if you were drugged and acting in a different manner, I can see that Lancel might have taken some offense and lost his temper."

Sansa gave a small defeated whisper as they walked slowly, not looking at each other.

"Sir, I am very ashamed to admit that is what happened. It was completely my fault and I want so badly to apologize again to him for it! I, I was not myself and we were still in public. I said things, bad things and did not behave well at all. Loras was so out of his mind that he just kept climbing rocks at the side of the road. We had to chase after him and he kept scraping himself all over the rocks. I would have been concerned but I was just crazy in the head. I started to try and attack them, Sir. I don't remember much, but I remember that much. And I think I tried to shove Loras off the cliff because I thought he would fly and it would be so pretty. Lancel pulled Loras back just in time and that is when he got angry. I honestly don't remember anything else of the night past that. I can swear to you that I never intended to take any drugs. I just wanted time with my husband and now he probably hates me."

Kevan hugged the gently weeping girl and consoled her. "I am sure Lancel will understand when we explain to him what happened. Loras will be punished for his wicked little trick and all will be well. Go call him, Sansa. I must go speak with Tyrion and Joff. I do not intend to allow Joff or Arya off school property. I cannot stop Lancel from bringing you for grieving family meetings or from the actual services. However, I will be telling Lancel that I believe it is safest for you to stay right here. We are not attending any services. Too high of a media profile and this is now a very infamous criminal case. I cannot risk having our school noticed by the wrong people."

During lunch, Stannis and Tyrion were missing. The news had swept through the school about Loras, Sansa and the brutal death of Jaime Lannister.

"Stannis is still with Tyrion. Probably helping him pack. The poor man is torn up, I have never seen him cry before, it was heartbreaking." Gregor glanced at Unella and sneered, "Since when did you develop feeling and emotions, wife? Good gods, are you going to start crying over animal shelter commercials on the television and start giving money to save starving children? Have you exchanged food for feelings?"

Unella gave Gregor a flat look and her lips were compressed. "No husband. Trust me, I am numb to any emotion. I am simply a stone vessel carrying your cursed sperm. My point is that I have never seen Tyrion express so much emotion of his own before. And I feel sympathy towards him. Let me explain what sympathy and empathy are to you, husband." Gregor shoved half his sandwich inside Unella's open mouth. "Here, shut up and eat. Don't Unella-splain shit to me." Unella chewed and took the rest of his lunch as well.

Sandor looked at Polliver and Raff. "That story Loras gave is fucking ridiculous. I can't believe Kevan believed it." Raff shrugged. "He didn't believe it but Lancel is his golden boy and does no wrong. So therefore, it's truth. Nothing we can do about that. Whatever happened to Sansa, it's clear it isn't our business. Besides, we have bigger issues. Like who the hell is replacing Tyrion? We are all busy, none of us are qualified to really teach any of his classes."

Ramsay groaned out loud as he stabbed a cherry tomato with his fork. "I swear, SuperD. I fucking swear it. If you say one more word about fucking Styr I am going to stab my ears with this fork! I can't take anymore. Never saw anyone so proud to turn into a fucking whore. And stupid enough to fall in love love lust with dangerous sugar daddies. Is that what you're hoping for? That he will save you and become your sugar daddy? Better hope he doesn't, you idiot. He will fucking eat your corpse."

Theon flushed and looked away angrily as Myranda leaned forward. "Hey, at least he has a mentor. At least he is trying to find a fucking goal to reach, at least he does what he can to survive this school and this shitty fucking world. We all know where you are ending up already, Death Row. Maybe that's the problem. Are you jealous that he might survive while you end up in the execution room?"

Sansa and Loras sat across from each other, slowly eating and dabbing their napkins upon their lips every now and then. When they did speak, it was in a near whisper. They were ignoring the drama surrounding them, using it as cover to speak briefly. "I guess I am going to finally feel the punishments that you and Ramsay have gone through." Sansa gave a tiny laugh that sounded to Loras like honey drowning flies.

"No, dearest friend, you won't be. This will be a punishment administered by Stannis and Unella. It won't be anything like the circle. It won't be anything like Ramsay getting long probes deep into his body while feeling every second of it. Whatever fear you might have, you cannot imagine the fear that Unella put me through in the circle. And the pain of the cut she did make still pains me to this day. But nothing like that would happen to you. No, lectures, maybe even a little corporal punishment by Stannis. That is all. Might even be a little physical labor involved. You will get through it easily, I am sure."

Giving a tiny angry glance at the redheaded bitch, Loras responded lightly.

"True, true. However, since I am not you or Ramsay, smaller punishments like this one are new to me. Therefore, scary. I am not stupid, I do understand that this is part of my punishment, to feel the consequences of the risk. I am willing to take it on and do it with no ease, but with dignity at least." Sansa grinned and her tone was friendly, teasing and yet chilling. "Oh, sweet summer child. There won't be dignity. Even the most dignified Stannis didn't look dignified when he paddled my sister. She is a pretty tough nut and even she was screaming and crying by the end of it. There is no dignity in a punishment at our school."

 


	98. Grief Affects Everyone

Stannis filled Tyrion's flask for him while the man finished the last of his packing. Tyrion was grim faced, his eyes were reddened and had a thousand mile long stare to them. After his initial burst of tears, that raging flurry of wet and angst that first Kevan, then Stannis held him through ended, Tyrion became too calm. Stannis hasn't left the man's side for longer than a bathroom run. He has never seen his best friend in such a state of distress before and it concerned him.

Tyrion looked over at Stannis with a wry pain filled grin. "I should have known Jaime would be the first of us to die. Cersei and I have pickled our organs for years, father is ancient and ripe for a heart attack but Jaime was healthy and so careful about his own habits. He was the most boring of us once he got out of youth party phase. Jaime did what he was told to do, he tried to appease everyone. But he just couldn't avoid that limelight, it was his true weakness. He had to wait for the right moment to save the day and seize it. That made him a target and maybe one of his stalkers finally got close, too close to shining golden brother of mine."

Patting his friend's shoulder Stannis grumbled out, "Jaime was not a bad man at all. He was neutral, he just did as he was told and tried to ignore the worst of what he saw around him. I always found his handsome looks and witty jokes entertaining." Tyrion barked out laughter as he shoved Stannis away to hurriedly wipe his eyes. "You lair. You suffered my brother for my sake, you found him empty, pompous and without any moral or ethical or perhaps even cranial thoughts of his own. I believe that is how you phrased it when I brought you with me for a birthday dinner with Jaime."

Stannis sighed and nodded heavily. "Fine. I may not have liked your brother but I understand that you are grieving deeply. You are my friend, Sir. I do not like seeing your pain and wish to ease it. I find it disconcerting that it was easier to soothe the feral girl through grief than my own best friend." Tyrion's face creased up into a sad sort of smile and he snapped the suitcase shut. "I thank you for just being here and being my best friend. Funny thing is, most people loved Jaime and despised me. You and my uncle are the two I clearly ever knew that chose me over him. This school might be hell, but it's a loyal hell. It's the only place I ever came where I felt truly accepted."

Polliver stared down at Joff and Arya standing before him. He had called the ducklings to gather before the dorms after lunch rather than going back to classes. The staff had only a brief discussion upon new classes. For the rest of the day, until they can speak with both Stannis and Harold upon it, they decided to have the students do outdoor projects. The staff had followed Polliver to the students all milling before the dorms. As soon as Polliver bellowed for the ducklings to waddle into a silent line, the couple jumped forward.

Arya and Joff had clean shining faces, a young innocent married couple full of hopes and dreams twinkling in their eyes. They even had clasped hands together and managed to offer the looks of gentle bereavement. Polliver looked at Sansa and drawled out, "Are you as impressed as I am, Oscar? My goodness, look at the newly wedded lovebirds. Oh wait, it was your uncle that passed away, wasn't it? Oh, Princess, I am so deeply sorry for your loss, I am." Polliver drew a face of dramatic sympathy and Arya knew it was over. No amount of practice was going to make Joff look good. "How can I help you, poor child?"

Joff looked up at Polliver and spoke carefully. "My uncle was so important to me. I really need to see my mother, my grandfather, I need to hug them. I want to take my wife and go with Uncle Tyrion and Great-Uncle Kevan to see my family. I am so sad and I think it will help. Please?" Polliver nodded with understanding and empathetically patted Joff's shoulder.

"Dealing with emotions without mommy is very difficult, I know that, Princess. But it's for your own safety that you stay here with the other ducklings. Also, sweet gentle grieving boy,you are full of shit. I heard you laughing over lunch not twenty minutes ago about what you thought of him. That was disrespectful and if you think for a second I would let you go before Kevan or Tyrion with such a sick request, then you are a stupid Princess. I am sure that Target helped you think this was a brilliant escape plan."

Sandor's eyes pinned on the now squirming girl and she sighed. "We could have carved out our trackers in Kings Landing, made a run for it." The punishment for her idea came so fast and painful, Arya has never experienced anything worse. The entire staff, the entire class all began to laugh, it crashed over Arya like waves of humiliation with shark-like bites of degradation. Being strapped would have been less painful to her ego. It really was a stupid idea and it was actually Joff's but she went along with it. That was almost worse for them to know and she just tried not to look as stupid as she felt.

Gregor huffed and rumbled out, "Nanny Gregor is so delighted to see that you two are getting along so well. So suddenly. Of course we all believe it. We will make sure to adjust your schedules so you have more time together." Joff frowned and whined, "I can't spend anymore time with her! We are in the same classes, the same meals and have the same detentions! I can't get the hell away from her no matter how hard I try!" More laughter and Arya ripped her hand away, stepping back into line. Joff was still determined and stood his ground for another second.

"It's still a family member and if they get to go, if even Oscar gets to go, I should too! Why does she get to go? Lancel was only a cousin and she is nothing-" The baton caught him in the solar plexus. Polliver looked at Arya. "Get your husband in line, Target. If your loving duckling says anything else I don't like, I am taking it out on him and you. That's your first lesson in marriage. Everything affects both of you, good and bad. Since you two want to be a couple so much, let's start with that lesson and move from there. I am sure Nanny Gregor can offer plenty more lessons on marriage if you two need it."

Arya shoved Joff into place and glared at him, hissing. "Do not say anything. Shut up and stay still." Polliver stared at his ducklings and cleared his throat.

"Oscar will be leaving with Kevan and Tyrion to meet her husband in Kings Landing. You all know Jaime Lannister was murdered and I'm sure you've all come up with a thousand stories of how it happened. Truth is, no one knows anything yet. We only know that he is dead and someone made him that way. It is none of your concern except to be respectful of the pain this has caused our professor and director. These two men spend every day and night caring for all of you, it wouldn't hurt if you thought kindly of them while they are going through true grief. Not the manufactured shit that Princess just tried to sell me."

The baton twirled as Polliver paced in front of the children. The rest of the staff was used to his antics and Unella rolled her eyes while Raff checked his phone.

"While Professor Tyrion is gone, his classes will be continued by staff. For today, all academic classes are canceled but it not a free day so don't bother getting ready to cheer. We shall have an outdoor afternoon. All other therapies and detentions are still on, I know you are excited over that, ducklings!" He winked at Loras, who paled out. "Goldilocks, I am overjoyed to inform you that Stannis will see you for your disciplinary needs right after he sees Tyrion off. I warned you someday you'd get caught sneaking that porridge, didn't I?" The handsome boy tried to not look as panicked as he felt and kept his mouth wisely shut.

"SuperD, Sidebitch and Princess are going with Sandor. You will take the dirt bikes and head towards the creek. Then Sandor is going to have you help him with some work. It involves beaver death and exploding dams, right up your alleys! Jeyne, Death Row, Target and Myranda are going with Nanny Gregor for some friendly physical therapy. Sounds enlightening and I wish you luck, ducklings. Oscar is going to pack her make up bag and get ready to leave. Goldilocks, you are hanging out with me until Stannis is ready for you. You'll love it, we can bro it out, you and I. Talk about all those tough things that scared little boys that fuck with bears like to talk about."

Raff looked at Gregor and shook his head. "I don't like it. Jeyne was pissed, I've never seen her so angry last night. Even with her feet sore from the beating I gave her, she was declaring war on Ramsay. Putting them together is too risky, she isn't ready to handle that. Ramsay will never stop his mouth and Jeyne is going to react. Even if they are Person reactions, how many doors and shoes will be around you?" Gregor shoved past him and Unella was there, glaring at him, tapping her foot. "I agree with Raff. This is a stupid idea. Don't put them together. Let Raff or me take Jeyne to the clinic or send her with Sandor, she loves the creek."

Gregor sneered at Unella. "Jeyne loves to walk to the creek, run or jump trees to the creek. She can't ride a dirt bike, we just got her to tolerate a bus ride. She won't want to check beaver traps and help destroy a dam, she'll just be lured into feral behavior. And the kid does so much therapy with you two that it's a punishment to send her inside to you head examiners on a nice day like this. Raff can attend the class just in case of a problem, that enough for you to leave me be, Unella? I agree with what that little shithead said, you know. I see you enough, Unella, I don't need you trying to supervise my work too." 


	99. Polite Conversations

"Only Jaime's head. Father will hate having to make us of that small golden box. He always thought it would be me in that tiny box, not his favorite son's head. I am sure that father will remind me of that when I see him." Kevan sighed and reached to pat Tyrion's knee. "I found it so gruesome that your father had a casket already commissioned for all of you right after your mother died."

Tyrion and Sansa were both in the backseat, Kevan choosing to ride with Bob up front. Kevan was the only human alive besides Harold that wants to sit that close to Bob while he is in control of a vehicle. Kevan doesn't mind, unlike Harold, he never fears that Bob would crash. They brought Bob's well kept Mercedes, wanting to look discreet.

"Your father does love you, Tyrion, in his own way. He loves you and Cersei, he just maybe doesn't know it yet. What was done to your brother was detestable. I still believe that it was planted, displayed for a reason. Why would Doran start a problem? Eh, I will offer my brief counsel and my support as far as I can then we shall come back home. The politics and danger are risks that I will not have following us back to the school. I know this will be hard for you, Tyrion, to see your father and sister. I feel bad, did I bully you into coming with me, nephew?"

Tyrion gave a small smile then and raised his flask in a toast. "Nay, good Sir! Like the redheaded beauty next to me, I know how to do my family duty!" Kevan chuckled and watched his nephew drink deeply. "Don't get too drunk, Tyrion. It will only make it harder for you to deal with them. You know your father hates the consumption issue that you share with your sister. Watching the two of you get sloshed while fighting is distasteful." Scoffing, Tyrion put his flask back in his suit pocket. "Sir, there is no way I can achieve this level of smart ass, witty and calm without it."

Kevan smiled but it was filled with a wistful pain that Sansa found interesting. His eyes looked at the backseat but they were really far back in a shadowy place. A voice that was passionate, it rang clear but soft in its sorrow.

"This is why I created the school. Why I ran from our family dealings, I grabbed the opportunity to create a far away place to give a chance to those with no chances at all. Your brother died because he remained close, he did as he was told and got involved in the wrong thing. The city, the family, it all killed my wife. I tried so hard to raise Lancel in safety, in a protected environment, I tried to teach him how to be a Lannister, of course, I had to. But he learned so much more and none of it involved the family power, the greed or the damned city. And even still, he left, he went out into the world. It could have been my son's head found floating. It still could be and I worry so much for him. Now I worry even more."

Polliver sat on the porch steps with Loras, who was already near tears with anxiety. With an easy smile, Polliver put the baton on his knees and looked at the nervous boy. "It doesn't have to be this way, you know. You could just tell me the truth and Stannis won't need to discipline you for having and sharing drugs. We both know you wouldn't know how to buy drugs in the towns or here if you tried. Oscar and Jeyne will never dare the clinic again, plus we don't have any LSD. Myranda can obtain cigarettes and weed but that's all. Who gave you the acid,Goldilocks? Was it Lancel and you are afraid to say so? Just nod or blink once if you want to."

Loras tried to imagine blowing Polliver's bald head away with a machine gun. Then he fantasized about scalping the man and then raising a huge hammer, bringing it down over and over until the man's head was jelly. That worked and he bravely smiled at Polliver. "When I was still free and living in the city, I always knew how to get the good drugs, the unique, whatever was coming back into trend, anything just created, I found, bought, tried and shared. I got the LSD, I slipped some to Oscar and it was a terrible mistake that I must pay for."

Sighing, Polliver shrugged then said softly, "I wish to hell I knew what your game was, boy. I ride you hard because I am trying to help you out, moron. You are in trouble, you are drowning, I sense it, I can feel it and I'm trying to offer you a stick out of the quicksand. Wish you were smart enough of a duckling to take it before you drown for real." Loras said nothing but for a brief second, the tiniest moment, he looked at Polliver and opened his mouth. Stannis appeared and Loras snapped his lips shut, trembling.

Polliver shook his head and stood up, coming down the stairs to greet Stannis. "I will see to the boy in his dorm room, Polliver. I would like it if you to see to our privacy. He deserves the dignity of not having other students see or hear his discipline."

Gregor gave his ragtag group a brilliant smile and raised his arms as he sang out, "Children! Isn't this just a lovely day full of sun and warmth! Nanny Gregor is glad to see we aren't going to waste it! Instead of dusty, gloomy rooms full of books, lectures and learning, we have the great outdoors and the gift of sports! We shall play so many fun games! Since everyone has been rather pesky and trying to attack each other, let's get our aggressions out some different ways." As Gregor listed some of the games they could play, Raff closed his eyes and groaned. 

Arya was irritated that Joff got to use the bikes and go to the creek, something she enjoys doing while she was stuck here. It was Sandor's way of punishing her for the idiot move this morning, she was sure of it. Later she would bring Sandor her list of Cersei and she can only hope it will help redeem her in his eyes but she doubts it. Doubting everything seems to be a trend Arya can't get out of. Maybe she should start to pay more attention not only to Sandor and her academics but to Raff's therapy. A large hand whacked her head and Gregor snapped at her to pay attention.

With a smile, Gregor pulled out two balls and tossed them to Jeyne and Arya. He looked at Ramsay and Myranda with a large grin. "Let's start with our Death Row and our Violet Wonder. Target, I am pretty sure you are going to learn all about being attentive when it's your turn under fire." The dodge ball game was so brutal that Raff leaped in and grabbed Jeyne at one point. "Hey! If that had hit Ramsay's head it could have really hurt him!" Gregor came over in a fury and Raff stepped back slightly, releasing the girl's arm. "No! This is my game, not yours. I made the rules and if I thought she was playing too rough, I would tell her myself. Back off."

Jeyne looked up at Gregor, confused as she held the ball. He patted her head and leaned over her. "Nanny Gregor did not say to stop, keep playing, Jeyne. Make sure to not aim for the head just like I told you. Go on." Jeyne nodded and headed back to try and smear Ramsay against the brick wall of the small library. The joy and glory only lasted while she was making the shots. She shrieked when Ramsay lightly bounced the ball in his hands, grinning at her then threw it with a maniacal fury, with a war cry. Jeyne had a better advantage than Ramsay had when he he was against the wall.

She leaped, dropped and shifted fast but still got whacked several times. Every time the ball caught her, Ramsay whooped. Gregor couldn't blame him, whenever the ball rammed him, Jeyne had done a quick whirlygig dance. Myranda and Arya weren't quite as savage. A good amount of trash talk and laughter kept them at a level of friendly but painful competition that made Ramsay and Jeyne next to them look like maniacs trying to kill each other with a ball. Raff checked everyone for concussions and injuries. The bruised ducklings were tossed a thick rope by a grinning Gregor.

"Myranda and Jeyne grab one end, Death Row and Target take the other. Let's keep these friendly games going, children! Tug of War!" Snarling at each other, Ramsay and Jeyne scrabbled for the rope. Arya sighed and Myranda groaned as they dragged themselves to the rope. Raff watched as the teenagers dug their feet deep into the earth, Ramsay and Jeyne were yanking so hard he could see mild blood on their hands as they snarled at each other. He glared at Gregor who was smugly watching. Raff snapped out that he was going to get a bigger medical kit.

It was while Raff was treating shredded palms, that Arya spoke to Myranda. Gregor had called a break while Ramsay and Jeyne had their hands treated. He passed out water bottles and slices of oranges that Hot Pie had sent over. "Have a nice little snack and a cold water bottle, get whatever boo boo's you have treated by the nurse. Then we shall play some more games." Myranda was trying to shake her hair in the breeze a little, it was soaked with sweat and clumped up. She pulled her hands out of her hair, looked at them and frowned. "Yuck." Arya looked over at the lightly purple hands and giggled.

"My sister did that before. She tried to dye her hair black and the first time she got her hair sweaty, it actually dripped and smeared on her neck and shoulders too. Looked like someone dumped tar on her." Myranda gasped at Arya in horror. "All that red hair! Her hair is so pretty though! Why would she want to dye it black? She is too pale for that color." Shrugging, Arya slipped a forbidden piece of gum in her mouth and offered a piece to Myranda, who shook her head briskly. "My sister had a rebellion stage too. Not as big as mine, really small, but my parents treated it as if it were a huge deal. My mother's face when she saw my sister's hair, I thought she might kill her. It was the last summer we traveled with Petyr that Sansa did it."

Shrugging, Arya added, "I really like your dyed hair though. That is an awesome color. I wish I could do mine." Myranda grinned. "Thanks. I love it too. Kevan was clear to me that no student is allowed to dye their hair without his permission. You would look really good with black hair, way better than Sansa would. In fact, if I could do your hair, I would dye it black but make the ends blue tipped." After a few minutes of chatting over styles that would be had if allowed, Arya felt comfortable enough with the usually distant student.

"Hey, you know I am friends with Theon, not just roommates, right? I mean, I care, he's nice and like me, just got a little fucked up. I don't like what you guys do for work but I get it. I'm sorry that I ever called you a whore. I know you aren't a whore, just doing a talent they need you for. Same with Theon. But I am worried about him, he only talks about this Styr and how this client told him he wanted to keep him. Theon borrowed Loras's cell after we went to change. Right after Polliver told us the new afternoon classes. Do you think he might try to escape or meet Styr?"

Myranda burst up to her feet so fast that Gregor looked over in alarm. "Please, I need to talk to Harold! It's an emergency! I think Theon might have called Styr and told him where he'll be!"

The boys enjoyed riding the bikes, zipping around and taking their time heading for the creek. Sandor directed them where to park and they started hiking. Joff was asking questions about what they can do to kill the beavers. Damon was asking if they got to use dynamite to destroy the dams or just smash them up with boots. Theon asked nothing, his eyes were dreamy and far away with a soft spoken large dangerous man.


	100. Bunny Rabbits

Loras was shaking like a newborn fawn as he entered his room and heard Stannis shut and lock the door. He turned and stood as tall as he could, with respectfulness and dignity. Stannis turned and stood with his hands behind his back, a usual stance for him. Frown firmly in place, Stannis seemed to scan every inch of Loras's room with cold eyes before scanning the boy himself. Loras felt himself shrink into the size of a bug at the icy and seemingly unpleasant examination. Stannis spoke softly, his eyes wandering away from the boy as if he weren't worthy of his eyesight any longer. "My best friend is in grief, about to go into a den of lions that will eat him alive if they can. That displeases me. This death will cause change outside our walls but it will still end up affecting my friend. Which means the change will affect anyone around him. I dislike change, it bothers me, it disturbs me. Yet, I never seem able to stop change when it happens. So we must do what we can in between change to keep our lives orderly, to keep safe and stay in our place. We must maintain control of ourselves even if change swirls around or within us or civility is lost, Loras." The professor began to pace around his student and those eyes were sharply upon him again. "You have sweat stains on your shirt. Your hair has become a mop laying upon your head. A pocket half out on your pants, a smudge on your shoe, you are a mess. I blame myself, I should never have involved you in those pranks with Arya and Sandor. It was wrong of me to give you a taste of such tomfoolery. I didn't see that it would lead to you making continued worse decisions. I should have seen it, isn't that what happened in the world? When the city was yours and you were leaving your grandmother's safe, orderly path for you. When you chose drugs and partying, the glittery clubs and lovers everywhere. But you did not do it all in one night, no, it was a series of smaller bad steps that led you there. History tends to repeat itself, doesn't it, Loras? So I am going to stop the steps right here, young man." Loras sucked in his breath when Stannis took another turn around him and he caught sight of the flexible rod in the professors hands. "Remove your clothes, Loras. The outfit is a ruin, so take it off. Now." He wanted badly to protest but the professor's steel glance told him not to. Loras tried to take off his clothing as slowly as he could. "You may keep on your underwear and socks, young man."

Relieved that he will at least have that dignity, Loras finally stood before Stannis, shivering even though it wasn't cold at all. He couldn't decide if he wanted to cross his arms or cover his junk but Loras chose to keep his arms at his sides and lower his eyes. Stannis gave one of his crooked, sarcastic sneers. Being obedient now wasn't about to win any points and he saw that with a sinking heart. Stannis started to move again, this time he roamed the small room as he spoke. Loras turned to watch him. "If we don't have order, we have chaos. If we have chaos we must find a way to make order out of it." Loras gasped when Stannis shot out an arm, throwing everything off the bookcase then knocking it down. Stepping over it, Stannis continued his assault upon the room while speaking levelly. "It is important to know yourself, know your place in things, it is important to keep things ordered, keep thing neat, clean and orderly throughout whatever chaos surrounds you." Loras watched while hugging himself as his dresser drawers were ripped out and emptied. His bed sheets flew, his mattress flipped, his closet was ripped open and contents flung across the room. Once the room was destroyed, Stannis returned to stand before Loras. He spoke softly as he leaned forward and Loras leaned as far back as he could. "This room isn't orderly, is it? It isn't clean, is it? You aren't either. You need to fix that. First you will put this room in order, then you will put yourself in order. Start now." Loras took a step back, stumbling. He got his balance and looked around for where to even start. Stannis was no longer holding the rod behind his back nor in his belt, no it was tapping in his hands now. Loras started to put clothing back into one of the drawers, any clothes, just to fill it, to hurry and appease. Stannis's arm rose high and the rod came down hard. Loras screeched and Stannis spoke in a loud relentless voice over it. "Socks, underwear and t shirts are the only thing in that drawer. Get those pants out right now and find the right drawer, boy! Move! Hurry, clean this mess, I want order, I want you to find order, clean, fix this mess up, move!" Loras scurried and it was never right, it wasn't fast enough and he had to keep trying to fix the same things over and over. Stannis brought his arm up and down, striking even as his voice barked out corrections. He drove the boy without mercy, forcing Loras to clean his room while suffering under the chaos of a brutal lashing and his voice.

Damon was a bit disappointed he didn't get to use explosives to wreck the dam. In a way he felt bad destroying it, those beavers were so cute and they weren't really afraid, they chattered not far off.  Every now and then he caught a glimpse of one and would yell, "Sorry about this, buddy! Gonna have to get a new home, it sucks, I know. But hey, I have to follow orders, you know?" He used his gloved hands and his booted feet to dismantle the dam along with Theon. When Sandor asked for volunteers to check traps, Theon and Joff had both started jumping up and down, waving hands. Scowling, Sandor looked at both of them and pointed to Joff. "Princess, gets the honors of tossing carcasses into trash bags. That way if one of them is still alive, the little killer can finish it off for me. Hopefully, you won't finish off onto them, boy. My eyes need their sight and I'll be checking up on you." Theon seemed upset to not get the job but he said nothing, just helped Damon. After a while, Theon said he had to go take a piss during one of Sandor's rounds of checking up on Joff. Damon shrugged and continued working. His mind was at peace, the woods were always calming to him. Damon discovered that he had many pleasant memories of the woods. Before and after the killings and the other violence that came with being around Ramsay, there were lots of times in the woods where it was peaceful for him. His thoughts were broken by Sandor's question. "Where is SuperD?" Damon looked around blinking. "Oh, uh, he said he had to water a tree, but maybe it's a full burial under a tree kind of bathroom trip." Sandor's cell buzzed at that second and he looked at the urgent text with a curse. Damon was shocked when Sandor pulled out a gun and stormed past him. "I want you to get Princess and head back to the school right now. If you see a large bald man that isn't Gregor, do not speak to him or go near him. You both need to get as far from him as possible. Styr has no interest in either of you but he might hurt you to reach SuperD. Go calmly now, walk fast and drag Princess with your hand over his mouth to those bikes if need be. Better yet, just knock him out and carry him if you have to, if explaining to him that a killer of young teenage boys doesn't compel him to leave."

Theon was moving as fast as he could, knowing Sandor wouldn't fall for the bathroom trick. He kept thinking of Styr's deep timbre, how even on the cheap cell phone it made his spine tingle. Ramsay was fun, dangerous, bloody and therapeutic in a way, but Styr was different. He spent way less time with Styr than Ramsay but he already knew enough. He knew that being with Styr felt good, it felt safe, wrong and right all at once and it felt good without any skin having been removed or pain caused at all. Theon can only imagine how amazing it would be get spanked or whipped by such a man. But it wasn't only his drooling sexual drives and hard cock driving him forth though it was a huge part of it. The man was promising freedom from this cursed place. He was telling Theon how he wanted to keep him safe, pampered and loved. Styr told Theon he saw something in him, he said that Theon was a precious smart boy being held prisoner. That Theon was smart, kind and needed just a proper chance in life, he could offer that. He had slipped Theon his number without Bob seeing it, Styr had whispered things that night that Bob couldn't hear. It all spun in Theon's head as he made his way towards the spot that Styr said he could meet him.

Harold ran to the car, cursing it was the behemoth and got in. He wasn't a driver as fast or as careless as Bob, but circumstances called for rashness today. The tires squealed as he tore out of the gates and down the road. The others will try and reach the creek with the jeep or the other dirt bikes. Plus Sandor is armed and will try to keep Theon safe. Harold knew where Styr would have to enter in order to reach any student. Kevan doesn't have every single square inch of land fenced in. There is rarely a reason for such things, the kids have trackers and there is no where for them to reach. No one would wish to wander the woods first then trek all the way down to the school. Until Theon decided to invite Styr. Harold wants to murder Bob in this moment and smack his own head into something hard. He should have noticed how infatuated the boy was. Myranda has spoken to Theon about it right in front of them in the cafe room and the car. Harold was glad that his sweet girl remembered the lessons and snitched upon Theon immediately. Harold is hoping it might save the innocent stupid boy's life. He flew down the dirt road and bottomed out slightly over a small ditch in the old road. The crunching sound made him wince, he will have to pay for whatever broke in the car. He will have to pay to repair the car but that would be far less painful than to pay Kevan for the kidnapping and possible death of student.

Gregor took the jeep and his rifle, Polliver took a dirt bike and his hand gun. Raff assured Arya and Myranda that they did the right thing. "You probably just saved Theon's life, ladies. I'm glad you spoke up." Polliver had assured Raff that Stannis was with Loras, locked in the dorm house, couldn't be safer. So it wasn't a big deal that Stannis only curtly responded that he received the emergency text. Raff would keep Jeyne, Myranda, Ramsay and Arya safe enough inside the clinic. Unella looked strange with a large stomach and a large rifle. But she was determined to assist and walked briskly on the school grounds where any students fleeing from the woods would have to come by. Or any predators chasing said young students.

Harold took the turn too sharp and nearly flipped over. He tried to calm his heart as he started to go down the next narrow turn. He slid smoothly along this one and was relieved to hit straighter road, he was almost there. Bob could stop the car with amazing precision that Harold both admired and despised. Trying it now, Harold discovered he did not have this talent. Swearing, he watched as Styr's bodyguard got pinned between his car and Styr's truck. Harold groaned as he got hit in the face with an air bag. Once he wrestled himself out of the destroyed car he saw the extent of the damage. The man's top half lay on the bent hood of Kevan's car and Harold wasn't sure where the rest was. Styr's truck wasn't very damaged but the man and Kevan's car were. "Whoops." Harold slid past, wincing slightly at the sight of the top half of the man laying upon the crumpled hood of Kevan's car. He sliced all the tires on Styr's truck. Harold had noticed that Styr's truck was barely affected by the crash with some ire. He bet if Bob had crashed into the truck, he somehow would have demolished it. Slitting the last tire, Harold exchanged his blade for his gun and headed into the woods. Nature seemed to reach for Harold's suit and shoes with a vengeful glee.

Theon saw Styr up ahead through the trees and his heart did a little leap of joy mixed with some fear. The man looked different here in the late daylight of the woods. He looked larger, stronger, scarier and sexier than ever to Theon. No dignified suit now, ripped jeans, hunting boots, a hunter green flannel shirt, sleeves rolled halfway up the muscular arms. Styr gave an easy smile to the boy and extended a hand as he got closer, his deep voice, more intense but no less hypnotic and luring. "Little rabbit, hurry, hop to me. I am so glad you called for me to save you, my sweet tiny bunny, come here to me." Theon gave Styr that crooked little grin that made Ramsay long to hurt and fuck him. It made something stir in Styr's eyes too and the man was nearly to him. "Theon! Run. Now!" Sandor's voice jarred him but what made him spin around instead of leap to Styr was the clicking of a gun. He turned and stared wide eyed at Sandor holding a gun on Styr. Theon gasped but didn't run like Sandor instructed. Actually, he did nothing as Styr's large hands drew him back, pressed against him and that voice was in his ear. Except the words were for Sandor not for him. "Are you going to shoot through your student to reach me? I don't think so." Sandor shrugged and held his stance. "It's useless. Might as well just drop the boy and hope you get to your car and out of here. Harold and the whole staff are coming for you, asshole. You won't leave here alive if you don't release the boy, I can promise you that." Theon was feeling this was getting way out of hand and offered, "Maybe, maybe I should go back and you should run? I don't want you getting shot over me, Styr." The man chuckled and started to yank the boy backwards. "Sweet juicy rabbit, I don't let my prey go. Not when it comes to me so sweetly." Theon had no time to process that before he was flung over Styr's heavy shoulder as the man started to run, dodging trees and rocks, quick short controlled slides down steeper declines towards the road. Styr burst out onto the road several feet down from where Harold had gone in. He ran to his truck, swore at the sight of his man then snarled at his sliced tires. The other car wasn't drivable and Styr ran across the street into the wooded area on the other side.

Damon had gone up to Joff while the boy was whacking a half dead beaver against a tree. He put the boy's neck into a choke hold and bent to speak into his ear. "Sandor needs us to get to the bikes and head to the school. Some killer perv is stalking Theon and Sandor is going after them with a gun. Just say nothing and run with me to the bikes or I'll knock you out and carry you." Joff tried to nod and Damon let the boy go, to wheeze and try to wildly shake his middle finger at Damon. They were just at the first bike trail back when they ran into Gregor in his jeep. Polliver ran into them a few moments later. Both times they were assured that Unella was waiting at the edge of the school area, they should go right past her and head for the clinic, to Raff. Both times they indicated which direction Sandor and Theon were last seen going. It was really strange to see Unella with that rifle and stomach but they went past her and brought the bikes to the shed. Damon headed for the clinic like they were told to but Joff wandered off. Damon didn't bother going after him, only hollered that they were to go to the clinic. Joff gave him the finger and kept walking towards the dorm house. Not wanting to deal with anymore issues, Damon decided to let Joff get into his own misery and went eagerly to tell his story to the other kids.

Styr broke through into a small moss covered clearing and decided it was as good as he was going to get. He flung Theon down on the ground hard enough for the boy to be stunned. Theon tried to find air as his body squirmed in pain upon the ground. Through tears of agony, he watched as his hero turned into a villain in front of his eyes. The man pulled out a blade, a large, sharp wicked curved one and started to drop down upon him. The voice remained the same, it was still wonderful but the words were not, not anymore. "Little bunny, we are having a change of plans. I really wanted to take my time with you, fatten you up, change your little bones into paws for your hands and feet. I was going to sew ears and a tail on you. Then I was going to fuck you I until got bored. That is when I was going to have rabbit stew. But since those teachers and your handler are such pricks, I can't leave with you. So I am going to have to settle for a quick fuck, mutilate and kill. I am sorry for that, bunny rabbit, we would have had so much more fun together." Theon tried to scream but a forearm cut off his air and sound. He tried to struggle but the man was heavy, strong and there was nowhere to go. Styr undid his pants and his struggling victim's with such practiced ease that Theon knew this type of situation wasn't new to Styr in the least. Theon's pants were yanked to his ankles and bound his feet. Styr flipped Theon over and onto his knees. He forced himself into the boy, muffling his yelps of pain with a large hand. The blade was already lightly slicing long lines into the boy's right side as he thrust hard to reach his pleasure fast. Styr growled then grabbed a handful of Theon's hair, allowing the boy's whining, sobbing, screeching mouth to reach the air again. He loved the sounds of his prey and if he wanted to orgasm quickly this is the way to. Styr pulled on the tangled hair in order to force Theon's head up, to stretch out that fragile neck. He darted his own head down and his large square but sharp teeth sunk into the throat. Teeth sunk in and thick blood welled up as the boy screamed as Styr pulled away a chunk of flesh, chewing it. Theon vomited down himself and Styr bent further over the boy, driving him into him harder, swallowing to dive back for more sweet rabbit flesh. As his tongue licked the bleeding tender meat, Theon wailed in despair so sadly that Styr stiffened, pouring his seed deep into the boy's suffering body. He intended to rip his rabbit's throat out as soon as he finished the orgasm.

Harold came out into the clearing at a run. Styr was shuddering in pleasure, momentarily unable to react and saw the man but couldn't focus fast enough. When Harold saw what Styr had been doing to the poor sweet kid, he saw red and went a tad out of control. He ran forward and kicked Styr's head like it was a football. Blood spurted and it knocked the large man slightly askew but he was still attached to the boy. Still had his cock in him, still had his hands on him and a bit of Theon was on Styr's teeth, both in his mouth and the ones that Harold's shoe knocked into the dirt. This did nothing to help Harold calm himself but shooting Styr in the shoulder helped some. With a shining hard smile, Harold watched the shot knock the man fully off the boy and he stepped forward to begin shooting into Styr's skull until the gun clicked empty. Sandor burst into the clearing but Harold wasn't aware of it right away, not until that red mist cleared. Theon was sobbing, Sandor was helping him back into his pants, gruffly reassuring him it was all over and he was safe now. Harold stared at Styr's body and wondered how safe they would be if a Wilding war started over the death of Styr.


	101. This Is Yours And Mine

Harold could have panicked at his insane situation, he could have called Bob and Kevan. They would have given orders fast in a removed state, it would have been easiest. Except, Kevan would send Bob back to help, or worse, Kevan would have returned as well. His first time as Assistant Director would be his last time. No. Harold remained calm. He decided hell would freeze over and Jeyne would dance across it in bonded joy with Ramsay, while Arya and Joff lovingly did pirouettes around them, before he called for help. "Gregor, help Sandor get Theon to the jeep. Sandor, keep pressure on the wound as hard as you can. Grab Unella as you pass her and get them to the clinic. I want everyone gathered in front of the dorm house. Students and staff. That means even the cook and Gilly, no cells, use words only, please. Go. I am going to talk to Meryn, then I'll be down."

Harold took one of the dirt bikes and was glad no one saw how bad he was on it. He hasn't ridden one in years and he was quite rusty. Riding it through the trees, he thought of Star Wars and then shivered recalling one of the riders in the bike chase scene smashed and exploded against a tree.

Kevan and Bob had frowned at their cells and at the sudden blackout of communication from the school. Bob called Harold as he parked the car and the others got out, fixing their clothing and stretching their legs. Staring blankly at the immense mansion and the black gate with lions made of gold gilded bars, Bob waited for Harold to answer. "Yes, Bob? How is your trip going?" "Boring. Just got here. What's going on there? An urgency code then nothing at all?" Bob stretched as he idly looked about to make sure no one was approaching his three passengers. "All handled. Everyone is safe and nothing is going on that I can't simply report later. I will call you tonight." Lancel pulled up and got out of his car. Sansa waved and was heading for him along with Kevan, Tyrion still standing next to the car, drinking heavily. Bob frowned at the disconnection then put his phone away. He put a friendly hand upon Tyrion's shoulder as he watched Kevan and Sansa embrace Lancel.

"Are you alright, Tyrion? Would you like me to drive you to a coffee house for a few minutes? I am free to leave as soon as Kevan enters the gates, if need be." Grinning up at Bob with a glint of pain in his eyes, Tyrion shook his head. "Kevan suggested that very thing a few miles back and the answer is still the same. Sobriety will not get me through this."

Gilly looked up from her dusting when Hot Pie came running in. "Harold wants everyone to wait for him in a group. Theon was attacked and had his throat almost ripped out. We have a dead famous gangster, his dead bodyguard and two wrecked cars on the property. We are fucked and Harold will need all the help he can get." Without hesitation, Gilly removed her apron, removed her cleaning gloves, smoothing her braid, she followed the cook down the hill. "The poor boy! Will he be okay?" Hot Pie nodded. "Unella looked worried but she seemed sure about what needed to be done." Gilly smiled brilliantly at the clearly concerned cook. "I am sure the doctor has things well in hand." Everyone milled about and the gossip ran rampart among the students. Based upon what they were told by Damon and Joff, the students were sure a bloodbath had occurred of epic proportions.

Loras was blank eyed, he didn't give a single shit about the problem, he wanted to go to bed and sleep until his pain ended. Joff had given Loras a nasty smirk when he and Stannis finally came out of the dorm house. That didn't happen until the whole bedroom was shining and orderly. It didn't happen until Loras was showered, dressed and hair done, teeth brushed, flossed and his nails clipped to the quick, buffed smooth. Underneath Loras's perfect uniform were stripes from his shoulders to his thighs, front and back, even on his sides. Stannis was good at making sure not to strike anywhere that could be seen while wearing clothing. He was also good at making sure not to draw blood, that flexible rod was usually Raff's choice for Jeyne. It causes a great deal of pain and can leave some swelling but it rarely bruises. Stannis managed deep bruised lines in some places, but that was all. Loras wasn't feeling grateful over that dubious mercy at all.

As soon as the kids gathered slightly apart from the staff, Joff spoke. "Hey, guess what I saw earlier? I came back to watch tv and the doors are locked, I can hear Goldlilocks screaming like he's the one being raped and eaten by the Wildling. So I peek in his window and there he is, sobbing like a baby and naked as one too. Stannis beating the ever livin' fuck out of him with Raff's baby rod he uses on Jeyne's feet! Goldilocks is crawling around, screeching, cleaning his room and unhinged Professor Fucknuts is just going to town all over that perfect pretty boy flesh! I almost got caught by Stannis because it made me laugh so hard." All eyes turned to Loras who turned red and snarled out they could all go fuck themselves. Arya grinned and commented, "Hey, don't get mad at me. I've been paddled by Stannis and it really fucking hurts, I still have bruises on my ass from him!" Loras didn't want the empathy but he gave a small stiff nod and forced a smile on his face.

"I won't be walking right for a bit, that is for sure." Jeyne moved closer and peered up at him then gave his wrist a very quick pat. "Raff's rod hurts. He hurt my feet with it yesterday." Loras fought his own instinct to drown the girl in a toilet for daring to touch him. "Thank you, Jeyne." Ramsay joined Joff in taunting Loras, the boy found this irritating but better than empathy from girls who don't know they are dead yet. Loras clashed eyes with Ramsay but he took the verbal dumping. Myranda didn't care about Loras's punishment, she was only worried about Theon, to a lesser degree their mentors. She has asked to see Theon and was denied coldly by Polliver. In desperation, Myranda walked over to Hot Pie who was approaching with Gilly. "Please, can you talk to your buddy Polliver for me? I need to be with Theon, he is going to be scared, he will need someone there for him. I'm his friend, I should have tried harder to keep him safe. Please, help me get to him?"

 Hot Pie opened his mouth but Gilly grabbed onto Myranda's hands and spoke first. "I am sure that you are his good friend and only had his best intentions at heart. I am sure he knows that. Right now Unella and Raff are the best people to help him. But we will make sure that the first student visitor to Theon, is you. Please go stand with the other students, dear. You are good friends with Jeyne, tell her your worries, let her be there for you. Put yourself together first, young lady, then you'll be better equipped to help Theon when its time." Myranda blinked back tears and nodded, looking better already and headed for Jeyne. Hot Pie looked at Gilly with admiration. "I had no idea what to say or do, you just knew. Damn, maybe you should be down here on staff. Maybe your talent isn't just in cleaning and cooking." "How kind of you, Hot Pie. I do enjoy working with the children, they are so hurt and delicate deep down under these tough exteriors."

Gilly looked up to see Harold heading towards the group. He looked tired and his suit was beyond repair. "I will never get that suit or those shoes repaired." Harold went straight over to Hot Pie and spoke fast. "For the rest of today and tonight you are a messenger and bringer of supplies. Everyone will have to eat their dinner while working, including myself and Gilly. You'll see to it. There is to be no cell phone use, you'll need to use the dirt bike if need be to convey messages. Right now I would like you to go get me a progress report on Theon. Thank you." Turning to Gilly, Harold was not stiff and awkward like usual. This was school business and Harold had no time for anything else.

"You did well with organizing before. I need you to use those skill now, please. I have a wrecked car and a truck to hide. I have two dead bodies. One is being taken care of right now. The other is stuck between the car and truck. I have to build a fast fence and some faster traps around our perimeter, in case Styr told others he was coming here. I need to make sure that boy doesn't die. I need to do all of this without Kevan or Bob knowing of it." Gilly nodded. "I can get everyone into their best places for both your perimeter and your vehicles. I cannot do anything about poor Theon, sadly." The cook ran back and panted for a second before speaking. "It's bad. Unella says they have done all they can. He is being given blood, she patched him the best he could but she needs you to give her permission to call in another doctor. She said she has to call Dr. Qyburn in order for the boy to be given the help he needs."

Harold softly swore but nodded. "Go tell her I said only Qyburn and his nurse may come. No one else and I want to know the exact time he will show. And tell her that discretion is top priority."

As they all somberly entered Tywin's home, Lancel leaned into his wife and whispered with a tinge of heated excitement. "Would you like to play some games while we watch them mourn a rotting golden head?" Sansa gave a small smile to him and murmured back, "I would love to play any games you'd like." Lancel gave her a quick dazzling smile and leaned down to kiss her forehead and spoke softly. "I am going to show you how truly corrupt and evil they are underneath. Today you will feel so bad for them, even Cersei, as they drown in sorrow. I don't want you to fall for that charade, no, after this part, after the politeness and the quiet angst, I will rip off their masks and expose them for you. It will be hard for us not to laugh, you'll see. Sweet girl, I have a lovely little liquid for you to pour later on. This latest one is a mix of a truth serum and opiate, it's amazing. Qyburn is a fucking genius chemist, so glad I kept those connections to him after I mentored with him."

Tywin was imposing and Sansa was demure, polite and quiet. He was clearly grieving and yet it seemed to turn him harder in some way. As if the sadness could be pulled and shaped into something that can be dealt with without emotion. The man shook hands with Tyrion, Lancel and then Sansa. "Congratulations on your wedding, Sansa. I hope your marriage and schooling are allowing you a better path in life than when I last saw you." She had nodded and softly spoke. "Thank you, Sir. Yes, I see now how badly I was acting, the terrible decisions I had made. I have become grateful for the school, for Kevan and of course, for Lancel. I can promise you, there will be no further scandals from me." Kevan gave Sansa an approving look as he forced his brother into a hug he didn't want. Cersei sat stiffly through her brother giving her a kiss on the cheek. She didn't rise from her chair for the greeting of her cousin and wife. Only Kevan was brave enough to embrace Cersei. 

Harold stood in front of the students and staff. Taking a deep breath, he just plunged right in and hoped for the best. "You are all aware of what happened. Someone got in and hurt Theon badly. I killed the man. I killed his bodyguard. I don't know if he told others where he would be. I don't know if others might come. I do know that this is the second time someone has come to our school to hurt someone here. We are going to end that today, all of us. I need your help, everyone's help. We are going to hide the wreckage, the bodies and put up fences, traps. We will do as much as we can tonight. Tomorrow we shall only have academic classes, the rest of our time will be spent on the fence and traps." Joff groaned about slave labor and Polliver gave him a good whack with the baton. Loras gave a nervous glance at Stannis but spoke up. "Hiding bodies and wreckage? Sir, are you asking us to help you cover up a crime, to perform an illegal act willingly?"

Stannis didn't glare at Loras, he looked at Harold. "The young man does have a point, Harold." Drawing himself up, clasping his hands in front of his waist, Harold answered carefully. "Yes. I will remind you why you are here at this school, since some of you seem to forget. You have committed murder, most of this staff and student body are murderers or have committing an offense so extreme they have been rejected by society. It was this school or an institution or death. One more crime doesn't matter in here. You aren't about to enter the world and have to worry about it." Harold decided he wasn't Kevan or Bob or anyone else when he saw some faces not giving him the proper look he wanted. Loras and Joff still seemed uninterested in assisting. Stannis looked dubious as well. Harold moved closer and his smile became too wide. When he spoke his voice was louder, it was clear and it was passionate.

"This school took you in when your only other options are to be eaten by prisons, mental homes or death. Do you understand that at all? Even on a basic level?" His arm flung out and he pointed up the hill towards the gated entrance. "Out there? Out of this school, they hate you! No one wants any of you, don't fool yourselves with that! Out there, they will chew you up and spit you back out. What did Cat come here to do? She came to KILL her own daughters! Theon invited an outsider in and he tried to rip his throat out while raping him! Do you understand that this school is the ONLY thing that protects you, that cares about you? WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, THIS IS YOUR HOME. WE ARE A FAMILY, WE ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO GIVE A SHIT THAT YOU ARE ALIVE." He had everyone's attention now and Harold walked up to Loras who paled out. Harold rested his hands on Loras's shoulders then one long finger reached up to trace the fine cheekbones making the boy shiver.

"Your beloved grammy worked here. I remember her quite well. Olenna will NEVER free you from here until Kevan suggests a good path for you that she can live with. It will be a long time before that. You are part of this school, part of this very screwed up family and I don't really care if you don't like it. Families don't get to choose their relatives, do they? No." Harold moved on to Joff and while the brat tried hard to squirm away, he grabbed the boy's arms tightly, leaning in, cold, hard, loud words into the weasel face. "Mommy loves her boy, she does. Mommy came to this school and I can promise you that Uncle Kevan can make her skip to his beat. You could be here even longer than Loras, so you best learn to get along in your house and with your family. You will help because you have to, because it might be you that gets attacked next. Am I clear?" He held onto Joff until the boy nodded. Harold let go and moved back to scan those mirrored glasses upon each staff and student.

"Am I clear to everyone?" Everyone nodded and Gilly moved forward. "Who are the best students in Gregor's mechanics and metal work classes?" Damon, Jeyne and Ramsay all raised their hands. "Excellent! The three of you will help Gregor who shall be in charge of the removal of the vehicles." Gregor closed his eyes for patience. Of course, it's him with all the Bolton children, whom despise each other. Gilly smiled at the three students. "I will assume none of you are squeamish as there may be some organic remains there. You will all use gloves to put it in trash bags." Gilly smiled and continued. "Stannis has a very mechanical mind and I believe he can help create order as well as map out what is needed for a fast but efficient gate. The professor is in charge of the construction of the fencing. Joff, Loras and Myranda will be your workers along with the assistance of Polliver and Sandor. Harold is in charge of the traps and I think the best person to assist him is Arya. Hot Pie will be bringing water, meals and messages as needed. I will be anywhere I am needed. Let's all get to work."


	102. Just Under The Skin

As Arya followed Harold, she asked, "Why did Gilly pick me to help you with traps? I don't set traps." Harold smiled down at her as he quickly went behind the large house and produced a small key. They stopped before a small door in a little alcove to the basement. "Because you mentor with Sandor. You know the landscape, you spy as part of your tutoring, don't you? You know where the weakest spots are, you'd know where the best traps can go. And now you'll learn how to make and set them up. A new skill for you and if you do well at it, I'll teach you more." Arya watched Howard unlock the door and reach in to press something, light began to glow. "Ramsay asked you for a mentor-ship, you told him no." Harold entered the glow, his voice floating back up to Arya. "Ramsay is too chaotic and impulsive. Not in a way that is fixable, he doesn't want to change that about himself, he thrives on it. Now, you are chaotic and impulsive because you don't have anything else to replace it with. You have no reason, goals or drives because you don't know what you want or how to find out what you want. That's entirely different. I am good at telling talent in certain areas, don't wrinkle your nose at me, young lady. I can mentor in more than just what Myranda and Theon do. It's been awhile since Bob and I have had the joy in teaching someone our other work. If you enjoy the traps, we shall talk more. It is fine to have more than one mentor. Now step carefully, I need help getting this stuff out." Arya ducked and carefully moved into the glowing room, looked around with wide eyes, for the first time in awhile, she had full focus, interest and a tiny flare that felt like hope.

"Hey Jeyne, how about a hand?" She looked up at Damon holding the arm with a flopping hand and she giggled. Ramsay groaned and responded, "Knock it off. Trying to get a leg up." Both Damon and Jeyne burst into laughter as Ramsay pulled himself and the leg out the grille. He grinned at his own joke and when Damon moved the hand as if to tickle the foot all three broke into more laughter. Gregor sighed and shook his head. The behavior was inappropriate but they were getting along and getting the job done. So he left the macabre jokers alone and continued to set up to tow Styr's truck away. "Once all the pieces are in that bag, tie it and leave it at that marked tree over there." Meryn will collect the bag and dispose of it later out of the sight of the students. Gregor prays that the stupid fucking sadist will follow that order and not decide to scare the living shit out of the students first. He can't imagine how that would impact Damon and doesn't even want to think how Jeyne would react.

Poles and lights were installed first, then small flags to indicate where to put the fencing and the posts. Stannis used a small desk in the field and a lantern as he continually rechecked and re-blocked his large paper map. Loras and Joff worked on putting up the fence while quietly bitching to each other about it. Myranda dug holes for Sandor and Polliver to measure and put posts in. She was still worried about Theon, she was worried that Jeyne was near Ramsay, she was worried that a group of Styr followers were going to come to rape, murder and eat the entire school. Hot Pie came by with boxes full of water bottles and sandwiches, plus a jug of iced tea. But he didn't have time to stop and talk to Myranda. "All I can tell you is that Unella called in another doctor and a nurse. They should be here soon. I am heading to where Jeyne is with their supper. I will check on her." Loras stopped by the table as he went to grab a pair of pliers. "Sir, uh, on the paper, there is an error. Right here, it looks like a gate door but-" Stannis peeked over and gave a firm nod. "Yes, it is a gate door. Right in the center of our land and it locks from the inside. Only staff will have the code but it is always good to have an emergency in exit in the most unlikely of places." Filing away the need to get that code for Lancel, Loras smiled and went back to work. Polliver grinned down at Myranda. "Hey, I bet this is the most hard poles you've ever had to touch at once." Myranda smirked and slowly got out of her position on the ground, sliding up the pole suggestively. They were only a mere inch apart and Polliver admired the way she moved. Only when Myranda was face level with Polliver did she speak and her voice was sweet, sexy and soft. "Unless you have a joint, cash or a town pass, don't bother to flirt with me, Counselor."

Gilly met Harold at the front gates. "Qyburn and his nurse flew in and should be here fairly quickly. They had a car waiting for them and the nurse insisted on doing the driving. From what I gathered on the phone from Qyburn, his nurse and Bob drive in a similar fashion. I always wanted to learn how to drive. Do you think Bob would teach me if I asked him? I would make sure it didn't bother Kevan first, of course." Harold gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "I can teach you how to drive, Gilly." Raising an eyebrow, the smile looking only slightly dubious, Gilly asked politely, "Didn't you suffer a car crash earlier today? That resulted in a man being cut in half? I truly appreciate the gesture, Harold, but I shall ask Bob for the lessons. You know what, perhaps you can take lessons from Bob with me?" Harold growled out, "I am a very good driver. It was an emergency, could have happened to anyone. I won't crash us on the way to our date tomorrow night." Gilly smiled. "We can take the bloodstained jeep, the tow truck, Sandor's pick up, the dirt bikes or the school bus." Harold looked at her and started to loom over her then he suddenly tilted his head. "Are you trying to make me angry, embarrassed or are you trying to be funny?" Snorting, Gilly looked at him with true insult. "I am always funny. And it isn't my fault if you don't have a humorous bone in your body. I will get you some of your restorative tea while you wait for the doctor, Sir." Gilly brought Harold his tea and a report from Hot Pie. "Theon is still stable. All the staff and students have been brought their supper. Progress is good on the fence, the organic matter is disposed of. Gregor and the Bolton students are returning with the wrecked car and it turned out that the truck was easily drivable as it was barely dented." Harold rolled his eyes under his glasses but somehow Gilly seemed to know it and her smile grew brighter. A dusty brown sedan rolled up to the gates, honking loudly, even though Harold and Gilly clearly saw the car. Harold opened the gates and the car slid inside fast, parking expertly, The passenger door opened and Dr. Qyburn appeared to unfold himself and briskly seemed to settle himself before shutting the car door. The elderly thin man with eyes that seemed to autopsy every person he looked at, smiled as he looked about him. "Ah, to visit the past. Always a delight." Harold leaned close to Gilly and whispered. "If you wish to run, I would understand. Qyburn isn't a pleasant person to be around, he takes you apart with his eyes. And his assistant, I have only met her once. When Unella was sent here, the woman replaced her as Qyburn's nurse and I warn you, she is unique in a very intolerable way. If you want to make a quick escape, go now before they reach us." Gilly stood tall, pointing her smile at the visitors. "Nonsense. Arya can't be left to do all the traps alone. I can handle this."

The doctor smiled at Harold and Gilly noted that he seemed to break out in goosebumps at the doctor's touch. Gilly grasped the man's hand and felt a shiver go through her entire body. She couldn't wait to let go and she wondered if cutting off her hand would impact her job. It felt like shaking hands with a corpse. Harold gave Gilly a small satisfied smirk and she turned on her brightest smile for the doctor. "My name is Gilly, Doctor. I will be available for anything you might need that I can obtain for you. We have a cook on staff that has food and drink at the ready as well." Qyburn introduced himself and his eyes seemed to reach into Gilly's body and touch things. He then introduced his nurse who has finally come up next to the doctor. Gilly hoped that tardiness wasn't a constant with the woman, considering her job. It wasn't until the nurse stood under the lights that Gilly could finally see her in the heavily growing twilight. "May I introduce you to Nurse Barbary Dustin." Gilly has seen prunes left in the sun for days with more moisture. The woman looked ancient, mummified, preserved and Gilly looked for a pulse with her concerned eyes. Rope thick blue veins ran through the sandpaper and bone hand that grasped Gilly's tightly. Gilly was terrified that the rice paper thin flesh would rip while they were shaking. Harold shuddered as he touched the flesh that he hoped would be burned and never used for anything else. The woman had gray threaded faded hair that seemed to be an color that had no definition or shade to it, scraped back into an uncompromising bun. Her eyes were beady and sharp, watery and insulted somehow, her lips were a slash of crimson. A cloud of perfume from Liz Taylor stole Gilly's breath and Harold's gag reflex was tested. The woman was wearing rayon tan slacks, a rayon pink shirt with black feather prints upon it. Her shoes were no nonsense nursing white sneakers that looked brand new. She was clutching an overlarge pocketbook which looked as if it cost a pretty penny in it's day if anyone could recall when that day was. It had a thousand pockets and pouches within it. Rummaging briefly, the woman brought out a sandwich baggy full of strawberry hard candies and small butterscotch squares. Gilly, Harold and Qyburn all declined a candy. The woman quickly unwrapped a butterscotch and put it in her mouth briefly clicking her dentures. Dr. Qyburn gave a hideous parody of a smile. "Where is our patient, please?"

Tywin and Kevan quietly argued for some time. The grieving father wanted to raze the Martells and their land to the ground. Kevan advised caution and thought. Why would the Martell's do such a thing? There would be nothing gained from it but war and Doran was the leader, not known for impulsive hot-hotheadedness. Tyrion and Cersei seemed to be in a contest of who could empty a bottle of wine the fastest. They went between reminiscing about Jaime to sniping at each other about who loved him more, who spent more time with him. Who knew him better, who he favored and finally, which of them hurt the most now. Sansa and Lancel stood on the balcony watching the others inside. "When my father comes to try and figure out how to ask why I beat you, that's when you'll use the liquid for my dearest cousins." Sansa smiled and nodded, excited. Kevan approached his son and gave a smile to Sansa. "I hope you don't mind, dear, but I need to steal your husband for a moment." Lancel gave his wife and hug, slipping her the tiny vial. "Put it in a bottle of wine. Pour them each the first glass then set the bottle between them." Sansa nodded at the whisper and looked as if he said something utterly endearing. Lancel smiled and said louder, "Love, please open a bottle for my dear cousins and pour them each a glass. They are mourning and can use a little of your support. I know I feel supported by you." Kevan looked conflicted as Sansa seemed to melt a little. Cersei made a gagging sound and Tyrion rolled his eyes. Lancel allowed his father to guide him into another room while Sansa headed for the wine. She slipped the full vial into the bottle quickly before bringing it forth. On a lovely ornate silver platter she found, Sansa came with two glasses and the drugged bottle.

Lancel walked into the study and sat in the leather chair behind the desk and swiveled it over to the window. Kevan sighed at the antics and sat on the desk itself. "This is going to be a rather delicate perhaps awkward discussion for us, son. It must happen however. Sansa isn't just my daughter in law, she is my student and so is Loras. Both came back to my school after being your care drugged out of their skulls. Also, there was some significant bruising on Sansa. Loras confessed to buying the drugs and slipping some into Sansa's food as a prank. I heard Sansa's version of how she became marked up, but I would truly like to hear yours, please." Lancel sighed and shrugged, looking guilty and ashamed. "I didn't react well to seeing her on drugs. It wasn't right of me, it won't happen again, Sir. She was just, it was revolting, she was swearing, spitting! Sansa tried to push Loras off the cliff. It was hard to keep chasing the two of them all over rocks and now my wild wife is trying to murder Loras! I just saw red and I couldn't stop until Loras started to hit me and yell at me. I am very lucky that Sansa forgave me and she apologized for her own behavior, even though it really wasn't her fault. Sansa is truly such a sweet wife, I feel awful for manhandling her, Father."  Kevan looked down for a moment then asked quietly, "Do you think you might wish to take some anger management counseling? There is no shame in it, son." Lancel chuckled and shook his head. "No, thank you, Father. I doubt that Sansa will get drugged again or try to throw more people off a cliff." Kevan gave his son a small smile. "True. I can imagine the sight of that would have set anyone off. Just try to be more careful with your new wife, she is truly a perfect match for you." 

Cersei and Tyrion have had two glasses of the drugged wine so far, both times poured by Sansa. "Why don't you sit down and have a glass of wine with us?" Cersei's tone was anything but friendly and her smile was as predatory as her eyes. Tyrion sighed loudly. "The girl isn't old enough to drink, leave her alone. She is trying to be nice by serving us." Sansa sat down gracefully while Cersei sipped at her third glass, her eyes scanning and judging the redhead. "There was wine in you when you crashed your brother's car into my son's. And didn't you steal my wine one summer when you visited us? Got drunk, forced my poor Joff to get drunk then you threw up in my newly cleaned pool." Sansa gave a small smile and responded sweetly. "That was my sister Arya that did that." Cersei thought back and then suddenly she laughed bitterly. Leaning forward, her glass at a careless angle in her hand, she gestured at Sansa. "That's right. It was that little beastly thing. You were the one whining about how your little sister just ruins everything. You said that an awful lot, do you know that? Every summer Petyr brought you two on his little voyages, I couldn't decide which of you that I hated more. The little pranking disgusting beast or the whining, egocentric redhead." Giggling now, the drug coursing through her system and loosening Cersei's tongue, she continued. "Do you know that Petyr wanted to negotiate a wedding between you and my Joff? You had started to grow out of your whining phase and were so soft spoken, polite and lovely out of nowhere. And I hated you, I was terrified of you influencing my boy. Now here you are, married to my dear cousin. And my poor Joff is married to your little beast of a sister. How karma hits us in the ass!"  Sansa gave a polite smile and sipped her tea before responding. "I am sorry that Joff is married to Arya. I do not see my sister nor speak with her unless it's needed. We are no longer close, I have chosen to change my ways and she isn't quite ready to yet."    

Lancel entered the room and smiled happily to see the drug taking effect in his cousins. Kevan went in search of Tywin. Knowing the drug would have struck by now, he suggested to his father that he retrieve Tywin. That they have a family moment of giving tribute to Jaime. Lancel was hoping the timing would work and they would walk into things they should never hear or know. Sitting down next to his wife, he took an offered cup of tea from her then he turned his attention to his cousins and his games. 

 


	103. Trolling

It took several pinches from Lancel to keep Sansa from laughing or smiling too much. They sat and watched Tyrion and Cersie snarling about things never spoken before. All it took was a few well directed but innocently cloaked statements to set them off. Lancel was hoping that his father and uncle returned soon to hear this but he was sure that they were arguing over the Martells on their way. Tyrion was blubbering in a pathetic drunken way as he accused his sister. "You are what killed him, you fucking viper! Jaime could have had a full life, as a single man or a married one with children, living happily, if you didn't fucking chain him to your cunt!" Cersei had slapped him and hissed, "How dare you say that to me! How dare you speak of that? Don't you ever say that again to me or to anyone or I'll-" Tyrion struggled not to laugh as he sputtered, "And you'll what? Make me become an alcoholic or banish me to the school for the rest of my life? Hey, just like Jaime, I will never live as a husband or father, never know life as a single sober man. How many others have you trapped with your superpower cuntiness?" Cersei screeched briefly then reached her hands towards his throat. Tyrion didn't even flinch as he stared at his sister, his fist curled and ready. "We aren't children, sis. If you try and come at me, I'm going to break your pretty nose." Cersei snarled and seemed to almost yank herself away and back into her chair. She leaned forward, eyes dilated and no woman ever looked more ready for a fight. "When you were born, I was positive that our mother cheated on father. Because there was no way a Lannister could create something so revolting. I always believed that father thought that too. Because he hated you and was as disgusted by you as I was. And only your hair could be considered ours, really. I always wondered if father knew who it was mommy fucked. I was glad she died, even though it broke my heart. It was the last time I really had any heart. Do you know how many times I tried to kill you? Because you aren't really one of us. I wonder what sickening man was your father?"

Tyrion sighed and waved his arm dramatically. "Ah, my sister has no new original material, sorry, folks, it's time for the old drabble of our mother fucking a troll on a bridge and why don't I waddle back under the bridges and look for my daddy? So fun, good one, Cersei. What a zinger, I am positively brought low." Cersei's fingers curled upon the wooden chairs and her long manicured nails dug through the wax, polish and into the wood itself. Her perfectly lined lips curled into a sneer and her well crafted face became a gruesome mask of rage and hate. Her voice was harsh like skin being peeled from a live kitten. "I know! I have fucking proof, trust me! I know that bitch cheated on him! I know that a Lannister can only make beautiful children, the right children! I know what can happen when you fuck the wrong thing, the fucking trolls can look pretty sometimes. And you are not a Lannister, you have a troll daddy out there somewhere, trust me on that. I don't know who our mother fucked but I am positive that she did." Lancel spoke with a soft intensity as Cersei was chugging her wine. "What makes you sure about pretty troll fathers? What proof do you have to offer Tyrion? Surely, there is something and you know it will hurt him, I see it in you. Tyrion has a soft heart, you always say that and you know something that will break that heart. Go on, say it, I can see how badly you've longed to say something. How do you know what happens when you fuck the wrong thing?" Sansa covered her smile with her hand as she watched the woman struggle against the drug and suggestion. Cersei snarled and seemed to wrestle with herself but Tyrion stuck his face in hers. "Go on, try and break my heart, bitch. You can't. You've already done your worst to me and unlike our brother, I survived you." Cersei smiled, a savage thing full of bleached strong teeth ready to gnash. "Do you know why I fucked our brother? So I could make perfect children and so I could have a lover I could trust if I ever did get pregnant by accident. I know exactly what happens when fucking a troll happens. Do you remember that first pregnancy with Robert, the one I miscarried? That isn't what happened at all, see, I fucked a troll and gave birth to a monster, just like our mother did."

Arya called out softly, "I wouldn't step any closer to your left, Harold. Watch this. I modified your trap." Harold heard the click then saw the metal slam shut faster and then he shielded his eyes as the flames shot across the trap. "So you catch them, fry their eyes to blind them." Arya's face was animated and her eyes nearly begged for him to approve of it. Harold smiled. "It is creative and thought out well. I am impressed. Let's move on to the next one." As they set up the barbed wire along the road, Arya looked up and blurted out, "Do you have parents, a family?" With a grin, Harold drawled out, "I wasn't hatched from an egg. Of course I have parents. I have never met them. I was raised in a foster home along with Bob. We have always been considered twins, so we are, we feel like we are, at least. He is my brother and Kevan is my father figure, I suppose. I do consider this school to be my real home, my real family." It was another few minutes before Arya spoke again. "How did you end up in here, how old were you?" Harold laughed. "Which part am I supposed to answer first? I will tell you that we were the very first class that Kevan ever had. We were thirteen years old. Any further information is personal and you must be mentored by us before I could tell you." Arya frowned and went back to work. "Harold?" He didn't look up but he smirked. "Yes?" Arya looked at him intently. "How can you be still wearing those sunglasses even though it's dark out?" Harold was the one frowning now as he went back to work. Grinning, Arya peeked up at him as she handed him a pair of pliers. "Harold?" "What is it?" "Would you and Bob please mentor me?" "Yes, you insolent girl."   

Cersei gave a jagged laugh and waved her wine glass, sloshing it slightly. "Might as well come out with it, right? Yes, I fucked a troll, had a troll baby and learned my lesson." Tyrion wrinkled his face, trying to understand what he was hearing. "You gave birth to Robert's baby and got rid of it?" Cersei giggled and shook her head. "No, it wasn't Robert's baby. That disgusting beast rutted on me exactly ten times I can remember, he can't remember any of them. I would have aborted any child he gave me. No, the troll was Roose. In Kevan's school, we didn't have much else but each other. Cat had Petyr, I had Bethany, who was an excellent lover. Of course, it was natural for me to continue with her after we left the school and were forced to marry those we didn't wish to marry. Bethany wasn't interested though. She threw me aside as if her declarations of loyalty and love meant no more than Cat's words had when she had sworn to be our friend. Bethany didn't even like her husband. But she wanted a child, she became obsessed with getting pregnant and only cared about that. Roose was pressured, I was in a relationship with a drunk who whored around and hit me when he noticed me. So Roose and I started a small affair, it was savage, dirty and relieved our stress. We figured Robert would never know and Bethany didn't care about anything but being pregnant and having a baby. Cat was also pregnant, so it wasn't suspicious to anyone that I was too. Everyone was making jokes about what was in the water and I was the only one faking my happy smile. Robert thought it was his and he was all puffed up in the chest smoking cigars with Ned and Roose. I wanted to abort it the moment I discovered I was pregnant but Roose refused. He told me if I aborted, he would tell Robert the truth. Robert was already quick with his fists, he would have beaten me to death over it. So I was to bear this child and give to him. He would raise the child, keep the secret of who I was and in return I would help launch him, which clearly, I did. We had to tell Bethany of course, I lost my best friend that day. I made it clear to her that I would kill this thing if I could but she never forgave me or Roose for it. He had to skin and remove two of her toes before Bethany agreed the child would be raised at Dreadfort. I tried everything to miscarry. I would deliberately pick fights with Robert at his drunkest, hoping for him to hit my stomach hard enough. Once he did hit me hard enough for him to take me to the hospital but they were able to see the baby still alive and growing. I drank more than ever, smoked, did as many drugs as I could get my hands on. I starved myself, I drank anything that was known to be dangerous for pregnant woman. Nothing would make this fucking troll baby die."

Cersei paused to drink her wine and Tyrion just stared at her, as did Sansa. Only Lancel had noticed the two older men in the doorway that have been listening, stunned and horrified for the last few moments. Smirking, Cersei looked up at Tyrion and warmed to his look of revolted shock. "I did the same things the other women, my pretend best friends, made a birthing plan, got the best suite the best hospital could offer me. Had a baby shower and awed at all the little cute things. When I felt my water break, I told no one, I changed my clothes and drove straight to the Boltons. Bethany and I had already made arrangements with the most murderous midwife with the worst reputation we could find. Barbry Dustin was drunk when she showed up and didn't even wash her hands, just poured some of her vodka on her fingertips and plunged into me. She ripped that creature from my womb before it was truly ready and it still wasn't fast enough for me. I felt great relief when Barbry snipped the umbilical cord. It survived even this midwife, this squirming, too pale, crying thing with a head of black hair. It even had Roose's eyes in it's too small alien body. It was very small, Tyrion. And all I could think of was you. I tried to strangle it and Bethany and Barbry would have let me but Roose had been there by then and he stopped me. I begged him to kill it and I begged Bethany to leave it with the dogs to eat in the kennel. But Roose kept it and thankfully, I never had to see it. Whenever I had to see Bethany after that at a social event, she taunted me with it, the bitch. Telling me about how it plays well with the dogs, how my troll bitch is still alive and drooling at the mouth like some disgusting beast. About how it hates using a leash and she chains it when it howls too much. The only relief was hearing that it wasn't a midget troll like you, brother. It was a feral troll. A troll that caused the death of a mother and son. A sickening creature that now is near my perfect son. It is horrible to have see that thing when I go to visit Joff. Truly, even if you wanted to use a sympathetic view, it would have been a mercy if I was allowed to kill it years back."   

 Jeyne twirled for a moment, enjoying the sparks around her as if they were fireflies. Ramsay flipped up the metal mask and yelled, "Hey, when you are finished with your fire dance, get the electric saw." Jumping in the air, Jeyne ran forward. "Nanny Gregor said I could use it!" Ramsay rolled his eyes along with Damon who was removing a huge metal section of the truck. "We know, you announced it twelve times. Just don't chop us up too. You'll have to bring our parts to the Tickler yourself." Jeyne shivered at Ramsay's words as she grabbed the coveted saw. "Gonna be careful." Damon grinned and said, "I can't believe we have to dismantle this awesome truck. I want to drive this baby so bad, not rip it apart." Ramsay laughed and leaned back. "Yeah, we could have so much fun in this truck." He and Damon started to reminisce of some of their best times together. When they started to mention their hunts, the saw shrieked through their conversation. Jeyne yelled, "Sorry, the saw is really loud!" Damon tensed for a moment when Ramsay seemed to be angry, then he calmed down and just sighed. "Dog sister is having her fun with power tools hour. Guess we might as well get back to work before Gregor gets back." A booming voice made Ramsay and Damon jump a little. "Nanny Gregor is already back. I know seeing our little personal workshop and car shop is very exciting. And as a fair man, I understand that some friendly chatter among workers is needed for morale, you can talk while moving your asses. Only Jeyne is doing any work. Why is Jeyne the only one THAT HAS TAKEN THE SAW AND GONE MENTALLY DYSFUNCTIONAL! HAVE YOU HAD A SEIZURE WHILE WORKING? I DIDN'T ASK FOR A METAL JIGSAW PUZZLE, DID I?"

Kevan entered the room with Tywin slowly with Bob right behind them. Tywin's eyes were harder than ever but Kevan's eyes were full of unshed tears and were nearly hollow. "Are you talking about my feral student? My Jeyne? You are her mother?" Cersei snapped her head up and even as her face transformed into the terror of having revealed such a thing, her mouth continued. "I am no mother to that thing. Call it Jeyne, call it a student, I renounced it the day it grew in me. I do not raise trolls. If I had my way it would be dead." Tyrion spoke softly and clearly. "What a disgusting, cold, truly awful person you are. I longed for your death so many times. I honestly feel as if I could personally kill you. For the safety of this world and all in it. How could you know what was happening to your own daughter and allow it, ignore it?" Cersei snapped as she flew up from her chair to loom over her brother. "DO NOT CALL THAT THING MY DAUGHTER! MY ONLY DAUGHTER IS DEAD! MY GOLDEN LOVELY LANNISTER DAUGHTER!" Kevan strode forth and grabbed Cersei's forearms, forcing her to focus on him. "You allowed a Lannister child to be raised as a feral? You let me have that poor child struggle in the school, trying to be a mere person and she was my own blood? Why didn't you say something if you didn't want her? I would have adopted her! I would have gained a daughter and Lancel would have loved a little sister!" Cersei laughed at him and he nearly slapped her for it. "Oh, would that really have been any kinder? To be imprisoned in a grand house with special tutors and loving stern daddy to teach upper crust Lannister lessons that won't be used in such a desolate location. I wonder how it would have enjoyed the students and staff, I wonder which staff member or student would molest, bully or kill it? Or would it have been a troll mimicking a Lannister like my brother? At least this way, everyone knows the troll for what it is." Kevan did slap Cersei then, it nearly knocked her into Tyrion. 

Tywin spoke in a voice like thunder. "This ends now. The past is in the past, it cannot be changed. I don't want this ever spoken of again. I will personally have a trust fund discreetly created. It will pay for the girl to live a comfortable life." He walked up to Cersei and steadied her. "You are revolting. I want to speak with you in my study immediately." As he held tightly to his daughter's arm, Tywin glared at every person in the room. "This never happened. It is too late to claim the girl now. It will not happen and I order this as the head of our family. Do you all understand?" Everyone nodded, Kevan took the longest before he gave a sharp nod. Tywin dragged his drunk, hissing daughter away. Bob discreetly shut the door as they heard Cersei curse and the quick sound of a palm hitting flesh causing her to cry out. Kevan sat hard in a chair and rubbed his face. "We can pull Jeyne out of the school, install her in the house. What we do there doesn't concern Tywin or his damned orders. I can dress her properly, we can give her the best of everything and try-" Tyrion interrupted his uncle. "No. If you suddenly pull Jeyne from her place with the students, pull her from her routines and what she is used to, she will be confused, scared. If you put her into your home, have her try and grow in isolation with you as her main source of discipline and authority figure, she will regress instantly. Whether we like it or not, my father has a point, its a cold cruel one, but it is logical point. The girl is a feral and slowly learning to socialize as a regular person. And that is what we need to concentrate on. Telling Jeyne who her mother or that she has a rich powerful name won't serve any good purpose. It won't mean anything to her, if it did, it would just serve to sadden her that her mother didn't want her."

Kevan frowned and asked Bob to get him a brandy. Tyrion stood up and announced, "I am going to see my best friend while I actually have a chance to. As much as I may enjoy the whores, it's really Varys that I go to see. He has been my best friend since we were children, the only person who likes me for me. Then again, when you are an albino that no one wants or likes, you probably befriend the rich dwarf kid. Why am I saying all of this to you?" Tryion struggled to find his coat and Kevan gently suggested that Bob drive him. "No, I am calling for a car like any other city rich person would. I would like to forget all of you exist for a little while, thank you. I will see you all in the morning." While Tyrion wrestled with his jacket, Bob frowned at his cell then nudged his employer as he handed Kevan the brandy. "Sir, I do not feel there is any extreme urgency, but something strange is happening at the school. First that emergency text earlier, Harold says nothing, his one text to me since then simply said nothing was wrong they were practicing school safety drills and having a communications black out during it." Tyrion smiled foolishly as he got his coat on backwards. "You left Harold in charge for the first time, right? Give the man a chance, let him run his drills or have his small fuck ups. What's the worst that can happen? Who would want to go after that group? Who wants to deal with Stannis's rigid but passionate lecturing or paddle hand of fury, who would dare to try and face down Gilly? Hell, add in our killer gorilla, the baton wielding counselor, the nurse with a thousand needles of sleep, not to mention the students! Damon, Ramsay, Joff and Arya alone could probably whittle a person to bone in a second. Add in poor doomed fucking Jeyne and throats will rip everywhere. Here's my car, goodnight." Sansa leaned into Lancel and whispered, "Tyrion is going to see Varys and the drug is still in his system. He might tell things he shouldn't to the wrong person." Lancel smiled as he nibbled lightly on his wife's small ear. "I know, I wish we could be there to see it. I hope he causes a little more chaos. Not that it matters, just because it would be fun."      

 


	104. Alligator Hunting

Myranda ruffled her sweaty hair and stretched. Finally, she was done and was gruffly told by Sandor to go take a break before helping to finish putting up the actual fencing. Leaning against a tree, she watched with a raised eyebrow as Polliver came over to her. He pulled her further away as soon as he noticed no one was looking. With a small chuckle, Myranda let him pull her by the wrist behind a thick tree and she grinned up at him. "Yes, Counselor?" Polliver produced a pack of cigarettes, lit one and offered it to her. "Are we sharing it?" Shrugging, he took a drag then handed it to her. Myranda smoked and Polliver leered. "I am covered in dirt and sweat, how can you even be interested?" Polliver put his arm on the tree and leaned over her suggestively. "Sweetie, don't you know by now that you are most appealing to men when covered in something filthy?" Looking at him with cool eyes, she drawled out, "I have sort of noticed that over time. When I finish this smoke, I have to get back and help with fencing, Counselor." With a near whisper, Polliver replied. "I can get you out of fencing for a while longer. Later on I can get you some weed, if you want. Your hand or mouth is what I want right now." One of his dirty hands brushed across her white sweatshirt, tingling her nipples and leaving a faded smear across her dirty white sweatshirt right across her breasts. Something inside her welled up, it welled and it grew and suddenly Myranda sprung into a whole new type of action. "No. That isn't what I want. Here is what I would want, POLLIVER. I want you to get me a pass for dinner and a show. I want you to take me on a proper date which means you'll have to buy me a proper dress. And it wouldn't be a secret, no, you would tell everyone that you LIKED me and wanted to go out with me and treat me like a FUCKING DELICATE MOTHERFUCKING FLOWER THAT I AM, DAMMIT! So would you like do that, Polliver? Or shall I go back to my student work, Counselor?" Polliver had shot backwards as if her words were a fist and then he growled out, "You could have just fucking said no, bitch. It's not like I fucking force you. You don't need to make threats. Waddle back to work, duckling." Myranda dropped the cigarette, ground it out and walked back towards the others. None of them questioned why her mood seemed almost triumphant and Polliver looked so pissed off.

If Raff had to count how many truly formidable women he has met, he would count three right away. Olenna Tyrell, Doctor Unella Septa and Gilly Craster would be first to mind. Now he has a fourth to add to that list, Barbrey Dustin. She was a medical mystery herself as far as he was concerned. The woman walked into the clinic, into the surgery room and he saw her under those brilliant surgery lights. Raff almost screamed in terror, thinking a mummy had risen from Kevan's corpse garden for a last grisly visit. Even Unella was given a start for a second before she recognized the woman. Raff declined a candy and studied the woman, when she shook his hand, he felt for a pulse. He has never seen such a leathered and dehydrated person as this woman, except once when he visited a friend in the very deep southern swamp area. His friend took him on a boat ride and there was a man hunting alligators who had such skin texture. Barbrey's eyes were sharp but they were yellow with bloodshot lines running through them. Her nails were sharp, thick and yellow tipped from years of nicotine. Her hair had no discernible color beyond the small threads of gray here and there, her nose looked like it belonged to an alcoholic senator that enjoy the daily cocaine snort. Raff wondered if the thick perfume was to cover up the decay of a corpse. Raff leaned into Unella and whispered, "How old is this nurse? Did surgery rooms look anything like this when she was in her prime or did she bring her own civil war tools? Does that large purse have a rusty bone saw?" Unella fought a smile, she never liked the woman herself. "Believe it or not, Barbery is only fifty-two years old. She has had a rather rough life." Raff gave a shudder. "A rough life? Try a rough century. Does she like to hunt alligators?" The nurse shoved the two aside and she began to asses Theon. "Handsome young thing, are you the nurse here? Excellent. Then stop ogling me like you want a taste and begin explaining this patient's chart while I see what mistakes you have made." In case the nurse wasn't rattling enough for the senses, Raff saw Qyburn seconds later. He wasn't unfamiliar with the doctor, the man has been to the school several times through the years, even after he had no longer worked there. Whenever a major medical issue happens that is beyond their capability, Qyburn is always the one consulted. Raff was always a little unnerved by the doctor but he has never brought an assistant as gruesome as this woman before. Barbery loved to talk, she somehow managed to chat right through everything Raff said about Theon's care but yet absorbed every word at the same time. Raff found this distracting, rude and utterly unable to cope, he said he was going for coffee and stormed out. Unella yelled for him to bring coffee back for her too. Qyburn had greeted his former nurse and student with mild warmth then got to business quickly. "The boy is very lucky, there is only the slightest inch that saved him. One more nick of a tooth would have killed him. I can repair this easily enough, Unella. Don't fret, the boy will be fine and I am sure that Kevan's twins will take care of any scarring left behind."

Varys was floored, he was flabbergasted and he was ready to burst, higher on life than when he tried absinthe and opium once with Tyrion. He would agree with the assessment that he was Tyrion's best friend. It can also be said that the men both understood the brutal world and how stepping on one another sometimes had to happen if one were to rise or survive this world. Once when they were younger, when they spent so much time together, they tried an oath of loyalty and honesty to each other. Then Tyrion's life got far too messy and Varys's life was getting far too orderly for their oath to stand. Varys moved on when his friend was sent away. Oh, he still loved to visit with his friend on the rare times he left the school. And they texted, shared jokes and gossip on occasion, monthly calls that they laughed and reminisced happily. Tyrion showed up drunk and unannounced but that gave Varys no pause, as that was traditional Tyrion. However, Varys has never seen such a floodgate of secrets suddenly pour forth. He had to shoo out his man and Shae, lock the door, close the shutters on his windows. Unable to help himself, Varys began to record his friend. Everyone suspected Cersei and Jaime of an affair, of creating incest children but there was never any real proof, just gossip. Here it is was out of the mouth of the younger brother who paid a heavy price for seeing the truth of it. A feral love child of Roose Bolton and Cersei Lannister? Tyrion began to lament of others things that didn't interest Varys as much. What did he care about the school and what happens there? But then something caught Varys's interest again, this time in an alarming way. "What about Theon? Can you say that again, Tyrion?" Looking up blearily, Tyrion repeated himself. "The stupid boy thinks he is in love with a Wildling gangster, stupid thing. I caught him trying to use my cell phone to call the man to rescue him. Myranda has tried to get through his head but." Tyrion seemed to wander off. "I like that girl's hair color. It is kind of nice to see something different." Varys gave a little shake to the drunken, half dozing man and spoke loudly. "Tyrion! Do you know if the foolish boy did make a call to this man? Dammit, wake up! Fuck." In a flurry of expensive fabrics, Varys launched himself across the room to reach his phone.  

Bob frowned at his phone, Varys has never called about clients this late at night. "Hello?" "Bob, Tyrion is here, passed out and the last thing he said was very disturbing. He mentioned that Theon had been talking about Styr, he said that Theon tried to call Styr about escaping the school. Listen, Bob, earlier some of his men came in and they said Styr was hunting tonight. The last time I circulated downstairs, they were all grumbling that Styr hasn't returned, no one can reach him. If he went to the school, if he didn't return, they know where he went, I think." Cursing, Bob thanked Varys. "Can you stall them? Drug their drinks?" Varys sighed. "I am neutral, you know that, Bob. I have to stay that way or my reputation and hard won successes are gone. I will keep silent to the Wildlings about what I know and ask some of my favorites here to spend a little extra time with them. If I hear they are leaving, if they are heading for the school, I will call you and tell you. It's the best I can do, Bob. Good luck. I will have a man of mine bring Tyrion back to Tywin's for you." Gritting his teeth, Bob began to send a heated text to Harold. The sudden blackout of communication made perfect awful sense now. He knew Harold would have his phone on and would see this. Closing his eyes for a second, Bob headed towards Kevan with a heavy guilt that he was about to add one more burden. 

Harold was half hanging in the weeds near the dirt road's sharpest turn towards where Styr had been parked. He was almost done, had the damned barbed wire finally untangled and he sighed at the buzzing in his pocket. "Arya, please check my phone for me. Who is texting?" Arya grinned and wiped the sweat off her brow headed over. "Damn, your cell, huh? Nice." Harold snorted. "Can you think to yourself what kind of punishment that I offer compared to the rest of the staff? You know exactly how far you can push each person, it is a talent you've discovered. Congratulations on your newfound talent. I recommend that you are very careful on overstepping those limits you can sense. Now, get my phone and read out the text, if you please." Rolling her eyes, Arya got the phone, but she gave no snappy comeback. She considered his words as she looked at the text. Luckily, the lesson was absorbed by the time Arya saw Bob's text, else it would have been swept right out of her head. With the largest shit eating grin ever to grow upon a fifteen year old girl's face, Arya spoke with a cheerful booming clear enunciated voice. "Bob texts, you cum guzzling albino piece of aborted fetal hell-slime, call me before I dismantle your entire body with a dull spoon in front of your motherfucking Gilly." Harold sighed and stood up, wiping off his hands. His face remained blank even when Arya started laughing and couldn't stop. "I will give you to the count of three to stop laughing then I will make you regret it." Arya reacted fast enough and Harold smiled at her. "Now, I will give you ten seconds to remember Sandor's mentoring on the silence of a spy. Go continue the road strip, I will help you when I am done on the phone." The girl rushed off, her face was trying hard to keep blank but Harold knew she would giggle in silence as she continued her work. He also knew that what she heard will not be repeated except perhaps to Sandor. That was all right, the man would only rib him in private over it. Harold grimaced at the cell phone and wondered how Bob figured out what was going on. Bob losing his temper means he knows something and Harold was afraid of how. Did he hear that Wildlings were gathering with furs and torches, cannibals at their head in Mad Max jeeps all heading for the school? And that was the only reason why he was calling Bob back.

Tywin is not a man to drink spirits. He likes to be sober at all times, clear headed and able to react with clear sane precision. Tonight his world is cracking wide open and for the first time in his own personal history except for once with his wife, he is losing control. The last time Tywin felt his world shift under his steady feet this much was when Joanna gave birth to that little monster. Oh, unlike Cersei, he did know who his wife was fucking and it was a troll, to be certain. It was a secret that will go with him to the grave. Let the world wonder at the reason why the entire Castemere family was slaughtered down to the last related infant. Only Tywin, Kevan and Gregor hold that secret. That night of Tyrion's birth, it had happened too fast to get to the hospital. They had to call in Barbery the butcher midwife, who nearly missed the whole thing herself. She showed in time for turning the baby in time to save it and slide the abomination out. Tywin had been there the whole time, holding Joanna's hand, telling his beloved wife how well she was doing. When that thing came out of her, Tywin let go of her hand. He demanded to know who it was that she was fucking and as soon as Joanna whispered it, he saw red. Barbery coldly and quickly cared for the squalling infant, Tywin's twins in the corner of the bedroom, holding hands, crying. Tywin beat his wife to death in front of them all, his fists just kept flying down and then he strangled the life out of her to be sure she was dead. It was never once mentioned how Joanna died. Qyburn saw to that and that was the man's ticket out of Kevan's school. The twins never spoke once of how their mother died, Barbery was paid well enough to have no interest in it. Cersei always maintained that it was Tyrion's fault their mother died and in a way it really was. Tywin heartily and vocally agreed with that assessment of his wife's death. Yet even the child he was forced to raise as one of his own couldn't cause Tywin to truly lose control. When Tyrion was beaten for mistakes, for being his repulsive self, Tywin always did it with controlled force. In spite of hating the child, he did not kill it, even when Barbery offered, when Cersei begged for it. He raised the boy as if he were a Lannister and did his duty by him. Deep down a bitter indignation at his daughter was growing, he suffered to do the right thing and did she learn from it? No, she followed in her mother's disgusting footsteps and lusts for the trolls. Then she didn't even do the right thing by seeing to the child's welfare and allowed it to grow into a shameful thing no Lannister should be. And there was no fixing it, no way to use this half Lannister, a broken girl they cannot claim. Now just a burden upon the family instead because of Cersei's spite. The slap he gave her wasn't enough for the slipping under his feet and Tywin's fists ached, he longed to strangle the life of out of his daughter. He tried to use words, cutting painful ones in the privacy of his den but Cersei's smirk, it just made the indignation and anger swell worse. For some reason, Cersei's tongue was loose as never before. Tywin didn't appreciate it and started to wonder aloud if it was time for Cersei to enter a rehab. Cersei hissed out, "Send me to the school then! I can be near my son and find peace as a drunken counselor! I will find a way to kill that repulsive troll or get the Tickler to take the creature and do the job for me, I am sure he would love that. He can have a few days fun and I get a lifetime of freedom from a stinking secret." Tywin gave his daughter a tiny smile that was full of malice. "I will send you to a rehab or a mental institution recommended and most likely run by Qyburn. Your son is better cared for by that school than he ever was by you! You are poison to him, you are poison to that poor girl, you are poison to anyone near you. If you do not shut your mouth and straighten up your attitude, I will see to it that you never see your son again! And if you ever touch, approach or even look at that child you discarded, I will personally whip the skin off your lovely back." Cersei had sneered but shut her mouth, instead going to the door and calling irritably for more wine.

Discreetly, Lancel brought the wine rather than allow a servant to hear or see tywin's shameful daughter. The boy was smart enough to hand the wine bottle over quickly to his cousin and leave, shutting the door firmly behind him. Tywin was repulsed to watch Cersei pour yet another glass of wine. He hated it in her and in Tyrion. How badly he wished it was his wife's side of the family that caused that stain but it wasn't. Tywin hasn't had a drink since the day he killed his wife. But his daughter suddenly turned to him with a smirk and said, "I fucked Jaime, you know. All three of my children were Lannister down to the bone, Father. Aren't you proud of me yet, you judgmental bastard?" Tywin's fist came up and Cersei was holding her gushing nose as he hoarsely muttered, "What did you just say? What did you say to me?" He didn't think beyond, I cannot beat my daughter to death. Tywin grabbed the bottle and took a swig before slamming it down next to Cersei's half full cup. He downed her cup as well. I cannot beat my daughter to death. I cannot. He advanced upon Cersei as the drugged wine swam through him.

Tyrion snoozed for a moment then woke up feeling dizzy but refreshed. He looked over at Varys's broad back and heard something about calling a car to bring him home to his father's house. Nope, that was the last place that Tyrion felt like going, so he silently tiptoed out of the room and headed for the club. Tyrion smiled at a few familiar faces and cleavages but gave no indication he was interested in going upstairs. He noticed there seemed to be an unusual amount of those Wildlings in the club this night. Only one booth was available, so Tyrion went for it and he didn't see it was occupied until he was already seated. "Oh, Bronn. Sorry, chum, I didn't see you." Tyrion smiled at the man leaning against the wall in the booth on the opposite side of him. Bronn looked plastered and grim, not like his usual cheerful self. Jaime had spoken to his little brother of the man's adventures many times and introduced him on one of Tyrion's rare vacations. Bronn greeted Tyrion with a toast and gulp his drink. "Usually, when I come here, I drink, I fuck a pretty young giggling thing. Tonight I am just drinking and that is a crying fucking shame because there is a sweet thing over there, Lollys. I'd love to try her out. But I can't get your brother's stupid fucking golden head out of my mind and I can't fuck that way, can I? He was always so golden and suave, gallant and utterly brainwashed by your family. I warned him but I can't say I told you so to a dead man. I warned him that your family would kill him in the end." Tyrion nodded as he ordered his usual to the waitress. "Oh, I utterly agree with you that it was my family that did Jaime in. At least you were his friend and truly grieve him. At the house it isn't sadness or sweetly recalled memories, it's just hatred and attacking each other, blaming each other. I couldn't take another second of it." Tyrion picked up his drink and gave a long sweet speech about his brainless handsome brother and they drank to his memory. 

Bronn nodded his head discreetly towards the Wildlings milling about. Several teens of both sexes were trying to get them to dance, to drink, to take them upstairs but without huge success. "Looks like a shitstorm is about to hit. Styr is missing. He went to hunt a rabbit and never returned. Never responded to calls or texts, his man isn't responding either. They are getting nervous and pissed. One of them took a girl upstairs awhile ago, one of Styr's guy's favorites. She came back crying and trembling and he told the others he knows where Styr went, who he was going after. I hope not because that little Myranda girl is a cute spitfire, they will rip her apart." Tyrion paled out and fumbled, trying to locate his cell phone. "Fuck, fuck, fuck, that is MY school. My students. Where the hell is my cell phone? Quick, Bronn, the school will need help, take me to the school, I will pay you, I swear it!"


	105. Racing A Storm

Kevan has found the recent sight of Harold all strange and flustered very disturbing. Now he must add Bob to that list of disturbing mood changes. Nothing shakes or sets off Bob, he has always been the one without a temper since the twins became adults. Harold on rare occasion has shown temper since he was no longer a student, but Kevan has always known that was a part of his personality. The twins have always seemed to settle into a certain personality culture of their own and stay there once they graduated and became staff. Not just staff but Kevan's personal assistants as well as using their other talents. Kevan doesn't like seeing this sudden unsure personality of Harold's, full of obsession, traps and awkward declarations or dances in front of them. Bob had only become more cheerful and Kevan knew that little sadistic part of the twin was simply always there within his brain. It was expected to pop up sometimes, mostly concerning Harold. Any rages Bob might have had as a student were few and Qyburn had given the child intense shock treatments and medication that Bob takes to this day. The twins kept each other in check for the most part, they balanced each other. Kevan has always known there was a small challenge, a sibling rivalry between them. Mostly Kevan found it amusing and didn't care. It was expected and no concern.

Bob having an epic rage meltdown on his phone without regard to who might hear it was concerning, very concerning and unexpected. Lancel and Sansa both stared at the man that was punching and kicking walls while screaming insults that consisted of words that were racist, sexist, sadistic, curses that a serial killer would even cringe from. Their faces were as stunned and horrified as his own must be. Bob ended the call without pressing a button. He simply threw it against a wall while muttering another vile curse, containing something about the gods damning Harold to an eternity of sucking the pus filled backsides of homeless prostitute lepers. Lancel was holding his hands over Sansa's ears and he was flushed. Kevan sat there, his hand in his chin, elbow resting on his knee, the leg gracefully crossed. In a remarkably calm voice for the situation, he asked, "Are you quite done, Bob? Would you like to smash a few things while you're at it? There are several vases in this room that I am sure will crash satisfyingly for you if need be. It will come out of your pay of course. Bob, I thought we saw the last of these rages when you turned eighteen or so?" The man seemed to try hard to collect himself and when he spoke his voice was full of strain needed to stay calm. "My apologies, Sir. My rage is entirely aimed at Harold and not anyone here. I am very sorry but I must go back to the school immediately. Perhaps it would be best if you stayed here with Sansa until I can come retrieve you, Sir?" Bob explained fast and the best he could. Kevan opened his mouth and that is when the first scream ripped down the hallway and through the thick wooden doors. Bob was in the lead running, Lancel, Sansa and finally Kevan all heading for Tywin's study. This wasn't the screaming of a woman being spanked or slapped around, this was a scream of someone in agony, someone about to perhaps meet a terrible sudden quiet fate. He ripped open the door to the small room and ran inside followed by the others. Tywin was beating the naked crumpled bleeding woman on the floor with a fire poker without a shred of mercy. Cersei's designer mourning dress was torn to rags under her curled form, her arms wrapped protectively over her head. There were black lines on her arms showing how wise of an idea that was. The rest of her body was bloody and purple striped, no lovely flesh left untouched. Bob didn't dare to stop Tywin without orders from Kevan.

Lancel tried to wrestle the poker from his uncle with minimal success while Sansa stood aside, hands covering her mouth. Kevan entered the room and barked loudly over Cersei's wretched sobbing and moaning. "Tywin! Stop this madness! Beating Cersei to death doesn't change Jaime's death, it doesn't change what happened to Jeyne! Give Lancel that poker and get a hold of yourself!" With a hiss of anger, Tywin allowed Lancel to take the poker then he shoved the boy away from him hard. He grabbed for the wine and Kevan blocked him. "Has everyone around me gone mad? What is wrong with everyone I know? What the hell-have you been drinking? Is that why you were using a fire poker on your daughter, brother? Is it like Joanna all over again? I won't allow it this time! That woman cheated on you and I didn't step forth to stop you. But this is different. What Cersei did is deplorable and certainly shouldn't be unpunished but to kill her over it? I am taking my niece to her home and I am returning to my school tonight. There is an emergency and I am needed back home. I will make sure to take Sansa and Tyrion with me as you are clearly in no condition to host anyone. For your own good, I am emptying every bottle of wine on my way out. I will not watch you fall back into your bottles and ruin your life."

Bob started to load the luggage in the car, Kevan and Sansa helped Cersei into Lancel's sports car. Lancel grinned and asked his father, "Are you sure you don't want me to drop Cersei off at the Martells or something?" With a censuring look, Kevan pursed his lips at his son. "You and Sansa will deliver Cersei to her door and to her bed. You will have the option of staying with your cousin at her home or at a hotel nearby. I will call you as soon as I know it is safe enough for Sansa to return to the school. And if you run into Tyrion, take him with you wherever you stay, lock him in a room until morning." Sansa looked at the moaning half out cold woman in the backseat and asked, "Are we sure we shouldn't find a doctor? I mean, none of us can really tell broken bones or internal bleeding." Kevan looked kindly but impatiently at his daughter in law. "Dear, after all this time running a school, do you truly think that myself, Bob and any staff member isn't trained once a year in signs of emergency trauma? Thank you for your concern, but Cersei just needs to go home to her servants. They have been with her since she married Robert, they will know exactly how to help her injuries." Lancel expressed the wish to assist his father in whatever dangers he might face and Kevan patted his back, smiling wryly. "I have no need of a white knight, son. Just keep your wife safe and unharmed for the night is all I ask." Bob's phone rang and his stomach sunk when he saw it was Varys. "Guess I don't need to call you and ask where Tyrion is, Varys." The man sounded quite harassed. "I turned around and he just went poof. He was last sighted in the club talking in a booth with Bronn, then he left with him in quite the hurry. Also, it seems one of the girls here was scared by a Wildling into telling who Theon was and where he was. Ten Wildlings have left and I wouldn't doubt they are headed for your school."

Stannis had been allowing every student as much coffee, snacks and breaks as he can tolerate. They have been working steadily, Ramsay, Damon and Jeyne had come up with Gregor and that made it a little easier on the others. The fencing was almost done, but work was getting slower and sloppier as the students started to grow too tired. "Polliver, start taking students to the dorms to shower and sleep, staff and any student that is caffeine energized still can finish this. It's almost three in the morning, let the children go to bed. I am going to go check the work finished, make sure we have no glaring errors to fix." With a grin, Polliver tapped each student gently with the baton. "Princess, Goldilocks, Sidebitch and Death Row, hop into the back of the truck." Gregor raised his brow, looking at the exhausted Myranda then back at Polliver. "What about the wilting lilac?" Polliver shrugged. "She said she wanted to work. So let her. Don't you dare ask me to take Jeyne! She is all yours until that fucking caffeine wears off!" Jeyne had been one of the things that had kept the students awake and working for so long. The feral had never been allowed coffee before. On a sugar high, Jeyne can become like a pinball until she crashes. No staff member had ever had the urge to find out how Jeyne would react to caffeine in such a high dose. Stannis had offered the coffee to all of them not thinking and by the time Stannis thought to snatch the cup from her, it was empty. Jeyne was given a refill happily by Ramsay, then another. Gregor put a stop to it and told Jeyne to only drink water. It was instantly noticeable when all the caffeine hit her as Jeyne started to shake like a lap dog then went crazy in a burst of pure energy. "Holy shit, I think she can see through time! Look at dog sister's eyes, Sidebitch! Jeyne, hey, what do the dinosaurs really look like?" Jeyne worked on the fence in a frenzy while singing fast as a chipmunk might sing a ditty if it could. Joff, Ramsay and Damon kept requesting songs and laughing. Even Myranda was chuckling as Jeyne flew about the fence, seeming to use more limbs than needed but her work was secure and fast as lightening. Her voice melted and chattered words into each other as she sang songs faster than an auctioneer that has need of a men's room after eating sour green apples. After Polliver left with the other students, Myranda yawned and said sleepily to Jeyne, "Okay, I will sing with you this time. Let's do ninety nine bottle of beer on the wall." Gregor groaned and Sandor's eye twitched as the girls began.

Harold was surveying their work, finally the last trap was set. When his phone buzzed this time, Arya looked at it with a serious face and spoke without a trace of humor. "Bob says ten Wildlings are headed our way. Kevan and Bob are trying to catch them from behind, Tyrion is missing and was last seen leaving the club with someone named Bronn. Bob says they might also be heading for the school." Taking a deep breath, Harold peered at the slight light in the sky and said, "I hope all that coffee has energized you. I know you are tired but we might be in for a long dangerous night. Are you up for it? If not, there is no shame in going into the dorm, sleeping through the lock down." Arya shook her head. grinning. "I am awake and excited. I wouldn't miss this chance for anything. I want to see if our traps work on these Wildling cannibals that like to eat trusting silly boys." Harold gave a rather grim smile back. "Well, you are certainly going to find out. Let's just hope we don't catch Tyrion and that cocky bastard with him." Arya peeked up at Harold as she tried to keep up with his stride. "Why don't you like this Bronn?" Harold cleared his throat and tried to figure out how to explain. "The man is a dangerous person to Myranda. Not in the same way as Styr, Bronn is only a killer for hire. But he charms and seduces girls like Myranda, makes them giggle and think they are special to themselves. He makes them feel good and he allows them too much free reign and pleasure. That kind of client is not a good one for our Myranda and I have come to regret allowing him to spend time with her." Arya glared at Harold and grit out, "Right. Because making a teenage girl whore for old men should make her happy enough. It's wrong to allow a teenage girl a small bit of laughter and a chance to feel good about herself for once." Mildly, Harold asked, "Do you know that term, button your lip? I can actually do that for you." Arya snapped her mouth shut and said nothing further.

Gilly had made sure that Hot Pie was not asleep, drowning in a vat of coffee. The poor man had spent the whole night racing around the entire estate, delivering coffee, snacks and messages. He was heavy lidded but his body kept moving and Gilly brought him a small present. A six pack of energy drinks that she had bought in FourHeads to try. She found them too strong and only had consumed half a can of it. "Here, I don't wish for students to have them, of course. But I need you alert no matter what, you are my lifeline for communication and everyone's needs. I appreciate that you are so efficient and dedicated to our school, Hot Pie. It helps knowing I have you to assist me tonight." The words and the drinks did the job and Hot Pie was bug eyed and moving faster than ever. He was flushed with caffeine and Gilly's glowing praise. Harold came up to Gilly as she was leaving the cafeteria, his little apprentice shadowing him. Gilly smiled brightly at them both and waited while Harold spoke. "Open up texting communication between staff again. Ten Wildlings are coming to look for Styr and are heading for us. So are Kevan and Bob. And a very drunk Tyrion with a buddy named Bronn, who is NOT ALLOWED NEAR MYRANDA!" Harold turned strange suddenly, his voice went deeper and his face was slightly flushed. "Do not give him ANY of your teas, Gilly! Do not speak with him, be cold, be meaner than you have ever been, to this Bronn, do you hear me? Do not laugh at any of his jokes, he is not funny or charming." Gilly kept her smile and nodded. "Of course, Harold. I shall get your restorative tea for you." Arya looked between the two then looked away, fighting not to smile or react at all.

Bronn's car was an old sports car that looked as if it had been in a war zone but the drunk Bronn handled it almost as well as Bob handles his cars. They nearly went past the old rest stop before Tyrion hollered to his new found friend. "Wait! Didn't the Wildlings take five motorcycles and the other five were stuffed in a truck? That rest stop had five motorcycles parked there. They drank a shitload of beer, bet they had to make a quick pit stop." With a smile, Bronn reversed his car and headed back towards the rest stop. "Let's raise a little hell!" Tyrion war cried as they drove towards the bikes, then Tyrion lost his mind briefly. Caught in the heavy metal music, the drugged wine still swimming and the moment of sheer anarchy, he slumped and slammed his feet onto Bronn's on the gas pedal. Bronn swore and Tyrion cackled as the car slammed straight into the line of motorcycles with a shriek of twisting metal. "Fuck, not very fucking smart, asshole! Now we have no way of driving away either! Hope the school isn't a long walk from here, that is if we live." Tyrion watched Bronn scrambling for his gun as the Wildings began to stream from the restroom, furious and bristling with weaponry. "Don't worry about it too much. School is only about another thirty minutes down the road, driving wise. Do you have an extra gun for me?"

Bob sped down the road and almost missed the rest stop but Kevan pointed and hollered, "Gunfire and a wreck of a car and five motorcycles! Turn, Bob, turn!"


	106. Blowing Shit Up

Sansa and Lancel didn't speak much as they drove Cersei to her own mansion only one block over. Lancel kept feeling his wife up with his free hand as Cersei snored deeply in the backseat. Her snores were wet and muffled from the hardened blood and snot crusting her blackened and swollen nose. Sansa thought of the pain the woman was in and it only made her give Lancel an urging smile. She wished aloud softly they could fuck on top of the suffering Cersei and her husband laughed softly as her panties were soaking through. "My little sadist. I know what you need tonight and you'll get it, don't worry, love. I won't leave you writhing in your lust tonight. You have done so well for me today, my little star needs a reward. Want to play one more game? You will really like this one if it works. You'll like it even more than any others we have played so far." Nodding eagerly, Sansa writhed in her sticky underwear as Lancel parked at Cersei's ornate home. He leaned over and deeply kissed Sansa, plunging his tongue deep and his fingers went between her legs to go even deeper. Catching her passionate needy cries in his mouth, Lancel fingered his wife fast and deep until she was on the edge then he stopped fast. Chuckling at her moans, Lancel kissed her forehead and whispered, "Later, my sweet sadistic superstar, later I will make sure you explode like any star should. Let's get my poor suffering cousin inside her home and then we shall have our last game of the night."

Bronn refused to give Tyrion his extra gun and then there was no more time for discussions. One of the men was already pointing a gun and ordering them to come out. Tyrion climbed right over Bronn and staggered out with a large smile. "Yes, hello! Pure accident, midgets that are drunk should never drive, right? Learned that lesson, didn't I?" The men all smirked, sneered and the jokes began, making Tyrion roll his eyes. "Little cocksucker, you have any idea how much those bikes cost? We are going to string you up like a pinata and beat you until everything inside you falls out." Tyrion muttered to Bronn behind him, still sitting in the driver's seat, half out of the car, pretending to be injured. "I don't feel that they want to reasonable. Should I offer to exchange insurance information?" Bronn looked at the five men advancing forward and muttered, "Yeah, not sure they are interested in exchanging information. I think you are going to make an excellent party favor." Tyrion looked up at the men and blurted out, "I am rich, from a very rich and powerful family with a ton of money and an even longer list of dead enemies. Your leader is associated with the Lannisters, isn't he? I am Tyrion Lannister, son of Tywin Lannister, surely you've heard of this? Your boss must let you all know who you work for, right?" One of the men, a thin, tall man with teeth in serious need of dental work, smiled. "You don't look like a Lannister and you don't dress well enough. Look at your car, man. Going to make you into a pinata." Tyrion sighed and shook his head, his face pulled into a sad mask. "They aren't incredibly overburdened with smarts, are they?"  Bronn grunted at Tyrion, "You aren't very smart either, or else we wouldn't be here. Just like your dumbass brother, always making stupid decisions. Least with you, I don't have to tell you to duck." Tyrion threw himself down anyway as soon as Bronn started to fire, taking out the tall thin armed man first. The others were mainly holding bats or chains in anticipation of a good dwarf beating. Now they were drawing their own guns and Bronn yelled for Tyrion to find cover.

Polliver made sure each boy was taking a shower when his cell went off and he read the text with a groan. Fucking lock down and he was missing half his fucking flock. Arya was with Harold, Theon was in surgery, he was excused for whatever happened to them. Jeyne and Myranda were a different story and Polliver swore. He locked every window, the front and back doors to the dorm house. The boys had been informed they were locked in for the night and warned this was not a night for getting up to shit. He ran for his gun and paroled around the school and cafeteria that Hot Pie and Gilly were using for food and communication center for the night. Hot Pie brought him coffee. Frowning, Polliver commented, "You look as wired as Jeyne. Find a little cocaine?" Hot Pie grinned and spoke almost as fast as Jeyne had. "No, Gilly gave me some energy drinks. Had two cans and am wide awake again. Ready for duty, for this lock down. Yeah. So why do you look so grumpy and worried? Do you think these Wildlings will get inside and hurt us?" Polliver snorted. "No. We have the fence up, Harold had all sorts of fucked up traps, we are armed just in case. I am missing ducklings and a bit nervous. Target is off playing with traps with creepy twin in charge, Jeyne is flying high around the damned fence and the purple haired whore wanted to be a cunt to me so I left her to work on the fence when I brought the others back. Sandor, Gregor and Stannis are with the girls, they will be fine. But Harold might get pissy that I didn't have the girls with everyone else." Hot Pie would have said something that is when the silent night rocked with an explosion from up the road. They could just see smoke rising. "Is that the rest stop up the road?"

When Hot Pie had made a last stop he had seen the two girls and laughed. Jeyne was insane with energy and Myranda looked like she was a zombie. He had given her a can of the energy drink and left her a small thermos of coffee. Now Myranda was as crazy as Jeyne and giving Sandor a headache. Gregor had left him to watch them, going to work on helping Stannis with the weaknesses or small mistakes in the fence. Sandor started to give the girls jobs further and further out of his direct earshot. When they had finally stopped chattering, singing and giggling, Sandor checked and saw they were starting to work on the barbed wire for the top of the fences. Jeyne was dangling at the top of the fence with Myranda carefully handing up the metal, both girls wearing gloves. Sandor decided not to bother them and went back to making sure the last of the fence was secured. The explosion echoed in the air and then came a closer sound, very loud and startling, the sound of a large vehicle caught in Harold's trap. It was too loud and shocking for Jeyne's buzzed head and she shrieked then flung over the fence, all fours, flying across the road into the woods. "Ah, fuck, fuck!" Myranda was overtired and also way normal caffeine levels. She climbed up and over the fence where they hadn't put barbed wire yet and chased after Jeyne.

Gilly stood in front of Polliver, staring him down. "Why are Myranda and Jeyne not accounted for? Why are they missing? You do understand that I must report this to Harold, correct?" The counselor swallowed then muttered, "They are both with Stannis, Gregor and Sandor working on the fence. They are safe with them." Gilly shook her head. "No, see, I just received a text informing me that both girls are missing. Now instead of securing our borders, they must search for two missing students. That you are supposed to be keeping track of, Sir. That is one of the main functions of your position. I am sure you are aware we are under attack. You are aware of that crash we all just heard. That means wounded angry Wildlings might be around just waiting to hurt or kidnap our two young girls." Paling, Polliver yelled with his hands flung out. "What do you want me to do? I fucked up! It's not like I can do anything about it! My job is to stay here and guard the ducklings and staff here! Raff patrols the clinic and this is where I patrol, it's how we do it. It's up to the other three to find the girls now, not me! And I don't have to explain myself to a fucking glorified housemaid!" Gilly's smile was bright as a car salesman's who's patience is used up. Unella staggered into the cafeteria, blood splotches still on her lab coat from earlier. She has changed her scrubs and threw on the coat out of pure habit. Beyond exhaustion, she was delirious with joy at watching Qyburn work, but she was unable to keep up with his pace any longer. Hot Pie rushed over with some decaffeinated coffee and she shook her head. "Pregnant or not, one cup of coffee won't kill me or the mutants in my stomach. Give me real caffeine, please." Hot Pie frowned a bit but brought Unella a fresh cup of regular coffee.  Gilly walked away from Polliver and smiled down at Unella. "How are you holding up, Doctor?"  Unella sipped the brew and closed her eyes for a second before replying. "Better now, thank you. I am just tired of the surgery room, need a breather from it. I heard the news from Raff and could hear the crash from the clinic. I am here with my gun and first aid kit, up for whatever is needed, Gilly. Just give me anything other than the clinic for awhile." Gilly  turned her bright smile back onto Polliver. "Unella can patrol the ducklings and the cafeteria for you, after she finishes her coffee and rests for a moment. Isn't that excellent news? Now you will have time to find Myranda and Jeyne before Harold returns for my report."  Polliver walked up to Gilly and stared at her, nose to nose. "You aren't my fucking employer, bitch. You can't tell me what to do! I will search for those girls, because I want to, not because you told me to!" Gilly was a cool stone fortress of uncrackable smile. "What an amazingly original idea, counselor. Why don't you hurry along with that can do attitude and find those girls? Because if those girls are injured, Harold is going to make a chair out of your skin. And I will obtain special permission from Harold to sit upon you once a week." Unella stared grimly at Polliver, who had stepped back from Gilly in revolted shock. "You lost Myranda and Jeyne? I will beg Kevan to allow me to also sit on you, perhaps Gilly and I can have tea together, taking turns sitting on you. We can call it Polliver Tea Hour." Polliver snarled. "Fuck you both!" He ran out the door and cursed all the way to the truck. It started to pour rain and Polliver screamed as he pounded the steering wheel. Barely able to see, Polliver tried to gun the truck and he drove recklessly as he received a text from Gregor that the girls were no longer on school grounds. In his mind, this was all Myranda's fault. If she hadn't pissed him off, he wouldn't have left her behind, he wouldn't have been too pissed off to have the patience to deal with Jeyne.

Lancel and Sansa helped Cersei inside and in spite of the two fluttering servants, they carried her to the opulent bedroom. They left her there with her tired maids and said they would show themselves out. Except only Lancel left, Sansa crept through the house just as she had been taught. Lancel drove back to his uncle's house, parking near it but not close enough to be noticed. He knew the code to get in the gates, he knew where his uncle hid the key for emergencies but Lancel didn't want to be noticed. Only family members knew of a tunnel, of a way into the house that was meant for emergency escapes. Except Tywin's children and cousins used it as a way to skip curfew and run around when they were grounded. Since there were no children or teenagers left in that house, the secret passages have not been used. There was such an escape route at Cersei's house as well, also unused since Joff was sent away and her other two children died. Only Lancel and Sansa will have use of these things now. He slid into Tywin's dark, silent hallways, the servants asleep and Tywin brooding in his den. Lancel slid into the man's private room, excited at taking such a risk. Tywin looked up from his couch, surprised, his eyes still swimming with the mild amount of drug still in him. "Lancel? Is everything all right? Is, is your father back?" Smiling, Lancel shook his head and entered the room, shutting the door behind him. "No, father is gone. The school is always first in his mind and you know he has a temper when it concerns the family. He loves you and hates to see you suffering. Here, I brought you this. It was unfair of father to judge you. A grown man who lost his son and learned his daughter's shocking secret has a right to a glass of wine."   

Tyrion had squirmed under the car and out the other side, heading towards the metal rusted shed for cover. Bronn had killed one man, wounded another and it wasn't going to be enough. Something about it all seemed to do what nothing else could do and that was bring a sober moment. He saw Bronn get hit in the leg and fall down, grunting. Bronn rolled behind a barrel and aimed, waiting, frozen. Tyrion wondered if the man would bleed to death, the wound was high on his thigh. Proving he wasn't sober truly at all, Tyrion decided to run over to Bronn. He drew a ton of fire while Bronn yelled curses at him but Tyrion dove and was safe. He landed squarely on Bronn's injured leg. "I fucking hate you. I should let them shoot you before you get me killed!" Sniffing, Tyrion got off Bronn's leg and muttered, "I came to help you, to treat your leg while you shot at them." Bronn widened his eyes in disbelief at Tyrion. "Really? This is you helping? Want to help me? Get that fucking flare gun in the car for me." Tyrion nodded and crawled over to the car as the four men pointed and laughed. They were angled in front of the gas pumps, there was no way they could miss Bronn or the midget. The men knew they had the two and were taking their time, yelling taunts and lighting cigars. Tyrion bemoaned, "We're going to die." In spite of his knowledge of certain death, Tyrion grabbed the flare gun. Bronn scowled at him as he scuttled back. The men were still laughing at the comical way Tyrion had moved, not noticing the flare gun that Tyrion was hiding against him. "Can you really shoot?" Tyrion nodded but Bronn looked dubious. "Okay, if this doesn't work, we die, it's that simple. I shoot the gas pump, you shoot the flare gun into it right after." "Uh huh. When should we do that?" The gun fired before Tyrion's sentence ended and Tyrion hollered as he shot the flare gun and then everything went orange. 

Bob drove into the rest area just in time to watch debris flying everywhere, two men on fire, screeching, slammed into his car. Kevan blinked and peered at the ruined and on fire, rest stop area. "Oh my. This is terrible, there are few other rest stops along this long road. I shall pay to have it fixed. It can come out of Tyrion's paycheck, of course. Maybe yours and Harold's as well, I am not sure yet. Can you see Tyrion anywhere in all this mess?" Causing Bob's nerves to nearly snap, Kevan got out of the car without waiting for Bob to do so first. Bob threw himself out of the car to make sure no one tried to hurt his boss. Kevan was looking down at a smoldering man who was grabbing onto his white pant leg. With a frown of distaste, Kevan brought his silver walking stick down hard into the man's blackened face. Stepping over the now silent man, Kevan started to search for Tyrion, coughing on the steadily worsening smoke. Bob danced all around Kevan, as his boss walked a man that was half seared came flying at them. Bob shot him twice before hurrying after Kevan, seemingly oblivious to danger while searching for his nephew. Tyrion staggered out of the smoke, bruised, a few cuts from flying metal but smiling so brightly that both Bob and Kevan wanted to hit him. The man limping next to Tyrion seemed to feel the same way by the way he was yelling at the drunk professor.

Harold and Arya had gone running at the sound of the crash on the road near the sharp turn that would have led to where Styr had parked his car. The truck containing five drunk and angry Wildlings had not only got stopped by the trap, it had flipped and crashed hard. There was a dead man flung into the dirt, a few feet from the crash but the other four were alive. One of them was bleeding from his head, leg and arm at an odd angle, just wandering the road, muttering to himself. Harold shot him in the head and dragged him to the side of the road. He snapped at Arya who still was holding his phone, to text the staff about three injured Wildlings wandering just outside their new fence. Arya sent the text and then widened her eyes at a response. "Uh, Sir? Gregor texted that Myranda and Jeyne are missing. According to their trackers, they aren't inside the fence." Harold gave a response that Arya probably would have cheerfully attempted to text back, a response full of words that even Arya hasn't heard of yet. Except at that moment came a crack of thunder and sheets of rain began to fall. Harold's rant was swallowed by the shriek of wind.


	107. Gods Of Chaos

Gilly walked up to Unella who gave a solid thumbs up in spite of the rain pouring upon her. Only her feet were dry due to her stomach. "Things are good here, Gilly. The boys are all asleep and Hot Pie is in the kitchen." Nodding, Gilly handed Unella an umbrella then leaned close to be heard. "I am glad to hear everything is all set and good here. I figured I would just drop this umbrella off to you and check in since I saw three boys dancing on the roof, only two of them wearing clothing." Unella shut her eyes and sighed. Ramsay was humming softly as he swayed, letting his bare flesh soak up the storm. He could feel the chaos, see the fire in the distance and gunshots from their school road made him gain an erection. Damon and Joff twirled around him, nightgowns plastered against them as they danced, nearly blowing off the roof. Loras lay snug in his bed, furiously masturbating to the images of twisted broken dead bodies.

Sansa slipped into Cersei's room after the maids went back to their own beds. She tiptoed to the window and opened it to sniff at the storm. Cersei moaned and turned over and Sansa dropped to the rug. She shimmied across the carpet until she was rolled under the bed. Holding her breath, Sansa waited to see if the woman would wake but Cersei just let out another wet, ragged snore. Giving it another moment, Sansa allowed her hands to roam her body, thinking of the bruises and welts all over Cersei. There was no doubt that her nose was broken and a plastic surgery or two would have to happen. Sansa heard Cersei give a small sob of pain in her sleep, almost making Sansa orgasm. Pulling her damp hands away from herself, Sansa remembered that Lancel promised her release later. The lesson Lancel gave her was still imprinted and sore on Sansa's body and the lesson was clear. She would obey commands and not attempt to rise above herself. Once she was sure that Cersei wasn't about to wake up, she slid out from under the bed. Sansa grinned down at the broken woman and swept her hands just above every inch of the woman, as if trying to feel the pain. After a few minutes of studying as much of Cersei as she could, Sansa slipped into the woman's slatted door closet and waited.    

A scream and the smell of roasting flesh had Arya whooping. "Harold! I caught one! My trap got one!" Harold gave a small smile of approval as he swept the girl behind him, his gun out. "That's wonderful. Let's not let Polliver prove himself right by making you a target for any of these Wildlings. Even though he might be caught in your trap, that doesn't mean he is dead or not still armed, wounded and ready for murder. So be silent and stay low." A moment later Arya watched as Harold shot the half burnt but still armed man in the head. Headlights splashed, illuminating them. Harold threw Arya into the bushes before he recognized the truck trying to edge past the smoldering wreck. Harold stood in the center of the road as the pick up truck crawled up and Polliver reluctantly rolled down the window. Yelling over the storm, Polliver said he was looking for the girls. "If you don't find my sweet girl and that feral, I'm going to take your skin." Polliver rolled his eyes, trying to fight off anything that felt like actual fear. "Yes, yes, I know. I'm sure that those two bitches are going to tell you all about how I hurt whatshername's feelings by calling her names and threatening her. A maid shouldn't be lecturing me like she's my fucking boss! And if I left that purple haired cunt out there it's because she has an attitude problem." Arya looked at Polliver and gave him a smile that scared him a little. He noticed Harold has become still and seemed very intense. "You harassed Gilly? You deliberately left MY sweet girl in harm's way? You better find those girls and then you will give a heartfelt apology to Gilly. Or you will be dead before morning." Polliver sped off without another word and Arya knew, sensed, that speaking a single word could be hazardous to her health. Keeping her eyes low, hands on the cell as if making sure Harold had no further messages, she waited. Harold watched the truck move on with that same predatory stillness. "I might have to order a new chair soon. Make a note that I need to tell Gregor to have wood shop make me a chair." Arya made the note with a simple, respectful, "Yes Sir."

Myranda grimaced, hating the feeling of her sweat suit clinging to her skin. At least she was cooler, if nothing else. Jeyne whooped and Myranda hit her again, pulling her forward. "Making me chase you then you leap down like that, scared the fucking SHIT out of me! Do you understand how much trouble we are in? We are way beyond school property and we are going to be lucky if Gregor doesn't sedate us point blank with his gun! Whatever punishment Raff gives to you won't be half as bad as what Harold and Bob can do to me! Don't ever say I am not your most bestest loyalest buddy after this!" Jeyne giggled and let Myranda pull her forward. "You are my best friend. Damon is my brother friend. Hot Pie will be my friend again when I graduate." A crack of thunder and Jeyne gave a tiny whine. "Don't you run off again, dammit! It's thunder and you know thunder can't hurt you. The crash couldn't hurt you either." Jeyne shrugged. "Even a Person can get scared by loud sounds." Myranda scowled. "Most Persons don't leap fences, run into the woods and climb into trees over loud sounds that scare them." The argument could have continued for a very long time if Sandor didn't leap out of the trees just then. Which scared both girls into running until they figured out who it was chasing after them. Myranda stopped first and called Jeyne back to them. Jeyne would have answered but the rain had caused her to skid, almost landing her in a ravine. Stopping herself just in time, she held onto a strong root. She felt a hand jerk her up roughly by her leg and flipped to thank Myranda or Sandor. The thanks died on her lips as she stared up into the unfamiliar face on the body as big as Gregor's. Except this man was nothing like her Nanny.

Kevan lectured Tyrion all the way into the car and Bob silently loomed over Bronn, breathing down his neck. "What the fuck is your problem, stop breathing on me, want to fuck me or something, Bob?" Bob smiled and shoved Bronn into the car. "I want to kill you." Tyrion shrugged when Bronn leaned over and muttered, "I don't think Bob likes me anymore." Tyrion raised an eyebrow. "Did he ever like you?" Bronn seemed to consider it then shook his head. "No. I don't think so." Ignoring the inane conversation, Bob drove faster than his usual pace. This caused Tyrion to puke in the backseat, which caused Bronn to start yelling and stick his head out of the window. Bob longed to swerve and let Bronn's face smash against the sign for the upcoming school. Bob texted for someone to let them inside the gates. He idled the car just inside the parking area, knowing their electronic strip will be up among other things. Tyrion snorted and explained to Bronn, "The twins have a love for traps. If you aren't careful, you might find yourself fried, caught in a trap with steel teeth or worse." Gilly appeared up ahead and waved at them. She held her umbrella out for Kevan, who took it with a graceful charming smile. "Ah, dearest Gilly! They have even dragged you out into this storm. "Though I cannot imagine anyone more efficient than you to handle the internal parts of a crisis!" Gilly gave a brilliant smile worthy of a queen about to face beheading and knowing history will speak of it. "Things are going as well as can be expected, Sir." Kevan swiftly entered his school grounds along with the others, Bob warning Bronn in a dire voice to steer clear of Myranda. 

 Joff, Damon and Ramsay were all on the same edge of the roof now, going between rousing cheers and hysterical laughter. Unella was trying to use the sedation rifle that Gregor favors. In the past, Unella was a very good shot. That is no longer the case. Between her immense stomach and the wind, Unella was aiming like a wild propeller. So far she has managed to sedate a tree, a raccoon and Hot Pie who was coming to offer his assistance. As the man dropped while still wearing his nervous smile, face first into a muddy puddle, Unella yelled, "SHIT!" The boys collapsed with laughter on the roof then began to applaud Unella as the woman tried to make sure the cook wouldn't drown. Raff watched from a distance and texted Gregor in a hurry. He saw Kevan coming down the hill with others in tow and moaned, "We are all going to be fucked." He prayed that Unella didn't accidentally sedate Kevan.

Lancel consoled his uncle as he persuaded him gently into another cup of drugged wine. His voice was honey, it was warm, it was sympathy, suggestion and it wove like poetry into Tywin's head. "What Cersei did was terrible and you have every right to discipline your children the way you wish to, uncle. I mean, she said even worse things before you entered, things that I had to swear Sansa to silence about. I swore to her I would beat her if she ever repeated it." Lancel let Tywin try and urge him to tell him what Cersei had said. Lancel pretended reluctance but then he acted as if it were dragged out of him. "I can't take another war with any family members, Uncle Tywin. So you'll have to make a deal with me. I will tell you what she said, in fact, I recorded her saying it and will let you hear it from her own mouth. But in return, you must never, ever tell anyone I was here, that I told you." Tywin agreed quickly and Lancel shook his head. His voice went very low and he pulled the curtains open to reveal the storm, lightening streaked by and trees creaked alarmingly in the wind. "Watch the storm, uncle. Gods are up there, angry ones are out tonight and they are hearing us, watching us. Can you almost see them? You swear to them that you will never tell. If you do, you will die, the gods themselves will rend you apart. Swear to them if you want your daughter's awful truths." Tywin staggered to the balcony and stared with hallucinating horrified wonder and he whispered, "The gods are real, they are real, I see them. They want me to know, Lancel, I can feel it, they want me to know so I can judge and discipline my daughter. I swear to never tell you were here, that you told me. I swear it before the gods!" Tywin stood before the glass doors that barely held the shrieking wind at bay while Lancel played the recording on his cell right into Tywin's ear. His uncle paled and shook, his fists tight, his breathing heavy and he moaned, "No, no she didn't do that to my sweet boy. Not to my son, not to my Jaime. He wouldn't do such a filthy thing." Lancel whispered into his uncle's ear, his chin nearly on the tense shoulder. "Jaime did it because Cersei seduced him into it. Do you remember what my father told you she did to me? She is wicked, a child molester, a creator of incest children, none of them are legitimate, could you imagine if others knew? What if my own father had heard that right after he heard that Jeyne was a Lannister? Even my father would have to agree that it was your duty to punish Cersei anyway you saw fit." Tywin saw another flash of lightening after a crack of thunder seemed to shake the house. "It's the gods, uncle. They approve of this action. It is time for you to show Cersei what happens when a Lannister spits upon their own name, shames their own family. I support it and I am sure my uncle would. Only you can deliver a fitting judgment and punishment as her father. It's a gods given right as her father." Tywin drank some more and then brought the bottle with him as he headed out to his car and drove to his daughter's house. Lancel used the tunnel to race to his car and follow his uncle. He used the same emergency tunnel for Cersei's house and slipped into her small parlor upstairs. He could hear his uncle fighting with a maid that woke up by the quick shriek then silence of the alarm. While Tywin argued with the maid, Lancel slipped into the bedroom and into the closet with Sansa. They heard the thump of the maid hitting the floor then footsteps. Another maid sounded like she was chasing up the stairs towards Tywin, speaking in a respectful but frantic tone. Then they heard her plummet down the steps and go silent. 

Stannis and Gregor were searching in different directions, as was Sandor, for the girls. Gregor heard a strangled cry and ran to see that Stannis was caught in one of Harold and Arya's traps. He was pale with anger and pain, his leg caught in a snare, the wind was whipping his upside body wildly around like one of Jeyne's whirlygig men. Gregor just managed to get Stannis down and determine the man's ankle was sprained when his phone buzzed. There was a text from Raff. "Your wife is using your rifle to sedate the staff and wildlife. Boys dancing on roof. Death Row is naked. Kevan is back." Gregor swore and snapped at Stannis to limp back over the other side of the fence.

They all heard it at the same time.

Stannis and Gregor, Harold and Arya, Polliver who had just left the truck and was trudging into the woods. They all heard Sandor roar, gunshots rang then Myranda's voice, above the rain and wind, screaming as if to the gods themselves. "OH GODS, NO! PLEASE, NO! JEYNE, JEYNE! HELP, SOMEONE HELP, WE NEE-" The silence was sudden, thick and punctuated by a crack of thunder. 

 


	108. Falling Down On The Job

As Wun stared down at the girl he yanked back up from the ravine, he was reminded of those little lap dogs his aunt had owned. They were adorable, big eyes and tiny bodies. That is what this girl looked like, one of those little dogs, with her large eyes staring up at him with innocent shock. She looked too tiny to be any danger and he reached down to grab her. That is when Wun recalled how much he hated those little fucking dogs. How every time he would reach down to pat those adorable dogs, they would snarl and lunge forward to bite him. With a growl, the girl scrambled up him and gnashed her teeth into his face while her hands tried to rip his ears off. He shrieked and threw himself into a tree, trying to beat her off his head. Jeyne leaped off him and went up a tree as he fumbled with his gun. She had moved to another tree as he was aiming, looking for her. Wun heard Jeyne at the last second as she careened forth from behind him and he spun, shooting. Jeyne smashed into him still, knocking him stumbling, clutching his ribs. She fell to the muddy ground and her mouth was open in a silent scream as she clutched her bloody leg. Wun kicked her twice to keep her down before he regretted the action. Jeyne wrapped around his leg and reached up to try and bite through his pants. With a shriek, Wun aimed the gun at her head rather than risk her biting his genitals. Her teeth were gnashing only an inch away and he wasn't going to take anymore chances with this crazy girl.  Sandor came bursting from the trees with a roar, lifted his gun and began to fire. Wun threw himself down, flattening the girl under his large leg as she tried to chomp through it. Myranda was just behind Sandor and she screamed at the sight of another Wildling stepping out to her right. He aimed and Sandor was laying in the soggy foliage with a bloody hole in his head. Myranda dropped to her knees next to Sandor as if in disbelief, her hands moving as if she thought something could be fixed. Wun sat up and hit the pinned girl underneath his leg with his gun. She cried out and went limp, her eyes blinking but dazed. Warily, Wun moved his leg and stood up fast but the girl didn't come after him. Myranda looked over at Jeyne, seeing the still body with blood leaking from her head and leg and started to scream, thinking her friend was dead. Rattleshirt sneered and aimed his gun at the girl, watching her pale and stop yelling, staring at the barrel of the gun. "Go on, be real brave and kill me. Harold and Bob will fucking hunt you and skin you alive. And killing Sandor? Gregor will rip you apart with his bare hands if he reaches you first. I don't know who will avenge Jeyne, but I'd guess her father Roose Bolton. So shoot us."

Bob marched over to Unella and relieved her of the sedation rifle. He cocked it and pointed as all three boys threw themselves flat. The storm was lessening it's grip and the wind wasn't going to foil a shot like Bob's. They heard his voice clearly. "I am counting down from fifteen." All three boys decided to vacate the roof willingly, even Ramsay. Kevan stood before the three of them and shook his head. "Damon, I am most disappointed in you. To allow yourself to be swayed into such terrible reckless behavior after you have done so well. I expect this sort of thing from Joff and Ramsay." Damon blushed and looked down, shame overtaking his joy at such fun. "I'm sorry, Sir." Kevan sighed. "You should be and will be sorry, young man. All of you. For now, you will get dry and into your beds. Now." Raff accompanied the boys inside. As each one got into their room, he sedated them with the syringes he had prepared while they were climbing down from the roof. He let each of them drop to the floor, sedated and soaking wet.  

Rattleshirt leaned over the purple haired whore he remembers from that pompous club he got banned from. His eyes were seeing her through a haze of meth and he spoke softly but it was menacing. "Where is Styr?" Myranda glared up at him. "Styr's dead. He tried to kill Theon, Harold killed him for it. This isn't your average boarding school. All your friends are dead or dying by now. You should run." Wun and Rattleshirt exchanged the same chilling look. Rattleshirt looked down at Myranda and even as he aimed, the girl did something amazing to him, she grinned, full out grin blazing. He paused, to ask her about it, wondering if it was the meth or really the whore just looking deranged and happy. Myranda never heard his question, she was too busy grinning madly at Gregor. The giant had silently loomed up behind the meth head and was relieving the man of his gun via by trying to relieve the man of his actual arm. Wun understood enough through his meth brain and his fourth grade educational skills, that it was time to leave. The girl was starting to try and crawl away and he grabbed her by the leg. Snarling, the girl squirmed, but her eyes were dazed still and she wasn't able to bite or fight. Wun heard the name Bolton. Whenever a name was thrown around, it was usually rich and important. He threw the light thing into the crook of his arm, ready to choke her out if need be. No, she hung limply, only that snarling sound continued. Wun started to back away as the blood splattered giant that just killed his friend glared at him. "I will kill her, I will crush her head! I want to go home, leave me alone. Don't make me kill her." Polliver and Stannis had both just made it into the clearing, both standing still, watching the giant holding Jeyne. Wun backed up until he was just beyond their sight then turned to crash through the trees. Harold fired three bullets into the man's face before it really had registered that the man was there.

Lancel kept one hand tightly over Sansa's mouth as he fucked her in the closet. They watched Tywin's bloody fists go up and down, heard Cersei scream, plead and gurgle on blood, pulverized teeth. Tywin started to strangle her and Sansa was wild, Lancel using all his strength to keep up with the pace his savage teen bride wanted. He wanted to laugh as badly as she wanted to scream out in pleasure. Cersei's feet gave a last flurry and as Tywin rode out her last breaths, Sansa rode out her orgasm, sending Lancel into his own. They only stayed long enough to watch Tywin roll off the bed and stagger out the door. Bypassing Tywin's sobbing frame in the hallway, they went out through the tunnels. Giggling, Sansa crept after Lancel all the way to the car. As they drove away, Sansa chewed on her finger. "What if Tywin tells on us? What if he tells you were there, bringing him wine and a recording?" Lancel shrugged and stroked her long leg as he drove. "It won't matter. It's clear he did it, it's clear how much he had to drink. And I have paid others quite well to say they saw us tonight. Don't worry, love. My room at the hotel was checked in for us hours ago, let's go there. Get some sleep before all hell breaks lose for us to pretend shock over."

Kevan had started to head towards the clinic when Polliver careened the truck past the gates. Unella hurried to the clinic to prepare while Raff ran to the back of the truck. Myranda was holding Jeyne, pressing down on the injury. "She is out of it. She bit at everyone who tried to touch her but me." Nodding, Raff gestured for Myranda to scoot forward with the whimpering girl. Raff spoke softly, trying to see Jeyne's face. "Jeynie, it's Raff. Can I pick you up? I want to fix your pain, your leg and head. Can you let me help you, sweetheart? Jeynie, look at me, let me see those pretty eyes, there you are." Blinking, Jeyne sluggishly moved off Myranda and let Raff pick her up. "Good girl. Let's get you to the clinic, honey." He looked over Myranda fast as he started to walk away. "If you need treatment, come to the clinic." Myranda wasn't hurt but she was worried about Jeyne and followed faster. "Fuck that, you aren't hurt." She turned as Polliver poked the baton into her side painfully. "I just want to make sure Jeyne is alright." A hand snatched her soaked purple hair at the roots and Myranda cried out. "Nah, whatever happens to Jeyne you can just consider your fault. They can care for her at the clinic. Clinic is only for hurt students and you aren't hurt yet. Get to bed now." Polliver followed his growled words with a harsh smack of the baton to her thigh. "Move it!" Myranda ran for the dorm, trying not to cry until she reached her room. Theon and Jeyne in the clinic and Sandor dead. She wished that Hot Pie was still a student so she would have someone to hug. A moment later she heard Arya sobbing downstairs, Stannis's voice offering a fast efficient sympathetic order for the girl to try and sleep. Myranda waited until she heard the professor leave then she tiptoed down to Arya's room. Sandor had been the girl's mentor and Myranda felt a pang of guilt. It was because of her actions and Jeyne's that the man died. Still, she opened the door and went inside, expecting anger and rejection. Instead Myranda was surprised when Arya accepted the hug and fell asleep in her arms.

Gregor allowed no one to touch his brother's body but himself. Kevan allowed no one but Unella and Raff to care for Jeyne. Gilly wouldn't allow Harold and Bob further violence which Bronn and Tyrion found hysterical. So did Polliver and Stannis but they were sober and smart enough to remain silent and stoic. Bob had gone for his twin the very second he saw him. Dirty from helping to kill then conceal bodies, tired and stressed from the whole damned ordeal, ashamed that he lost a staff member and that students were injured on his watch, Harold's temper wasn't even. Bob stormed up to Harold and punched him straight in the face. Harold staggered then sent a fist into Bob's stomach. Gilly jumped in between the two snarling men and spoke sharply. "Gentlemen! Kevan will be out of the clinic any moment. I suggest not letting him see any worse behavior then we have already exhibited. I suggest we take any of this extra energy we have and put it to good use. We have much to clean up, don't we? Let's get started." Bronn blinked and smirked at Tyrion. "Who is the tank and who put her in charge?" Polliver snorted and muttered, "I ask that myself all the fucking time." Harold took two steps towards the two men but Kevan did come out at that moment. Just in time to see Gilly beginning to give orders on the clean up.

Kevan glared sternly at the group. "I will tell you what I told Unella and Raff inside. When each of you finish your tasks, wait in the cafeteria. Poor Hot Pie is finally awake and making coffee for all. I will speak with each of you. Bob, you are included in that. You will go assist however needed without fighting with your partner, please. Bronn, would you come with me? I wish to speak with you in our cafeteria first. It is dry and I assure you, Hot Pie's coffee will sober you right up as will my words." Bronn smirked and drawled out, "Challenge accepted. It's hard to get me to stay sober these days." Kevan chuckled lightly as he introduced the man to Hot Pie. "This gentlemen is in need of Tyrion's special brew of coffee, please. The one you give him before his meetings with me." Hot Pie smiled with understanding and walked off to brew another pot. "Tyrion will tell you that I do not require sobriety of him for the most part, just that he does his job." Bronn sipped at the coffee and briefly winced, seeing another dimension as his brain lit up. "Gods, I can see through time, this shit is awful." Kevan smiled and fixed his cuffs over his wrists while speaking mildly. "You worked for Jaime, didn't you? And recently, you made the acquaintance of my dearest student, Myranda. Now I see you are good drinking buddies with Tyrion." Bronn nodded and Kevan smiled charm in full effect. "Jaime is dead. You will stay away from my dear girl and I do not approve of your cavorting with my nephew though he is grown and I cannot stop him. Regardless of these things, I have a job offer for you."

 

 


	109. Angry Gods

Kevan was fury, he was justice and no one was allowed any defense whatsoever. He had sent Bronn on his way with a borrowed dirt bike and a fatter wallet. Then Kevan decided it was best to keep refueling on Hot Pie's coffee and await all staff to gather. The school was secure, Kevan knew that because he himself had gone on a quick trip around with Bob via cell phone video to ensure it. He paced, sat, stood, stretched and paced until the staff began to trickle in. Then he froze in place. None of them dared speak above a whisper to each other as they got coffee and sat their soggy selves down. Since Kevan stood dead still in the center of the cafeteria, leaning upon his silver cane, staring just above their heads, the staff sat at the students table. They all felt small enough and for Hot Pie, Polliver, Raff, Harold and Bob, it was a memory of being a student coming horribly true again. Kevan continued to be a dignified statue until every staff member was sitting quietly. He tapped his cane suddenly and that caused all of them to flinch, even the twins. "I am sure that you all very tired and stressed. Gregor, please allow me be the first to offer you my condolences. The next two paychecks Sandor would have earned is now yours. You are excused from this meeting." They all waited as the large man left without a word, his face grim. Kevan turned and pointed his cane at Unella. "Because your husband is grieving I will allow you to go first. You are too large at this time to use weaponry and frankly, only your own stubbornness didn't let you see that. You will take an inventory with Raff on what you can and cannot do until your children are born. And stomach or not, dear, how did you miss the three students climbing on the roof? They weren't under your stomach, were they? No, they were on the roof. As huge as you are, you can only look up, how did you miss them? I want Raff to check your eyes and send me a report. Because I wonder if you need glasses perhaps? I forgive you inviting Qyburn and his nurse here without MY express permission. It was an emergency that saved our Theon's life. I trust that Jeyne is cared for enough to be in her room, pain free and resting? I want her leg checked every day. Don't bother to call the Boltons. They can see her crutches on visitor day. She will have something to show off to Walda. If your husband wasn't grieving I would do more than lecture you, I would dock your pay, so go while you can." Unella didn't need to be told twice and nearly knocked Tyrion right off his chair with her stomach.

Stannis steadied him and the smaller man grumbled, "I feel like I was just ambushed by a herd of buffalo." Kevan slammed his cane down hard and frowned at his nephew. "You drank coffee but added a little something more to it, of course. Even for the one night, you couldn't be sober for a small portion of it. I asked so little of you while we were out of the school. You put yourself in incredible danger tonight! Instead of getting to the school, I had to make a pit stop with Bob to save you!  Not to mention, you blew up the rest area! Three months loss of paycheck. And I will tell you that if you open your mouth to protest in any way, I will give you a sound beating with my cane! I have had all I can take of you tonight, Tyrion. The drunken shenanigans you had with your ruffian of the night will not be repeated!" The cane pointed at Stannis. "Your job was to oversee the construction of the fence? And you gave Polliver the order to bring the students back? Then you should have insisted that he return for the girls the second you saw they were left behind. It was a lock down, Stannis. Two weeks pay, kiss it goodbye." Stannis said nothing but nodded his head slightly. Kevan pointed his cane at Hot Pie. "You were taught to use a gun and how to use the sedation rifle, correct? It's a class all staff takes, so you did take it. Good. Next time, when you hear lock down, see a staff member for a weapon or offer to use the sedation gun if its needed. Don't just make coffee and food during an emergency. All hands are needed. This is your first offense as a staff member and compared to others here, it's minor. Next time you will lose a paycheck." Hot Pie nodded and didn't bother to mention that Kevan hasn't paid him at all yet.

Kevan's wrath swiveled and he stuck his cane into Raff's chest. "And you! You know better than to laze around during an emergency! As soon as you saw Unella was unable to perform her duties as sentry for the children, you should have switched places with her. Or offered to go get the girls while Polliver stayed with his charges. Two weeks pay, Raff." Kevan twirled and bypassed Polliver for Gilly. "Harold left you in charge while he was dealing with the threat. You chose Unella to watch the students and use the sedation rifle. I am afraid you must suffer the consequences of poor decision making. Two weeks pay, Gilly." Kevan was in Polliver's face before the man registered it. Nose to nose, Kevan spoke softly but with great menace. "My duck lost control of his ducklings. What is your one job? I rely upon you to always know where those children are and that they are safe, cared for, where they should be. I don't know where your head was, young man, what you were thinking. To deliberately put two young female students of mine in danger, to desert them during a Wildling attack? I blame the injuries Jeyne suffered on you, I also feel you can take part in the blame of Sandor's death! You have just lost three months pay, boy! Do not ever, ever, leave any of MY students open to such danger! And, if Theon called this Styr, how did he get phone to do so! I suggest you start cleaning out your dorm and get your ducklings in order!" Polliver was livid but he lowered his eyes in respect and mumbled, "Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." Kevan headed for Harold and the cane waved about as if itching to deliver a few whacks. "What the HELL were you thinking, Harold? To not alert me the very second you had an emergency! I should have known about Theon's injury, I should have been alerted that Qyburn was visiting, that AN ENTIRE WILDLING GANG OF DRUG ADDLED CANNIBALS WERE ATTACKING! And you dragged a student along outside the protection of the school during a dangerous situation? I am thrilled you have someone to mentor in your traps. I am happy that you finally have a date to go on. But for your sudden lack of judgment you can join Tyrion and Polliver in three months loss of pay. Two students injured and a dead staff member on your watch? Not acceptable, Harold." Bob didn't move when the tip of the cane thumped into his shoulder. "And you! Styr met Theon through you! Your irritation at Harold, your greedy ambition for the highest paying client for Theon's first time almost cost the boy his life. It did cost Sandor his. Three months pay, gone for you as well."

Tywin stared at the twisted, bloody dead thing on his daughter's bed. He had wandered the house for some unknown length of time, his head was still spinning. How many times has he come back to stare at Cersei? He recalls that a few times he even tried to talk to her, lift her up and he looks at his stained, bruised hands. I killed my daughter and two maids. The scandal, the stain, it was unbearable and for the first time in Tywin's life, truly did his name and duties feel too heavy for his shoulders. Tywin spent another ten minutes trying to understand why he kept losing time and then he looked at the wine glass in his hand. When had he started to drink again? He was looking for a phone, wasn't he? Tywin nearly crowed with delight when his hand had the cell, the glass apparently left somewhere. He stood on the balcony that was attached to Cersei's room. Funny, how his daughter modeled her home right after his own. She was a ruthless cold woman that was so much like her father, just not quite enough. Twyin noticed his face was wet with tears and he was scandalized. He stared at the phone in his hand and thought about calling Jaime. No, that wasn't right because Jaime's head was in a box. Is that why he has tears on his face? No, something terrible happened besides that, Tywin looked back into the bedroom to see his daughter's body. That might be why he is crying, Jaime's head in a box and Cersei is dead. By his own hand and how can this be hidden for the future of their name? If only Kevan could think. He could call his brother? And tell Kevan he beat his own daughter to death, killed others and is too drunk to think? No, that wasn't going to happen. Tywin looked at his hands and then back at his daughter's corpse. The storm raged and Tywin staggered to the balcony railing to stare into the sky. He found the damned glass in his grip instead of the phone but that didn't matter since he couldn't decide who to call. Drinking deeply, Twyin stared up into the storm and screamed. "What do you want from me! What should I do? I did my duty! I did what you wanted, so what do I do now? My family! MY NAME!" The next time Tywin came to himself he wasn't crying but he was coughing. He was pouring the gasoline from the garden shed all over his daughter's house. Tywin finished the bottle of wine just before he succumbed to the smoke. He could only hope that he and Cersei would be ash along with the house. The storm gods will surely allow him to keep his NAME intact. The rain wasn't as heavy, the fire was soaring up to meet it.

Lancel and Sansa slept very little before they got dressed and headed to check out of the hotel. They went for breakfast in the exclusive restaurant of the hotel then Lancel began the long drive towards the school. Not going near the Lannister estates on their way out of Kings Landing, both could see the black smoke rising from the section of the city where the richest homes were. Lancel and Sansa giggled as they drove out of the city, wondering aloud what Tywin did. What will happen when Kevan finds out his brother murdered Cersei? How the scandals will play out? This discussion got them most of the way back. Sansa gave a tiny pout after they stopped at a tiny truck diner for coffee and to stretch their legs. "I am jealous of something, Lancel. I want to admit that to you. I am jealous that you met HIM first, before me. I only spent summers with him and I was young, just a kid, I never really understood. By the time I understood what Uncle Petyr was trying to teach me, my mother ripped me away from him." As they stepped into the chilly wet parking lot, one of the trucks nearby had a song playing too loudly. Lancel smiled and whirled his new little child bride in the lazy wind. They got wet and didn't care. Lancel pulled her close, his chest pressed against her back, his strong arms wrapped around her and they swayed in the rain. "I was a child when I first met Petyr too. It took me time of watching him, observing him before I asked him to be my mentor. By the time my father allowed me to learn in the proper schoolhouse with students, I was already beginning to understand the path Petyr was taking. He understood where he and his own classmates had gone wrong. Petyr understood that it would take another generation to continue what he started. I was lucky that he chose me, Sansa, it was like a blessing. He gave me the first true hopeful feeling I had ever had, I think. And you have no idea how honored I feel to continue his work for him, that I can teach it to you and others. We shall avenge Petyr, we shall burn up everything and start from the ashes."

Sansa was returned and Lancel had barely shaken his clearly tired father's hand when the first of many calls came in. Tywin and Cersei Lannister's bodies were found inside the half burnt mansion.     


	110. That Damned Trickle Down Effect

The baton crashed into the door and Myranda opened one eyeball to stare at her alarm clock. It clearly showed that she had forty five more minutes before her usual wake up time. Was there another damned emergency? She has only slept for three hours! Myranda staggered to her feet just as the door crashed open. "Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey! Time to get moving, Whore. Let's go, up and at em!" Polliver was loud and far too cheerful but his eyes were looking for a fight. "I'm back to Whore? Why do I have to be up this early?" Smiling at the muttered questions as the befuddled and clearly dead tired girl tried to understand, Polliver responded. "I think you should be at the kitchens earlier. Help out Hot Pie a little more. He didn't get much sleep, he can use the help. You have ten minutes to get ready or I'm gonna beat your ass like a bongo drum." Myranda softly cursed as she heard Polliver's baton slam against Jeyne's door. "Feral! Wake up and get yourself dressed. Crutches or not, you are on kitchen duty. Go be a help to Hot Pie, what did you just say to me? Get your ass up right this second. I don't care what hurts! We will see Raff on the way, move! Yes, that's right, I called you Feral. Stop crying and get dressed, DO NOT QUACK AT ME! CALM YOUR FUCKING ASS AND GET DRESSED NOW!" Myranda felt outrage burn when she heard Polliver give Jeyne a few whacks that made her shriek. I can't take this shit, it's not fair, Jeyne shouldn't suffer like that, it's not right. And that same feeling that welled with Craster was back, Myranda found herself thinking of what she could use to slit Polliver's throat. Mercifully, Myranda heard Raff come up the stairs. She put down the mirror she was going to smash for a jagged piece of glass carefully and finished dressing.

Polliver felt a hand grab his wrist and for one moment, he thought it was Myranda. He turned, ready to unleash hell upon her only to see Raff, hissing at him softly. "Hey! What the fuck is your problem? She is injured, did you forget, you moron? Jeyne was shot last night and you beat her with a baton? What the fuck? Why are you taking it out on her? Asshole." Shoving past Polliver, Raff approached the sobbing girl on the bed. "He took it away! He took MY NAME!" Pausing, Raff looked back at Polliver, who shrugged and gave a smug grin. "Whore and Feral. A stupid whore followed a fucking feral into the woods and got a staff member killed. Cost all of us to lose pay, so yeah, until I see better behavior I took away their names." Raff gritted his teeth and tried to speak calmly. "We can discuss that during staff meeting time. That is a rather harsh change to be made without consulting the therapist and doctor." Polliver yawned and twirled his baton. "That isn't your department or your concern. I have always used nicknames on the ducklings and I can take away, add or start calling them things one, two and so on, if I would like." Raff shot Polliver a dirty look and turned to help Jeyne sit up. "Here sweetie. I am giving you something to help with the pain and your regular medication."

Polliver left Raff to assist Jeyne in getting dressed and getting used to the crutches. Myranda was ready except for her hair which she was starting to pull into a ponytail as he entered her room. He raised an eyebrow. "You have one minute left, I'd hurry." Trying to hide her anger, Myranda tightened her ponytail and tried to slide past Polliver to get out the door to the wall. Polliver sneered at her and let her inch past him. There was no way to go past without her body sliding against him, she kept her eyes on the door and forced herself to keep going. With a sigh of relief, Myranda was through the door and plastered her back against the wall. Polliver followed and twirled his baton as he peered into Jeyne's room. "Any hope of Feral getting her ass out here anytime soon?" Raff's voice was acid as Jeyne started to sob at the name. "No. Jeyne is injured and never used crutches before. She is also fragile of mind right now thanks to your fucking nickname revenge games. Back the fuck off or I'll take her to the clinic instead of the cafeteria." Polliver frowned and hollered. "Fine! Bring her when she is ready." Myranda waited until Polliver gestured with his baton. "Waddle your fucking ass, duckling. Faster, faster, don't you dare run on those stairs, Whore!" The entire way to the cafeteria, Polliver found reasons to give harsh quick whacks of the baton to the girl. Hot Pie was blinking at Myranda and Polliver. "Why so early? I haven't even started the coffee yet." Glaring at the cook that was half asleep over the coffeemaker, he snapped, "Never mind. Just put Whore to work. Feral will be here as soon as nursie decides to stop coddling her."

Myranda waited until Polliver left before letting out a string of swear words. Hot Pie got the coffee going while Myranda staggered around with a rag in case Polliver returned. She told Hot Pie what had happened between her and Polliver. "Fuck, he is stubborn, you know once he gets a grudge he doesn't let it go. You better just suck it up and apologize, grovel a little. Don't you know how to appease even assholes like him by now? Just sayin." Myranda threw the rag into Hot Pie's face and grabbed the broom, attacking the floor with a vengeance. "Right. I should just get on my knees, beg him all pretty tears and eagerly suck his cock. Offer to do it for free for a few months? Fuck him and fuck you." Raff and Jeyne came in, the girl was calm, a little fuzzy and clumsy on the crutches. "Uh, let's not put Jeyne near any hot stoves, please. Here, sweetie, let's set you up on a high stool in front of the counter. Hot Pie can have you fold napkins or something." Hot Pie came over and brought napkins for her to fold. "Hey, Jeyne. I was really worried about you, glad you aren't dead, silly." Polliver came in for his usual coffee with Raff and he kept his eye on the girls. Raff sighed and rolled his eyes. "Listen, losing our pay sucks but if you regress Jeyne over it, I will come down on you with Unella behind me. I worked too fucking hard on that girl for you to throw it all away because of a fucking tantrum. They are teenagers, stupid students that do stupid things, like we did. We fucked up as the adults and paid for it. What is the real issue here, Polliver?" With a snarl, Polliver refilled his coffee and headed out with Raff following. "That lavender headed cunt. I make a offer to get her out of working for a little bit of fun, she fucking turned into an ice cunt. Yelled that she wouldn't touch me unless I dated her, told everyone that I was having a relationship with a student. That's why I left her there. And from there she just made my life worse, didn't she? So I'm going to make hers worse. And I don't think a few whacks with my baton and a nickname are going to regress your damned project kid. She pals around with Myranda and hey, shit splatters." Raff shook his head and snapped, "Shit splatters alright. Make sure it doesn't splatter the wrong places, Polliver."

The baton crashed into the door and Ramsay and Joff moaned from their floor. "Well, isn't this a lovely sight. Your ass first thing in the morning, Death Row. Better move before I start to shove my baton up it and move you personally. Princess, as much as I dearly wish you to join us this lovely dawn, you are requested to go up to the house. Your Uncle Tyrion is waiting to escort you, get dressed fast. Ask a single question, I will tape your beak shut for you. Death Row, time to rise and have a little early morning jog along with Sidebitch. Let's go, I want you in shorts and a t shirt now! Get on your shiny sneakers. Good, now by the way, it's a bit muddy from the storm so you'll have to clean those sneakers before classes start today. Let's go!" Seeing Oscar enter the hall, Polliver just pointed his baton towards her room. Then he saw Lancel enter and he blocked them both. "Oh no. No fucking way. Students don't get sexy time, Lancel. Oscar can go get a little shut eye before I call for breakfast but you won't be joining her." Lancel gave Polliver a charming smile. "You misunderstand, counselor. We are not going into Sansa's room, we are here for Arya, to speak with her." Polliver smiled back and nodded with impatient understanding. "You are not entering a student's bedroom. Not your wife's and not your little sister in law's room. Oscar can, you can wait outside on the porch. If it was visitor's day you could sit in the common room. But it's not. It's a regular day and too fucking early in the morning for this shit. So leave and Oscar can talk to Target and bring her out to you, if you'd like."

Arya was more upset over Sandor's death than Cersei's. She tried to wake up by splashing cold water on her face, Sansa looming over her. "Did you have to follow me into the bathroom?" If anything Arya felt thrilled to hear that the bitch and old man wouldn't have any control over her. Her future was looking better and better. "I wonder if I can divorce Joff now? It wasn't like Kevan wanted us to marry, it was his brother. If Tywin and Cersei are dead there is no need for us to stay married, is there?" Sansa gave a patronizing smile and Arya longed to knock her perfect teeth down her throat. It took everything for Arya to decide to honor Sandor by not reacting without thinking for the whole day, for as long as she could, in fact. Sansa sat on the edge of the tub then continued speaking. "I don't know about that, Arya. Now that the main Lannister heads are gone, it's up to Kevan and Lancel to keep the name going strong and powerful. I doubt they will want Joff to divorce you. They will want you two to procreate someday to make more little Lannisters." Arya clutched the porcelain sink rim hard and it was painful, so painful to not just let words fly. Then she looked into the mirror and saw behind her. She saw Sansa's face, the bitter look and Arya turned around. "You don't want to be a brood mare and a society wife either, do you, sister?" Sansa gave a small smile and shrugged. "No. I don't and I never did. But I do really like Lancel which helps. And someday I want children but that can't be all of me. I think Lancel is open to my having other interests. I'm sorry you are stuck with Joff, he is such a little rotten beast. Arya, I truly do hope you find a way out of the marriage, I do. But for now, you are his wife and his mother just died. Whether the two of us like it or not, we are married. We have husbands and must do the right thing. Joff needs you right now, he loved that vile woman, she loved him. You need to be there for him when he comes down from the house." Arya bit her tongue and slumped down instead. "Why can't I let Death Row do it? He is friends with him, hell, he runs Princess." Sansa gave a brighter smile and stood up to straighten up her little sister. "So why are you letting Ramsay Bolton run your husband? You are the scariest toughest girl here, Joff is intimidated and easily bullied by  you. Are you afraid of standing up to Death Row? Take your husband in hand. You can't change that you have one, but you can change how you live with it." Arya kept her teeth lodged in her lip and nodded. Sansa did have a point for her to think about. "I'm not scared of Death Row. I can handle Princess. Okay, I will get ready and while I do teach me how to do a sympathetic smile, would you?"

Kevan sat at his desk, twirling his pen. Tyrion had tried to offer his nephew what comfort he could but the boy wasn't interested. Instead the boy wanted to argue. He refused to accept there was a simple tragedy. "It's ridiculous, my grandfather didn't drink! He wasn't over my mother's drinking and accidentally set a fire! They were murdered! My mother was murdered and none of you will admit it to me! I want to go to Kings Landing. I want to hire investigators to catch my mother's killer!" Kevan gave a small painful smile to the boy. "Joff, I assure you that I have detectives all ready looking into that among other things. It was clear they had both been drinking and it was an accidental fire. They were passed out and died from the smoke. I myself, along with Tyrion, Lancel and Sansa all witnessed your grandfather having wine. Listen, Joff, your grandfather did have a drinking problem years back, a terrible one. It was too much for Tywin when Jaime died and he picked up the drinking again. I am sorry, but that is all there is to it." But Kevan's eyes told a different story and both Joff and Tyrion saw it. 


	111. Gloomy Breakfast

Kevan's face was grim as he shared a late breakfast with Harold and Bob. Gilly had been given the order to sleep in and serve breakfast later, around the same time the school cafeteria would be eating theirs. Kevan and the twins haven't done more than nap briefly after Kevan had lectured the staff. They took time to shower and change for breakfast. "After we eat, I want every Lannister here at the house, that means the girls too. Lancel is down at the cafeteria, eating with his wife. Thank goodness, he stayed long enough for us to have heard the news." Gilly poured Harold's tea and refilled the coffee before turning for the kitchen. Kevan looked up at her and smiled. "Gilly, before you head back into the kitchen, I have a new task for you. I am appointing you the official detention counselor. Please, allow me to be the first to offer congratulations. Find yourself a suitable room or cabin on school grounds to make yourself a detention center. See the other counselors about creating the right rules and environment. You will find yourself having to work closely with Polliver since he is in charge of the children. He can be rough around the edges and isn't always the most moderate of tempers. However, I hope you will come to see him as I do." Gilly, Bob and Harold all stared at Kevan. He raised an eyebrow at all of them. "Truly? Well, you three haven't had much exposure in the past to him, I suppose. Only know are you starting to understand how the staff truly cares for the students. Polliver and Gregor are both deeply invested in the students. It doesn't seem like it but it's true. Oh, yes, they are a bit gruff, they believe in tough love, perhaps they are a little extreme on rare occasion. But aren't we all? In the case of Polliver, he is clumsy, foolish and prone to childish grudges and tantrums. But he does learn from mistakes, he does care about the kids, just in his own way. Trust me, there is more to him than just a mean bully."

It was clear that not one of the three believed him. Kevan decided to let it go and move on. "In spite of our awful few days there is one light thing. Harold and Gilly, you two are having your date this evening, correct? Don't worry, in spite of all that is going on, I can spare both of you for a few hours. I hope you both have a wonderful time." Gilly looked as comfortable as a person sitting naked on a  cactus. She thanked Kevan and rushed out of the room as fast as she could. Kevan's smile lasted until she left the room then he frowned at Harold. "That girl is under my protection and I feel quite fatherly towards her, young man. If Gilly comes back violated, insulted or ready for use as furniture covering, you'll become my new office desk chair. Whatever skin is left over, I will give you to Bob to remember you fondly by. I hope you have made excellent plans for this evening, do you need me to find a good restaurant and show for you?" Harold muttered that everything was all set and he intended to show Gilly a fun and safe time out. He longed to put his fist through Bob's widely grinning mouth. Kevan finished his breakfast and pretended that he didn't see the two men start a silent fight. He also pretended that he didn't spend the darkest hour before breakfast crying in his shower for his older brother.

Sansa smiled at Lancel with apology. "The breakfasts are usually way better but I don't think our cook got any sleep either. He is famous here for his food and drinks, really." Lancel laughed and patted her hand. "I didn't think you lied to me about your cook. I can see how Hot Pie is staggering back there. Poor guy. It's funny, how all the people here change, isn't it? I remember visiting father and seeing Hot Pie for the first time. He had only showed up a month before my visit and he was fat, always talking, being a smart mouth, insulting the staff and Hot Pie seemed to be in a permanent state of punishment. Now a quiet, fit looking chef that is so loyal to the school, it's nearly nauseating. It was just as strange for me when Polliver and Raff suddenly started to change from students to staff." Sansa smiled and held Lancel's hand. "I guess people change in this place. I know I've changed." Loras rolled his eyes and Joff sneered while Ramsay made gagging sounds. Arya never looked up from her food. "Lancel, wouldn't you be more comfortable with the adults at the staff table? Or at your dad's house?" Sansa stared at her sister and Lancel took away his hand as her nails dug into his skin. He patted Sansa's shoulder as he turned his attention to Arya. "The staff only allows staff members to sit with them. My father likes to eat with just Harold and Bob. My wife isn't allowed to eat anywhere but the students table according to Polliver. If you wish to blame someone for our sitting here, you'll have to blame your own counselor, sister." Arya looked up and smiled in a way that made Joff shiver. "I am not your sister. Don't call me that. I am your sister in law by marriage and that is an awful lot to say. Just use my name." Joff muttered, "Her name is Target. Or Legion, Satan's Period-" He let out a sudden cry and yanked his leg up to rub it and stare at Arya.

Sansa sighed and Lancel just looked amused. He guided his wife to the coffee station to refill their cups and he whispered to her. "See? I told you that your sister would no longer take your advice. She has learned enough from you to smile and lie to your face, to act amendable. But she is never going to be a sweet sympathetic wife, she won't use wiles on Joff, she will just beat him until he's dead or compliant. I gave you this last chance to see if you could get her to obey you, to sway her with your logic, your advice. Arya has become immune to you, dear. Sandor is dead and that ends her spying lessons. However, now she is mentoring under the twins. That is worse in some ways. But as long as she is busy building traps and skinning humans for furniture she will be too busy to snoop. Since you mentor with my father, you'll be at the house along with Arya. I want you to keep an eye upon her as much as you can. I want to know if her eyes are upon us or her own work. If her eyes turn to any of you, I want you to tell Ramsay immediately. Let him handle it and he can have Loras assist him." Sansa nodded with a smile. She didn't agree with Lancel, she felt if her own little sister must die, it should be by Sansa's hand. Lancel pressed his fingers suddenly, hard, deep into bruises upon her side that he had put there during their acid trip with Loras. She gasped and paled, almost spilling her coffee. "I can see your thoughts, wife. Do you think you are up for disobeying me again?" Sansa forced her lips to curve and she spoke as if she weren't in agony. "No, I will obey. I just wish it could be me, but I won't disobey you." Lancel withdrew his fingers and picked up his own coffee, smiling at his wife cheerily. "I'm glad to hear that, Sansa. Trust me, I know what's best. It's better for you not to be the one to deal with your sister. Just keep an eye on her with a removed perspective, it will keep her less curious about you. Which keeps her less interested in those of us around you."

The students were only halfway through their breakfast when Polliver came over and tapped his baton upon the table. "Today there are no academic classes. I want ducklings to waddle over to the dorm house after your meal is over. Princess, Oscar and Target will head up to see Kevan before coming to join us. We have a big day ahead of us ducklings." None of them said a word as Polliver swaggered out, twirling his baton. "He is leaving his food early, willingly? Holy fuck, we are in for it." All eyes turned to the moaning Damon. "What? We are in for it! Three of us were on the roof, two crazy girls ran off, never mind that SuperD brought the damned Wildlings here, we are all fucked." Myranda looked at him and gave a smirk. "Aww, don't worry, big boy. It isn't you guys that Polliver is really going to come down on. I mean, yeah, he will torture everyone but it's really me and Jeyne he wants to make suffer." Loras glared at her. "Great. So now we know to blame the two of you for everything we get." Joff sneered at the girls. "I heard you got your names taken away again. That's good actually. You are more suited to Whore and Feral, it's more honest, don't you think?" Jeyne snarled at Joff. "Fuck you. Fuck yourself. Fuck off, fuck away, fuck you." Ramsay and Joff laughed while Myranda snapped for Jeyne to finish her breakfast. "No fighting, no swearing, not today, Jeyne. Polliver is already going to be looking for any reason to punish us. Let's not help him out with that, okay?" Jeyne nodded and went back to eating but muttered, "It's not fair. I was shot. A Person gets shot and punished. Not fair. If Polliver calls me Feral, I won't answer." Myranda shook her head and shoved the girl. "No! You have to answer to it or he'll never change it back. Once he gets his anger out of his system, Polliver will give your name back. Just be patient and suck it up, just do what you are told and wait. Right now he will look for any reason to come after us. Stay calm and do what you are told, for both of us. Anything one of us does to make him angry, Polliver will punish both of us for. Because of us running away like that, getting caught and Sandor getting shot, it's on us. Polliver got in a lot of trouble for it and he needs to pass that on to us. The more you fight back, the worse it will get for us."

Polliver was cheerfully whistling as he entered the empty dorm house. He had several boxes, each labeled with a student name. Dropping the boxes in each room, he started upstairs. He gleefully tossed bedding, mattresses, clothing and more. Drawers fell with a thud to floors, personal items and school items alike went flying. Myranda's room offered up one joint, twenty dollars and a few hidden pieces of jewelry that was to be kept with her mentors. That wasn't enough for him and so Polliver added two more joints of his own, plus a pack of his cigarettes. Jeyne's room was pathetic and he was almost thinking he would find nothing when he found the shoe box under a loose floorboard. He opened it and then stared for a second before laughing. There was nothing of interest in Sansa's room and Polliver left it a mess but had no urge to frame her. No point in bringing Lancel's interest back to the dorm house. As expected, Ramsay and Joff's room was a treasure trove. He filled the boxes and moved on to Arya and Theon's room. Polliver found Theon's few secrets and growled, wishing he'd done the room search a few days ago. Instead of putting the card for Varys's resort and Styr's number on a scrap of paper in a box, he put it in his pocket to bring to the twins. Polliver did enjoy tossing Arya's shit and filling another box. Loras and Damon's room was the last. Polliver saw Damon's pathetic contraband and just clucked in a sort of disappointed sympathy for the big idiot. Tossing perfect boy Loras's stuff was usually boring as hell but at least he got joy out of messing up the boy's stuff. Except this time, Polliver actually found something. It was only one thing but it was a big one and for a brief shining moment, Polliver forgot his angst at the girls, he lost interest in tormenting the students. For one second, Polliver could only bask in the lovely joy he receives every now and then. The joy of the knowledge that his instincts were right, that he was right. He smiled at the cellphone and whispered, "Gotcha, Goldilocks."

Unella was heading back towards the clinic, basking the relief that Qyburn and Barbery were leaving. Theon was stable and awake, Kevan needed Qyburn to tend to the bodies of his brother and niece now. Maybe it was time and distance but Unella no longer was as enchanted with Qyburn as she once was. There was a time when Unella would have died to protect and support her mentor's work. That was before the school, before Unella became a doctor in her own right, under her own rule, small as it was. Before Unella was pregnant. Now seeing Qyburn and Barbery gave her chills. Recalling the work she did with and for Qyburn made Unella nearly sick to think about. Unella found the idea of her own children going through what she has put other children through unbearable. Recalling how Barbery was known as the Midwife Butcher, Unella could barely stand to let her stomach near the nurse. Dealing with Gregor last night was hard enough and now she has to deal one last time with her former mentor and the repulsive nurse. When Kevan had let her go the night before, Unella had gone home but Gregor wasn't there. She had tracked him down to Sandor's cabin. He was sitting in the tiny living room, drinking his brother's beer. Unella wasn't good with emotions, she wasn't a sympathetic or empathetic person. Sitting down next to Gregor, she stiffly offered her condolences. He had responded, "Don't bother. I wasn't that close with Sandor. We were brothers, I was the older one and did my duty by him the best I could. We weren't the loving, bonding, chatting type. I am drinking his beer and trying to figure out what to do with all his shit. Help me with that if you want to be helpful." Relieved, Unella happily made a list of all Sandor's items and what to do with them while Gregor sat and drank in peace. List in hand, Unella had left for bed and when she woke in the morning, Gregor wasn't there. She didn't see him at breakfast either and wondered if he was still at Sandor's cabin. Once she got rid of their guests and checked in on Theon, Unella will look for Gregor, even though she hasn't the faintest idea what to say to him if he was indeed depressed or grieving.

Qyburn and Barbery were just leaving the clinic when Unella walked up to them. With a small smile, Qyburn surveyed Unella's stomach as if examining the insides of her womb. Unella shivered as she warmly wished them a safe trip home. Barbery tried to put a hand on Unella's stomach and the pregnant doctor staggered backwards. "I don't like to be touched." Barbery snorted and her lips got thinner, her eyes narrowed further. "Have you seen a doctor at all? We have offered to examine you several times and you keep saying no, but you aren't telling us who is your doctor. Are you going to just let that handsome piece of stupid fluff care for you? Do you actually find that computer college excuse for a school nurse capable of proper prenatal care and you trust him to deliver your babies?" Qyburn's eyes clashed into Unella's. "You don't have a doctor, do you? You just don't wish for us to deliver your twins. Perhaps I should speak to Kevan. Pregnant mothers often become paranoid and need assistance in making the correct decisions. I can have Barbery or myself stop by once a month until delivery if Kevan is fine with it." Unella stood tall and put her hands over her stomach. "No. I am of sound mind and I may choose how my body is cared for. Raff is guided by me and I have already spoken with the obstetrician's office in FourHeads. When I am close, they will be notified and send an ambulance for me. I thank you for your concerns but I am fine." Barbery would have said more but Qyburn held up his hand. "I will speak to Kevan regardless. I worry for you and your unborn children, dear." A sudden looming shadow came over them all. For the first time, Unella was utterly thrilled to see her husband. Gregor glared down at the old man and the wizened nurse. His voice was like thunder. "I don't care if you talk to Kevan or not. I don't want your creepy fingers on my offspring or on my wife. You aren't going to have anything to do with my family." Gregor grabbed Unella's shoulders and shoved her towards the clinic door. "Go do something useful while I walk the doctor out."

Kevan had gone into his office to await his family. Gilly would let them in and guide them to the office. Harold and Bob would be already with Kevan by then but they knew the man needed a moment to compose himself. They could see the turmoil in the dignified old man's eyes as he headed into his office and nodded when he asked them for a second alone. Bob turned to Harold and spoke accusingly. "I will speak with Theon myself, I will speak with Myranda as well. I don't want you distracted while you have to get ready for your date. I also will speak with Arya since we are apparently mentoring her now. I am warning you, Harold, if I don't feel the girl is a good fit for us, I won't agree to it." Harold frowned. "If you don't approve, then don't mentor her, I will do it on my own." 


	112. Making A Mess To Clean A Mess

There were no chairs before Kevan's desk like usual. Kevan sat behind his desk and twirled his golden pen as Harold shut the door after the others had filed in. Bob and Harold stood in front of the door, their expressions hidden, glasses shimmering. Lancel held Sansa's hand and the two led the way before Kevan with polite smiles. Tyrion followed and stood next to them attempting not to sway. The deaths of his family, of Sandor, the trauma of the Wildlings, it was too much and Tyrion had sworn to Stannis that he was spending his bereavement time off on a spectacular bender. Joff and Arya came last, they were not smiling nor were they holding hands. They stood next to each other, Arya and Lancel finding themselves in the awkward position of occasionally being leaned on by Tyrion. Kevan frowned upon each of them, the longest at his nephew.

"I never envied Tywin's position in our family. I never wished to be head of the Lannisters, never wanted the gilded trappings of it all or the bloodshed. I have no choice but to head this family now. But that doesn't mean I am willing to act as my brother did. I am not leaving my school, I am not changing my ways for the sake of a dynasty that I never wanted. So therefore, I have made decisions concerning this family and its future." Kevan looked at Tyrion with a sad look and pointed his pen at him. "It has become clearer than ever to me how much damage being a Lannister in Kings Landing has done to you. I will not release you from this school even though your father is dead, Tyrion. This is the safest, healthiest place for you. I will see that any inheritance you receive is put into your bank account which I still control. You will own no estates or companies, only money that is to be released to you upon my discretion. I do this for your own good, nephew. If you ever feel the need to have more to do with our family, you are welcome to enter a rehab and become sober. Then and only then will I speak with you on the matter." Tyrion chuckled and waved a hand dismissively. "What a terrible thought. I will keep myself alive and hydrated right here, thanks."

Kevan looked at Joff and Arya. The sad look hardened. "Both of you have inheritance from your departed parents. It will be handled by lawyers, protected for you until you are of age. A portion out of each of your money will be given to the school for your upkeep. Both of you are legally in my care and will remain so until I decide you are ready to leave. I can assure you that won't be for some years. There will be no trip to Kings Landing for services. Joff, after your mother and grandfather are examined by Qyburn, they will be cremated. I will be happy to let you have your mother's ashes if you wish. Also, give me a list of any personal items your mother had that have significance to you and I will have them delivered to you." Joff opened his mouth to protest and Arya put her hand over his mouth. Kevan's eyes turned to his son and Sansa. "Lancel, I am going to ask you to act in my name and run the Lannister businesses. I know it is a huge responsibility you did not ask for. There is no one I trust more to care for our family's dealings than my own son. So as a bonus, I am allowing you to take your wife with you." Lancel and Sansa both looked floored by this. Lancel had expected his father to ask him to care for their estates and business dealings. He did not expect his father to give him his wife yet. That wasn't in his plans and Lancel had no idea how to get out of such a generous and inconvenient offer. Kevan gave them a somewhat grim smile.

"I know Sansa will easily test out for an early graduation. College will be no issue, I am sure that you will have your pick of them. Lancel can ease you into society as needed. Son, I have had Jaime's top assistant take his place as our main lawyer. His name is Podrick and he will be waiting to visit with you. He has all the files and information you need on Tywin's work thus far." Kevan looked at his rather pale son and smiling daughter in law. "I will have Sansa tested and graduated by the end of the week for you, Lancel. Now, I am sure your nerves are worked up, I can see it on your face, son. But do not worry for your wife's safety or troubles being so young in such a rich and dangerous environment. I have contacted Olenna Tyrell to assist Sansa in finding the right introduction into society and I have hired a bodyguard to follow Sansa at every moment. He will be here soon to escort you both back to Casterly Rock. I assume you will live there and at Kings Landing, you will have to spend more time in the city in order to conduct business." Now both Sansa and Lancel looked as if they've eaten something rotten and Kevan smiled at them with charm as if expecting to be thanked for his generosity. Sansa and Lancel both choked out thanks. Joff was livid and wanted to argue with his family over these decisions but Arya just kept smirking at Sansa, who looked back as if she would kill her sister if she could.   

The students all wandered slowly towards the dorm house. They were all giving thoughts on what Polliver would have in store for them today. "Whatever it is, it will be dirty and heavy." All agreed with Loras's assessment and then Damon saw the boxes on the porch along with the grinning counselor. "I think it's going to be worse than getting muddy, guys. Look at the fucking boxes, Polliver tossed our rooms." They all groaned but Loras. He turned milky white and for a moment seemed like he might throw up. Ramsay narrowed his eyes and pretended to block Loras by stopping to tie his shoe. "What is it?" Loras whispered, "The cell phone, I let Theon borrow it then never got a chance to put it back." Ramsay swore but pressed his lips together as he stood up. "I can't fix it this time, asshole. You have to destroy the phone and take the punishment from him for it. If he gives that phone to the creepster twins and they open it, we are all done. Do you get that? If they see calls to Lancel's house? Pictures you keep of him, texts you have sent, then you have brought us all down. You will have fucked Lancel over if they get that phone. Fix it. I will try and bait Polliver away from the boxes so you can reach the phone."

Reluctantly, they all lined up before Polliver, who leaned on the porch, the boxes displayed around him. Tapping the baton lightly, Polliver smiled dangerously as he started to speak in a false cheerful tone. "Waddling slow didn't change anything, ducklings. While you were all pecking and wandering, I was tossing your little nests. Oh, the hidden treasures I did find! After we are done, you can all decide which of you is the most fucked duckling! Before I start unwrapping our presents from your rooms, one more little announcement. Anyone who thought it would be fun to dance on a roof or leap a fence will be joining me every morning and every night for an invigorating jog for the next two months. So, on to Show And Tell With Uncle Polly!" Jeyne opened her mouth to ask how she can jog with crutches but Myranda hissed for her to stay quiet. Polliver grinned and tapped Ramsay's box with his baton.

"Death Row! I am not sure how many more ways that I can explain to you that makeshift weapons, are still weapons. And I won't ask why you stole four wrapped syringes but I'm going to count them as weapons. As for the wooden dildo I found under your bed, I hope you and Princess have others stashed away for me to find later. One month detention and since you have no mentor for the more personal follow up, I will take care of that for you." Ramsay sighed and gave a smirk to the others then acted as if he was confiding in them. "It's because Uncle Polly loves me best, thats why I get the up close and personal treatment. Geez, I almost feel like I'm moving in on your territory, Whore. Will it bother you if he decides to use my sweet lips instead of yours?" Myranda made a face at Ramsay, Damon bit his lip to keep from laughing. Polliver tilted his head and started to whack his baton into his hand, but to the frustration of both Loras and Ramsay, he didn't take the bait. "Death Row, you are only sexy to damaged masochists and the prisoners you'll be gang raped by when you leave this school. But if you really need the release of it, I can shove my baton up your ass and jog you around school grounds? I mean, maybe Princess was shoving that dildo in you everyday to keep you sweet tempered. If that is what you'd like, my pretty little Ram Ram, keep talking." Loras was hopeful for a brief second but Ramsay was seeing Polliver's eyes and knew this wasn't the day for challenging. Ramsay was fairly sure that the counselor would carry through the threat. He kept his smirk but looked away and said nothing further. Polliver smiled and winked at Ramsay before turning to pull a dramatically sad face at Damon.

He kicked the box with his foot and gave a heartfelt sigh. "Oh, poor Sidebitch, I actually feel bad for you. So it's only going to be two weeks detention. Boy, if you are going to keep contraband, try harder to at least find something worth hiding next time. I will be sure to alert Hot Pie that I have found his cookie and cake thief. Idiot. Part of me wishes that you did that during our spring and summer here. Because you would have woken up being carried off by every fucking insect in these parts. I know you are very slow, so I will repeat myself for you. NO FOOD IN THE BEDROOMS." Damon stood there red faced and looked at his feet while Ramsay seemed to laugh at him. But Loras wasn't laughing because he saw that Ramsay was pretending sadistic mirth but was dead serious and watching Loras. Silently urging him to take on Polliver, during a mood swing so bad that even Ramsay doesn't dare challenge him. Loras was filled with a small moment of reprieve and relief when Polliver reached for Myranda's box with a mean twist of his lips.

Polliver's voice was damn near lyrical with glee as he tilted it so Myranda could see. She frowned and hugged herself when she saw how many "extra" contraband items there were. "Whore, I see a party here! Baggie of joints, full pack of smokes, uh oh, you've even been drinking. Oh dear, I see that we haven't been keeping a close enough eye upon you, have we? Don't worry, I will take care of that! Three months of detention and I'll be handing all of this to your mentors." Myranda sucked in her breath. "I don't suppose I could just take four months detention and you don't have to bring that to Harold and Bob?" Polliver smiled agreeably. "Four months detention and I'm bringing this to Harold and Bob. Anything else to say?" Seething, Myranda shook her head and stared hard at him. Polliver stared back and then spoke softly, luring, inviting and infuriating to the girl's ears. "Are you giving me attitude, girl? Because I am sensing attitude. Do you feel I've insulted or wronged you? Is there anything you'd like to ask or say? Please, feel free, go on, speak. Go for it." Tears of helpless rage pricked her eyes but Myranda lowered her eyes and spoke in a overly sweet tone. "No attitude here, counselor." Polliver chuckled then leaned closer as the baton twirled lazily. "Coward. Not so brave suddenly, not so sassy now, are we?" Myranda was careful to say nothing, to not look up at him, nearly biting through her bottom lip. Polliver gave another minute to watching Myranda as if inviting her to change her mind, to try and take him on.

He shrugged and gave Jeyne a similar look to the one he gave Damon. Except his eyes danced with way too much joy and Myranda knew that Jeyne might be that most fucked duckling after all. Ramsay and Myranda knew enough not to take the bait but Jeyne was a different story. Tensing, she went between watching Polliver and Jeyne, reminding herself that no matter how much she was Jeyne's friend, she has to stay silent. No matter what nasty thing Polliver says or does, Myranda cannot react without making things worse for all of them. Polliver picked up the box marked Feral and pretended horror at staring into it before looking back at Jeyne. She was nervous and wringing her hands together, staring up at the counselor, trying not to make a whining sound. "I can tell by your face, Feral, that you know I found your shoe box of treasures. Sad, so sad. Of course, I will have you show everyone what you have, after all, I let everyone see and hear about the other treasures. Wouldn't be fair not to treat every duckling the same, even Feral freaks like you. And since Raff is your mentor, I will have to bring him this, won't I?" Jeyne whined loudly now and shook her head frantically, covering her face. Polliver smiled wider and then pretended mock disgust.

"I must say, Feral,  I was truly shocked to find your secrets! I had no idea you would be the one to have pornography considering you are the least likely here to ever get laid. Then again, putting it that way, it does make sense. After all, you'll never experience the real thing, so I guess you had to turn to more desperate measures." Tears spilled through Jeyne's hands and a muffled sound of please came out. Polliver had everyone's attention now, even Loras's. Ramsay grinned and sneered, "What does a dog sister use for masturbation? A bone dildo? What kind of porn could she have? Is it a dog magazine?" Polliver never changed his placid expression as he stuck his baton into Ramsay's solar plexus. "You had your turn for talking, didn't you? Shut the fuck up or you are going to be the next sexual experience Feral sees as I baton fuck you while you jog and scream for mercy." Ramsay gasped for air and Polliver turned back to Jeyne. Loras silently cursed as he stopped trying to move closer to the boxes. He can only hope that the feral bitch reacts badly so Polliver will go after her and Loras can reach that fucking phone. There was a good chance of that happening, so Loras was tensing and readying himself for it.

Myranda rubbed Jeyne's back and whispered into her ear quickly. "Its okay, just let him say and do what he wants and we can discuss it later. Porn is normal, sex and thinking about it is normal, don't worry." Polliver gave a hard whack into Myranda's thigh with the baton to make her leap away from Jeyne. "It's not time for gossip and giggles, Whore. Unless you want something, did you want my attention for some reason, girl? No?" Myranda kept her eyes low and shook her head, moving away from Jeyne a bit. Polliver lifted the ragged little book that Jeyne had made out of construction paper with stolen pictures on each page. He was careful to let everyone see it as he slowly turned each page. Raff's yearbook photo was there with little hearts drawn around it, another page with a picture of Raff without a shirt during a hot summer day they all had gone to the creek. The book was mostly full of pictures of Raff but there were a few stolen pictures of Lancel as well. Near the end of the book were some cut out pictures from magazines of male models. The last few pages were what made Damon, Ramsay and even Loras laugh. Jeyne had taken pictures of Myranda and Sansa. She switched their heads on their bodies as if to try and make the perfect woman for her picture men. Polliver cleared his throat and read the hastily scribbled words. "If I can be a Person like Myranda, If I can be a Lady like Sansa, I can be a real girl. I will have a real Person love. I will have real Person sex."

Ramsay was bent over, laughing so hard he could barely breathe. Damon was laughing like he didn't want to but couldn't help it and Loras sneered, chuckling. Only Myranda was giving Jeyne a look of deep sympathy. Jeyne was crouching lower, crutches holding her up as she held her hands over her face. Polliver tossed the scrapbook back into the box and pulled out more items. "We have here a dog collar, not sure if it's a kinky thing for you, Feral. The name tag on it says Helicent. Was that your favorite doggy back at your daddy's hell kennel, sweetheart? It's a filthy nasty thing and shouldn't be in your room. And then there is this extra whirlygig man. I will be sure that Gregor receives it and we can find out from FourHeads if you stole it." Jeyne wailed loudly and grabbed her crutches, banging them over and over again into the soft muddy ground. Polliver smiled and sang out, "Three months detention for having lewd pictures and stolen items in your room. Plus I will turn this box over to your mentor, so Raff can see your work and help you work out those strange feelings in your no no areas, Feral."

Jeyne howled then and stared up pleadingly at Polliver. "Please! Don't show Raff!" Polliver gave Jeyne a look of mock sympathy. "Gee, I'm really sorry, but your sexual health and fantasies are very important, just like it's important to address it when a student steals." Jeyne's face was stained with tears but she snarled out, "It's not fair!" Myranda closed her eyes and moaned. Polliver's eyes lit up and he stepped off the porch to walk up to Jeyne, his baton swinging lazily but with implied threat. "Not fair? Is that what you said, Feral, not fair? What is really not fair is Sandor rotting in the woods because you jumped a fence. Four months detention and I bring the box to Raff along with a report that you have started regressing, having attitude issues again. I think I should also mention this personally to Unella, seems like she might have stopped those shock treatments too soon." Jeyne paled and started to pant, her hands curling tighter around the crutches while Polliver smiled happily. Loras lunged and grabbed the cell out of the box marked Goldilocks. He clutched it hard as he grabbed a large rock then started to frantically beat the phone with the rock. The whack from the baton knocked him flat. Polliver stood over him and stared as if Loras had gone rabid. "What the living fuck was that about, boy? Goldilocks, let me be the first to congratulate you on becoming the Most Fucked Duckling."


	113. Bottled Up

Loras started to try and get to his feet but Polliver planted his large muddy boot on the duckling's white shirt. "Nope. Stay down and hyperventilate in the mud. I hope whatever was on that phone was worth the trouble you have put yourself in, darling. Let me guess, SuperD borrowed your phone to make a date with the redneck cannibal. So guess what? That puts you on the tippity top of my shit list, boy. I mean, that is a fucking HONOR, Goldilocks! You have managed to not only bypass Death Row as my favorite punk ass bitch, but you have put yourself higher than Feral and Whore on my list of who's to blame! Wow. I mean, wow, it's impressive, don't you guys all think so? Right? I want to hear applause for Goldilocks winning the Most Fucked Duckling Award."

The kids clapped and not one of them did it unhappily. Ramsay was worried as hell but he had to enjoy the moment of the perfect being sullied. Myranda smirked as she clapped loudly, Damon cheered while he slammed his fists in the air and Jeyne stomped her crutches while making a hyena laugh. Polliver looked over and made a gesture with his baton for silence. "I can't text while you are all acting like heathens. Hush your quacking a minute. Pretty thing, keep squirming under my boot and I'll squash you like a bug."

Polliver texted then read responses before giving his attention back to the students. "All of you except Goldilocks are going to meet up with your new detention mistress. I almost feel sorry for you sad sacks of shit. Gilly is in charge of all detentions now, good fucking luck to you all with that. Each of you will meet your mentors after I've delivered your boxes. Death Row, you'll see me about that later. I want an orderly line and I want to see ducklings waiting in front of the cafeteria for Gilly. If I happen to peek over and see anything but that, so help you all. Start waddling." Ramsay glared at Loras but had no choice to move with the others. Polliver waited until the ducklings were heading for the cafeteria before grinning down at the boy.

"The most perfect student with only the other most perfect student as a friend. But she isn't really your friend, just the same classes. Forced together because you are both hated by all the other kids. How does that feel? Even Sidebitch and Feral enjoy your tutoring help but don't actually trust or like you. I bet it makes you lonely, angry and frustrated. I think deep down there is a monster that isn't pretty or perfect at all. I think that monster has been leading you for a while now. We will find out, whether you want to say anything or not. Harold and Bob are coming for you and the phone. Same as I did before, I'm giving you one last chance to talk before it's too late. In case you haven't noticed, this is truly rock bottom for you. I mean, you are under a boot. That phone is fucked up but I bet our twins can fix it or find someone who can. You wouldn't have risked breaking the phone over just SuperD's call. Before Harold and Bob make you tell them, why don't you just tell me, if you do it before they show, I can try and help you out. I can be someone on your side. Wouldn't that be nice? Hell, I bet Stannis would help you out if he knew you confessed a mistake. Better me or Stannis than the twins, Goldilocks. This might be your last chance to ask for help."

Gilly stood before the students and gave a bright welcoming smile to them. "Good morning, students. I will be the resident detention counselor for the school from this day forward. I am very excited to assist each of you into better behavior and new creative ways for you to deal with your issues. Since there are no classes today, we shall run detention all day. With breaks for our meals and for you to each see your mentors, of course. Now I have considered the actions that have led you each here and have come up with a good way for you to atone and learn from those actions." She moved to stand in front of Ramsay and Damon. "Both of you, along with Joff seem to have a love for climbing on roofs. So I am going to give you the opportunity to climb on rooftops. Every roof here, from Kevan's, all the way to the new gaming cabin needs at least some repair work. The three of you will fix every roof on this estate. Gregor is kindly going to offer us the needed supplies."

Ramsay laughed. "We could sit on those roofs and jack off all day. We could patch shit with Target's chewed up gum and you wouldn't know the difference." Gilly's smile brightened by a thousand watts as she moved to clash eyes with Ramsay. She clasped her hands on her waist and spoke with a calm polite tone. "Would you know the difference, young man?" Ramsay gave a snarling smile as he shook his head. "I would know the difference, Ramsay. I was raised on a pig farm by a man who never spent a dime on repairs. Anything that needed to be done on that farm was done by myself and my sisters. I have repaired roofs and I will teach you how to do it. And I will know if the work is incorrect." Ramsay drawled out, "If the work is incorrect, what will you do? Because I have to say, getting paddled by a housekeeper is a little kinky." Gilly took the last step and that brilliant smile was crowding all of Ramsay's space. "I don't paddle. You don't do your tasks correctly then you will keep doing them until they are correct. If that takes all night, it takes all night. I never give up, young man. You have a very long detention, months. And I plan to make every moment of it count."

Ramsay said nothing further, scowling. Gilly smiled at the girls. "Ladies, you both enjoy running and jumping. Due to Jeyne's leg, we can't have her doing any punishment that actually involves those things. So we will just have to get more creative, won't we? The two of you will be responsible for giving a nice new coat of paint to the buildings as the roofs are fixed. While you are fixing up the buildings, I will show you a way to get out this turmoil you both must be feeling." Jeyne was still red and weepy, Myranda patting her back. Myranda nodded at Gilly for both of them. She was relieved that it was the tank from the house that was the new detention counselor. The woman might be the bane of almost every male at the school, students and staff alike, but not to Myranda. Since she spent time up at the house, working with her mentors and Theon, Myranda has come to know Gilly a bit. The woman might be strict and stiffly proper most of the time, but Gilly always seemed friendly and well meaning.    

It took a scathing lecture from Kevan as well as some hard whacks from Tyrion before Joff shut up. Arya has maintained silence and stillness so well that she was sure that Sandor would have been impressed. She was bubbling with joy inside but kept it hidden, deep down. A real secret, one that was hers only and it was something that her former mentor would have been proud of. That she could keep a blank face in spite of the almost maniacal cold cheer she was feeling. Arya worried a little bit about the feeling. It felt very good but something told her it might belong to her mother or sister before her. That must be explored with Raff. Well, there is a joy sucking thought. Arya hates to visit therapy, to talk to that douche bag. In spite of the fact that he is a pure asshole, Arya has found speaking to him useful. He helps her pull things apart, look at them and decide whether or not to keep them. It has brought more relief than Unella's damned pills did with less side effects. Since Arya started to work with Raff in therapy, he had Unella begin to wean her off the stupid medications.

Arya felt elated and guilty that she was already looking forward to Harold mentoring her. When she had made the mistake of saying that to Joff, he laughed at her. Ramsay had just looked at her and quietly asked if Bob has approved of it yet. "After all, they are the creepster twins, not the two separate creeps. Harold might like you but Bob never seemed to care for you." This has been a constant worry in her head now. It had been competing with the emotion of guilt. Guilt that Sandor just died and she already is trying to move on with new mentors. Guilt that Sandor wouldn't approve of how Arya has decided to use her secrets. But the joy is chilling and wonderful, owning a secret was powerful, thrilling. Plus seeing Sansa's face go from happiness of freedom to sullen over Olenna and a body guard was a sweet treat. Watching Joff get verbally slapped by Kevan, then physically slapped by Tyrion was frosting upon that treat.

This is a lesson in secrets that wasn't taught by Sandor, this was a new self taught lesson. Spurred by the death of Sandor, urged by her need to hurt Sansa, driven by the desire to become something of her own and desperate to gain mentorship with Harold, to impress Bob, Arya is using her secrets like currency. With a blank face, Arya watched Sansa and Lancel exchange a few whispered words that looked like endearments but she knew better. Oh, it was very hard to hide the sweet poisonous joy and not gloat about getting her sister banished from the school. What Arya found even more impressive than her own hiding of emotion, was how Kevan went about it without ever letting his son or daughter in law know that was what he was doing.

Loras spent a good amount of his youth not only shining at his academics related activities but also in drama. In all his classes from the first holiday play as a tiny tot all the way to the year before he landed here, Loras played the lead in all plays and musicals. He used to keep a hidden dream of being a famous actor someday and Loras understood that today was the day of his greatest performance. Fuck Oscar, he wants a Tony, a Golden Globe, he wants to get out of this fucking mess. He burst into helpless tears and nodded, asking Polliver to let him sit on the porch steps to talk.  Polliver removed his boot and helped the trembling, weeping boy to his feet. Keeping a hand wrapped around Loras's arm, he guided him to the steps. "I texted Stannis when I texted the twins. Stannis will get here first and he can help you just as much as I can. Now, stop wailing, take a deep breath, boy. There, that's better. Now talk to me, let Uncle Polly help you out."

Stannis was on his way, Loras could see him hurrying, still at a bit of a distance. The stern face seemed to hold some concern and Loras could see the twins just starting down the hill. He took a long shuddering breath and knew that this was it. A stifled sob as Loras thought hard about how it felt to be loved by Lancel. "I really fucked up, Sir. I am so sorry about what happened to Theon and Sandor, I never meant for any of that to happen. I am sorry for using the phone to contact my old boyfriends. I was lonely and needed to have something. I texted them about trying to get out of this place, they were going to help me." Polliver had been paying attention to Loras but he also was keeping an eye on the approaching professor and twins. He was hoping that Stannnis did get there first.

When he told Loras that they would protect him once a confession was heard, Polliver had meant it. The staff had to notify the twins over such things like this but that doesn't mean that Polliver felt comfortable ever turning a duckling over to them. He knew that Stannis, like most staff, felt the same way. The professor came over with a ponderous frown and Polliver gestured for silence. They were standing over the boy as he sat next to the boxes and confessed. He told them of how he used the phone to call old buddies, old boyfriends. He had been texting, sexting and he lent the phone to students who could afford to pay him for it. Loras stopped talking as he grabbed the beer bottle that Polliver had added to Myranda's box. He broke it fast and plunged it into the side of his neck.

Swearing, Polliver tried to grab onto Loras's hand before it sank irrevocably deep. Blood still welled, spurted onto Polliver's face and hands as he tried to restrain the now thrashing boy while applying pressure around the piece of beer bottle. He screamed to Stannis who came rushing forward with a look of alarm, "WE NEED UNELLA!" The twins heard the yell and were only feet from the clinic and ran inside to get the doctor. Both the doctor and the nurse gathered what they needed fast while the twins grabbed a stretcher. Stannis had staggered back in shock before recovering himself. He ripped off his jacket to staunch the blood with.

Polliver grabbed the jacket and wound it around the boy's neck. He was speaking softly, calmly to the boy now. "Hey, I have you, it's going to be okay, Goldilocks. We are going to get the doctor, patch you up and give you help. What made you do such a foolish thing, huh? Nothing is worth trying to kill yourself over, we can figure out how to solve your problem." This only made Loras more frantic and he croaked and gurgled. He was trying to force the glass that Polliver didn't dare dislodge, to press deeper, to bleed him out.

It was only after the staff had frantically worked on Loras there on the ground, then at the clinic that the twins noticed the phone had been trampled in the process of trying to save the boy. Hit with a rock, stomped on by someone's rushing feet and sprayed with Loras's blood, the phone wasn't going to be easy to retrieve information from. Bob pointed down at the destroyed cell phone. "Harold, you get to deal with this until your date later." Harold sighed and gave Bob a frown. "Don't just discount Arya and go too hard on Myranda and Theon out of your irritations with me." Snorting, Bob fixed his tie and turned to head for the clinic to see how they were faring with the boy. "Find out if we can retrieve anything on that damned phone. Must have been pretty interesting for the boy to want to die over. I will not take my annoyance with you out on the children. Unlike you, I can hold my temper and be logical at all times." Harold invited Bob to perform several illegal acts with a monkey.

Unella and Raff worked as hard and fast as they could but Loras died one hour later. For the first time, Unella cried over the death of a student, over the death of any person at all. It was a brief moment then she wiped the tears away as if they had never been. Raff didn't cry, he cursed bitterly and kicked over a wastebasket and some trays before storming out to get fresh air and deliver the grim news.


	114. The Last Of The Pretty Things

When the news came out that Loras was dead, it had the same reaction as if a missile had landed inside the school. For someone whom no one truly cared about, it was remarkable the impact it caused. Loras had no friends at the school, that had been true. The staff admired his work, they appreciated having a smart, courteous student but that was all. Ramsay, Sansa and Lancel had seen Loras as a cog in their machine of secret justice. Kevan had seen Loras as an asset due to being Olenna's grandson. Stannis and Polliver were the two that had honestly cared though Loras wouldn't have believed that if someone had told him.

For Stannis, he was a bright boy to mentor into becoming something of true academic value someday. For Polliver, Loras was a challenge, he always targeted the perfect ones the hardest with the most suspicion. Because Polliver knew, hell, knowing Raff was enough for him to know that the perfect ones have the worst monsters inside. They are the ones that need to be cracked, exposed and that is when they actually can start to change, to heal. Even the lovely Oscar had managed to fuck up and end up in the circle. She was exposed to all, certainly cracked and Polliver had left her to Kevan and Tyrion from there.

Polliver had been certain the cell phone would be what broke Loras, he would confess, he would suffer a consequence and finally face his issues. Once Polliver and Stannis could get to that monster inside, Loras would be able to be really helped. It was a formula that never failed, it was the way Polliver did things. Polliver couldn't think of what could have been so awful on that phone that the boy would have tried to kill himself. He couldn't believe that he had judged the situation so badly. He had no idea that Loras was suicidal. Polliver kept going over the weekly reports from Unella and Raff in his head, wondering how everyone missed this. How he missed it. No one spent more time with the students than he did, really. Polliver paced in front of the clinic trying to go over it in his head. When he saw Raff stagger out, Polliver shook his head and walked away before Raff spoke.

Gilly had gathered the students who had barely started their work, to give the sad news. "Due to Loras's death, detention will be canceled for the day. Instead, I have been asked to supervise you all in a quiet free day at your dorm house and a few specific outside areas. I am available if anyone feels the needs to talk or cry. It is always shocking and sad to lose someone of your own age, isn't it? Teenagers feel immortal but sadly, that just isn't the true case. Ramsay, you look very upset. Would you like to spend some time with me? Ah, young man, there is no need to leap backwards like that, I wasn't going to hug you. Children, the cook has opened the kitchen for anyone who would like some sweet tea or a treat. Please attend my words. The areas open to you today are the dorm house, the kitchen and the garden. Each of you will be seen today by a mentor or counselor but otherwise the day is yours. I will circulate to make sure each of you are safe and I hope to provide you with reassuring support." 

Arya and Joff were two that truly didn't give a shit about Loras dead or alive. They each had their own concerns. As they headed back down the hill towards the school, Joff was laying those concerns of his all over Arya. She was ignoring his pathetic jealous rants over Sansa leaving the school and him being stuck there. "Don't you even care? Do you LIKE it here or something? Don't you see that Kevan is probably going to keep us here while he drains every penny left to us? He might be my great uncle but he is a fucking snake, a weak willed man that can only lord it over children! My grandfather was the real force, he was the real deal, so was my mother! Now it's going to all be driven into the ground by good hearted white knight Lancel, your fucking socialite sister and Kevan! My freak drunk uncle won't care or do shit to help and I am a prisoner here!" Arya's only response was to roll her eyes and mutter for Joff to calm the fuck down.  Both were stopped from walking and speaking by a rather intimidating and unusual sight before them.

Polliver was still wearing his blood stained shirt and there was dried crimson spray upon his face, neck and his hands. He held two boxes and stared at the two students as if he were sleepwalking. His voice was monotone, without the usual sadistic glee in it. "All students will report to Gilly at the dorm house. It is a restricted area day and it is to be a quiet one. Before you both go, I tossed all rooms this morning. Target, you have stolen tools and what I assume are items to make traps with. Two months detention." Arya grimaced but said nothing, a bit unnerved by the way Polliver looked and sounded. "Princess, if you are going to steal underwear to jerk off into, make it your wife's underwear and not your sister-in-law's. I don't think Sansa wants these four pairs of panties back but I bet your uncle will be happy to take this box for me. Two and half months detention for being extra creepy and gross, boy. Now both of you waddle to Gilly."

Polliver didn't watch as Arya began to beat the living hell out of Joff all the way to the dorm house. He was on autopilot as he just began to deliver the boxes to each appropriate person. Polliver didn't speak to anyone, he just shoved Joff's box at Tyrion, dropped Jeyne's box in front of Raff, as Bob passed him, Polliver thrust Myranda and Arya's boxes into the man's hands. Polliver had put the two pathetic scraps of contact numbers Theon had on the top of Arya's box. The box full of Damon's stolen treats was handed to Gregor without a word and when the large man tried to speak to him, Polliver left at a jog. He left Ramsay's box for himself to deal with later then delivered the lightest and yet heaviest box of all.

Polliver flung the empty box at Stannis then sat on the man's cabin steps with him. "How? Why?" It was all Stannis had to say and Polliver shook his head. "I just don't know. What did I fucking miss?" Tyrion came over a few minutes later. He was carrying a tray with a pitcher of special lemonade and three tall glasses filled with ice. Setting the liberations upon the porch, he took off his backpack and pulled out his laptop. "Drunk or sober, I am better at writing than either of you. Let's get drunk and get your last reports concerning Loras written and sent to Kevan." Polliver and Stannis both joined Tyrion in a glass of spiked lemonade flavored relief, seeking numb bliss. Stannis drank two glasses before he was able to speak enough for a report to be composed.

When Tyrion said it was Polliver's turn, the man put down his glass. "Well, tell you what, Tyrion. Here is what you can write. I fucked up. I don't know how or why I missed it, but I have purely fucked up. A duckling almost eaten alive, a duckling dead, not to mention Sandor is dead. All on me, I know that. So write that I fucked up and then add whatever the fuck you want, okay? Great." Polliver stood up and walked away. Tyrion sighed and muttered, "Polliver always takes a student death so hard. And so do you, Sir. Look at your face, if it draws any longer it will hit the wooden boards. Come, let's go inside my cabin and set up a war game. It will take your mind off things."

Kevan had to make a phone call that no school director ever wishes to make. He laid his cell on the desk and hit the speaker icon. Olenna had listened then sharply spoke. "I will be there as soon as possible. I will have men with me to bring back my grandson and his possessions." Closing his eyes, pressing his pen hard onto the bridge of his nose, Kevan responded. "Olenna, of course you may come and take Loras. I cannot let your men in here, you know that. I will have his body brought out to them, all his possessions as well." The voice snapped right back at him. "I will go inside your school and see my grandson and his room as well as interview anyone I damned well like before you package him up like a moving day box! My men will stay outside your gates but I will personally blow your gates to hell if I am denied."

For one crazy second, Kevan wanted to yell, "Go on and walk into my gates so I can watch you get deep fried like an onion ring by Harold and Bob's trap!" His voice was calm and cultured as he stared hard at his cell. "There is no need for threats, Olenna. I only meant that your people couldn't enter, you may come in as always. In fact, I would like you to come in. I want you to see that there wasn't any foul play or negligence involved here. You know how to read others, how to tell, how to spot trouble in a student's room, reports and behavior. I swear to you, not one of us had a clue the boy was suicidal. There were no signs, if anything, Loras was a true school success. You saw that for yourself. Everyone here is trying to see what we might have missed. We are also trying to find out what was on that cell phone that led the boy to such a drastic measure."

Bob entered the same small room that Hot Pie had been in. Theon lay in the bed with bandages around his throat, tubes coming from his thin arm. Frowning, Bob walked over and sat in a chair next to the bed. "I know you are awake. Please open your eyes and look at me, Theon." The large eyes opened and instantly filled with tears. Bob put his hand on the curly hair and stroked it. His voice was soft and compassionate even if the reflective glasses gave Theon nothing back but his own terrible wounded self. "Are you in pain, sweet boy? I can get Unella to give you some pain medication if you need it." Theon gave a tiny jerk of his head for no then attempted to speak. His voice was so rough and faint that it made Bob's throat ache in sympathy. "Sorry. It's all my fault." Bob stroked the hair and his other hand held onto the boy's leg firmly.

"Theon, it was my mistake to have allowed Styr near you. I was distracted by other things and didn't keep you safe enough. Harold and I were distracted and didn't make sure to stress enough how our rules on clients are for your own personal safety. This was our oversight, not yours. Our punishments for breaking rules are quite severe compared to other mentors. However, your throat was nearly ripped out, Sandor was killed by Styr's men and Jeyne was shot. That is quite enough violence for a young boy. I think while you recuperate you will spend some time with your therapist dealing with your guilt and remorse. Once you are ready, you will resume training at the house with us and Myranda. When we feel you are ready to try a client again, it shall be in a more controlled and safe manner." Bob held the boy while he cried. "Don't give up on me." Giving a slight smile at the hoarse whispered plea as Bob rested his chin on the curly head, he reassured him. "We don't give up on our students, Theon. We chose to mentor you for a reason, dear boy, you belong to us now and forever. Don't you worry about that."

Lancel walked Sansa to the cafeteria where they each got a drink and a small pastry. They nibbled and sipped as Lancel escorted her into the garden. Sansa had made sure to shed a few tears since she had been the closest to Loras. Lancel comforted his wife and took her to the gardens, hoping to help her become composed and distracted. Ramsay was already in the garden, sitting in a little clearing among the bushes. He appeared to be reading a stolen porn magazine but his eyes were intense and flickered right up as soon as the couple appeared. Ramsay told them about what had occurred earlier.

"I didn't know Loras would kill himself but what else could he do, I guess? I don't know if the cell was destroyed enough or not. I don't know what he had on the damned thing either, I never looked at his cell. I thought he had put it back like always." Sansa nibbled on her nail and muttered, "I never looked at his phone either. There is more, Ramsay. Kevan has decided to send me out with Lancel. I am leaving for good and that leaves just you." Ramsay swore and rubbed his face. Lancel slapped Sansa's hand out of her mouth and spoke in a cold almost absentminded tone. "Don't bite at your nails, darling. It is a revolting and weak willed habit. Loras used to do it."


	115. Love Or Something Like It

Harold and Gilly had offered to Kevan to cancel the date. He waved them away. "Things are so dark right now, I need to see something good happen. Go and have a good time, you crazy kids. Gilly, I order you to gussy yourself up as much as you wish and prance out for a night on the town! Harold, I order you to dress like a proper gentleman, dazzle her with your charm and show Gilly a good time. Off with you!" Kevan had forced himself to smile warmly at the two of them and in spite of his turmoils, he truly meant it. He has quietly observed this strange relationship and had to admit, he wanted to see what will happen. Kevan would never let the couple know but he and Bob have joined the staff betting pool concerning the date. Bob was positive that only one of them will come back intact and Kevan was positive that love or something like it might be in the air.

When Myranda approached Gilly with Jeyne just behind her, the woman was a bit wary. "Gilly? I know you are going out with Harold tonight. Can I help you get ready? I know that Sansa is the real resident beauty, but I have managed to make Jeyne look really good for the weddings." Jeyne piped up next, trying to stand as tall as possible. "I know lots of Person dating things. I saw movies, musicals. Female Persons have other Female Persons help them get ready for dates. I saw it, that is how it works!" Gilly saw the true sincerity in both girls and gave a small nod along with her usual brilliant smile. "How nice of you both to offer. Yes, I would be happy to have some assistance from you ladies. Jeyne, you enjoy musicals too? And Myranda, I have seen your make up work on Jeyne and found it very impressively bold. I like to be bold myself when I can. I can see we shall have plenty to discuss and do! And I will enjoy a chance to learn more about you two."

Gregor spread his arms and stared blankly at Harold. "I don't know what you want from me. I haven't really had time to fix your car, Harold. And Kevan's other car is still fucked up from burning Wildlings crashing on the hood. I have a bus, a jeep and a pick up truck. Take your pick. Or try asking Stannis if you can borrow his car." Harold headed towards Stannis's cabin when he saw Gilly chatting with Jeyne and Myranda. He was passing by and he heard the girls saying about fixing Gilly's hair and makeup for the date later. Staring at Myranda's bright violet hair and thinking of how she had made Jeyne look like a gothic clubber, Harold swayed in horror. Without thinking it out further, Harold approached. His hard uncomfortable smile clashed with Gilly's, who seemed a little annoyed that he showed up. Myranda instantly gave her usual sweet smile and lowered her eyes. Jeyne stopped speaking and simply looked away, her hands curling onto her chest. Harold sensed he was creating a tension but cleared his throat, determined to finish what he started.

"Good afternoon, ladies. I happen to be coming by and overheard your discussion. Gilly, if you wish help for your uh, style or face painting, perhaps you should speak with Sansa. She is right in the garden with Lancel. I don't think dyed hair or punk make up would be appropriate for our outing." Gilly stood up from the long picnic table where she had been setting up therapeutic crafts for the students and her smile made Harold sense he made a very bad mistake. "Sansa is suffering from the loss of a friend and receiving comfort from her husband. These two young ladies reached out to me personally. And I am not only accepting their offer for help, I am thrilled for it. You should be too. Social skills are very important, sharing, offering help are very important. You should be proud of your own charge for such good skills and such a helpful heart. You should be happy to see Jeyne reach out, knowing how difficult that is for her. Most of all, Harold, you should not attempt to dictate how I will look. I am a single, independent woman. I suggest you continue your day while I continue mine. If you decide my independence or looks are too hideous for you tastes, you can always cancel our date, Sir."

Myranda was giving him a sort of pitying look that made Harold crawl inside. He looked at Jeyne, who has shrunk down to fun size feral at his words and felt even worse. Giving a stiff nod, Harold attempted a recovery. "I am sorry, girls. I never meant to imply you weren't able to look nice or make Gilly look good. Gilly already looks good, so do both of you. And you can only look better." Jeyne was nearly under the table, Myranda was sighing and giving Harold a slight shake of her head. Gilly's smile became so wide that Harold was afraid the top of her head might fall off. "Harold, I am sure you are very busy. We shouldn't take up all your time, it is selfish of us. Please feel free to continue onward. I shall see you at our date." Harold left at a rapid pace, pretending that he wasn't running away.

He couldn't find Stannis at his cabin but found the professor at Tyrion's cabin. The two were immersed in spiked lemonade and war games. Harold had knocked on the door and Tyrion simply had yelled for whomever to enter. "Excuse me for interrupting your game, gentlemen." Harold looked at the men expectantly, but neither of them even looked up at him. After a moment, Stannis spoke while he slowly moved his forces behind Tyrion's assaulting foot soldiers. "We excuse your interruption, Sir. Was there more to it or do you normally just like to enter places and excuse yourself?" Tyrion snorted as Harold turned a little red. "Don't mind him, he is drunk. Drowning the guilt over a suicidal student." Stannis grimly looked up and stared blearily at Tyrion then at Harold.

"That boy was not suicidal. There was nothing, not a single indication. He didn't self mutilate, he enjoyed drugs but didn't have any actual addiction issues. Even his few rebellious moments were small, nothing that couldn't be easily handled by any staff member. Loras was an excellent student, he had a good head on his shoulders and should have graduated our school with the greatest of success. I will be very interested to see if you find anything on that cell phone." Harold nodded firmly. "I agree with you, Stannis. I do not believe that boy was suicidal. The phone is being work on as we speak. I believe I can pull up at least some pictures if nothing further. By tomorrow morning, I hope to have some answers for all of us. Professor, the reason I am here is I wish to ask you a question. As you might be aware, I have a date this evening with Gilly. I was wondering if I could possibly borrow your car?"

Stannis and Tyrion both looked up at the same time. "How far are you going? Where are you going? I will not have my car dented by flying bodies, Sir! Do not think to eat or drink in my car or bring it to some dirty swamp while you deflower that woman in my car! It will not be violated, my car is a lady!" Harold tried to assure Stannis that he would treat the vehicle with the utmost respect while Tyrion laughed his head off. Harold was irritated at the dwarf's cackling and accidentally on purpose stepped on the man's foot. Tyrion howled and held his socked foot which caused him to slam into the table. The pieces all flew out of place and Stannis swore, shaking his fist. "Damn you both! Harold, you may use my car if you leave right this second! Tyrion, you cruel creature! I almost had you, I was breathing down Asian necks and now I just landed four legions and a missile upon Rome!"

Ramsay was laying down the in the grass like he hadn't a care in the world. Sansa and Lancel sat on the bench just in that little clearing where no one and no camera could easily see. "I am sort of established as the asshole bad boy and class killer clown. I can't turn perfect and pretty. It would look really freaking strange not to mention sickening my soul to suck up that much. With Loras dead and Sansa living the high life, what am I supposed to do? It going to be hard to collect information like they could. Lancel, are you leaving me alone here? Is there a contingency plan or some shit?" Lancel stood up, walked over and crouched beside the upset boy. Pushing Ramsay's hair out of the intense eyes, Lancel spoke softly. "You won't be alone. I am not deserting you to rot here, Rams. I am going to whisper something to you and you will understand that you are not alone." Lancel leaned down into Ramsay's ear and said something that made the boy looked shocked then laugh. "Holy shit, never would have believed that. Okay."

Sansa looked irritated that she was left out of the secret but reminded herself that it was for safety that they didn't always know everything. Though as a wife, Sansa felt she should receive more information from her husband than others. This wasn't the time for that discussion but Sansa knew that she would have plenty of time for discussions like that after this last hellish week of school. Lancel stood up and walked back over to his wife and gently pulled her to her feet, with a charming smile. His voice was smooth and loving. "Darling, my father doesn't just release his students willy nilly. If he is allowing you to leave it is not out of his need for me to be seen with a wife. It isn't so we can begin to breed our dynasty, that isn't my father's style. You did something or he thinks you have done something to warrant leaving. That could be a good thing or a very bad one. If Harold opens any content on Loras's phone concerning any of us, we might have some real problems. Loras was our weakest link but at least he did the right thing by us and tried to go to his grave in loyal silence. I would expect that of any of us to protect each other."

"I haven't done anything suspicious or wrong, Lancel. I played by your rules and so did Ramsay. Only Loras was messing up. I don't know why Kevan is allowing me to leave but I am happy for it. To serve you here has been an honor, of course. But now I can be at your side, help you everyday, anyway you need me to." Lancel tweaked Sansa's nose and Ramsay rolled his eyes, making a gagging sound. "Sweet wife, I needed you here, it was important work that must be abandoned and we must work from a different angle. I am sure as a wife you will learn quickly how to accommodate me in our work but understand that our relationship will still need work." Sansa said nothing and averted her eyes, causing Lancel to smirk and give her a small hug. "Good girl. Be silent for a moment." Lancel held his wife but looked over her shoulder at Ramsay.

"Continue as your usual self. Unless you are contacted, just be patient and wait, act however you must, grow however you must here. It will draw attention if you are truly a student they cannot train in some way. That will give them too much focus on you. Now that Loras and Sansa are not present, there is little cover for you. Here is what I suggest. Allow their program to work, slowly and fight it as you must, but you must show some improvement and pick a mentor. As hard as it is for me to say this, you must find a way to mend your relationship with your family. Damon is useful, he can provide the cover he did for Sansa and Loras. Jeyne might be useful as well. Improve your relationship with your father or at least be good to Walda. The two things my father loves to see is a mending family relationship and a student discovering a talent. Do both."

Ramsay stared at Lancel as if the man had suggested that Ramsay set himself on fire. "Can I just get better grades and pick a mentor? Asking me to make nice with my dog sister and that fucking betraying hulk is really pushing it. Not to mention that fat, pregnant cow." For a brief moment the air became still and predatory. Sansa tensed in Lancel's embrace, which has gone from casual to painful. Lancel's eyes clashed into Ramsay's and not a word was said. Sansa held her breath, terrified, the hairs on the back of her neck raised. Ramsay's fists tightened briefly and in even though Sansa was clearly the tallest of the three, Lancel seemed to tower over them. Ramsay dropped his eyes and grimly spoke, every word said with respect. "Pick a mentor. Show improvement with family. Get my siblings to trust me. Wait for contact or further instructions. Sorry for the disrespect." 

Arya watched as Gregor dragged Damon into the cafeteria by his neck. "Hot Pie! Damon has something to say to you. Don't you, boy?" Damon blurted out an apology for stealing baked goods from the cafeteria. Hot Pie accepted the apology and Gregor gave the both of them a beaming smile. "Now, instead of trying to beat anything into you, here is the punishment for being an idiot. Until Jeyne heals, you will replace her in the kitchen duty for meals. Hot Pie, meet your new assistant, Damon, meet your new boss. I will leave you both to work out the details." Arya finished her apple cider donut and headed to the dorm. Tyrion had shown up and she enjoyed the show from a shadowy area of the hallway. The drunk uncle was overly dramatic and Joff was screaming, pouting and Arya only wished she had popcorn.

"Every pair, boy! I want you to put every pair of underwear you own into that box! I will strap your ass until you have no ass left if you don't move faster!" Joff tried to argue and Tyrion wildly swung his belt, hitting himself, Joff's foot and a wall. "Move it!" Hollering, Joff filled the box with his clean white underwear. Tyrion threw the crusty pretty lace underwear stolen from Sansa. "There you go, Joff! Little fucking pervert. You will wear these for one full month and I am going to have myself and the STAFF do periodic checks! If we find you wearing anything but these, you will get the dress back too!" Arya ran off fast before she laughed out loud. She cringed, hoping that Tyrion told Joff to wash them first.

Pretending that she wasn't wandering because she was nervous wasn't working. Polliver gave Bob the box and that alone was a bad start. Hiding from Bob wasn't going to help. Might as well bite the bullet and get on with it. Arya went over to the large picnic table covered in crafts. She sat down and Gilly smiled at her. This was the most noticeable and public place she can sit. Now it was waiting until Bob came for her and trying to stay calm. Myranda was using slender markers to color in sun catchers made in Gregor's workshop. Jeyne was creating a monster army out of clay and Arya cast an eye over the table. Something to keep her hands busy, maybe the beads? Gilly leaned over from the other side of the table and spoke. "I have some models you might enjoy putting together." Arya gave a fake smile and nodded. Great, now she can put together a boring damned car or worse, a model ship.

Gilly smiled as she put the diagrams and starter materials before the girl, who's eyes grew wide as saucers. "I know this is unconventional, maybe even improper for a school, but we are creative and unique here. This was confiscated material from another student but I give you permission to finish what he started if you'd like?" Arya spoke in a hushed, almost reverent tone. "Is this, is this H.H. Holmes? The real murder hotel? With all the traps and death rooms? This is a real diagram of it? The blueprints and those are tiny pipes for the gas chambers. Oh gods, yes, please, I would love to work on this. Thank you, Gilly, truly."

The first mentor to show was Raff and Jeyne just shrank with embarrassment. Raff walked over to Jeyne and just put his arm around her, lifting to her onto those unwilling feet. "Let's go for a walk, sweetheart. Don't cry, I'm not mad. We just need to talk. Come on." Raff winked at Gilly as if it were all funny but Gilly simply gave Jeyne an encouraging smile. "Go on, dear. You'll feel better if you talk things out. When you are done, why don't you meet us at the house and help me get ready." That brought a slight smile to Jeyne's face and she nodded. She tried to walk straight and look like a Person.

Raff walked Jeyne through the cornfield, so she could see her whirlygig man dancing in the air. They did not look at each other as Raff explained it was normal for a Person to have a Crush on another Person. Crushes are intense but they do not last. Because Crushes can be mostly fantasy. Crushes can be teachers, adults or rock stars. But Dating and Liking Someone will come next. Appropriate Age Dating with Persons. When a Person has a Crush it isn't bad or wrong to have a journal or scrapbook. Raff assured Jeyne that he has told Polliver she was allowed them. Jeyne could tell that Raff only wanted to discuss this enough so she absorbed it. Then Raff smirked and drawled out, "Jeynie, let's discuss the stolen whirlygig man in that box. I have given it to Gregor to put with the others. Let's discuss why you stole from those very nice folks in FourHeads."

When Bob approached the crafts table both Myranda and Arya stopped working to look up at him. He smiled at them and Gilly, his hands folded behind his back. "How convenient! The two students I need to speak with right here." Bob took a moment to comment at how pretty the sun catcher Myranda made was. He looked at Arya's work. "Gilly, did you give this student the project Polliver confiscated from Ramsay?" Gilly nodded and spoke in an agreeable tone. "Yes. I was given free creative reign and am making the most of it. This girl needed something interesting to keep her mind and hands busy while she waited. The student helped Harold with his traps, so this was perfect for her."

Bob decided to move on from that and gestured to the girls. "Why don't both of you come up to the house with me?" Gilly gave Myranda the same encouraging look that she offered Jeyne. "I will meet you at the house, dear." Arya stood up, pale but resolute and Gilly patted her arm on her way by her. "Don't allow your fear to make you try too hard. Bob is fair and logical. Just be yourself." With a small chuckle, Arya muttered, "Yeah, be myself."


	116. Getting Fancified

The girls followed Bob upstairs, Myranda smirking a little at Arya's eyes scanning everything they went past. "It's just a large fancy house like one you lived in. What's so interesting to you about it?" Arya scoffed then stared disbelieving at the girl. "You really don't see them? The cameras, the traps, I mean, if you went over-" Bob turned and frowned at Arya, cutting her words off. "My dear, have you ever heard about curiosity killing the student? It happens. Here is an example for you. Myranda, please tell Arya what happened last year with the taser. The one that Hot Pie had stolen from Sandor." Rolling her eyes, Myranda drawled out, "Hot Pie let Jeyne hold it. She tasered me, Hot Pie and herself. Polliver found all of us on the floor." Bob smiled and continued up the stairs. Arya kept her mouth shut as she continued to look at everything all the way into the suite.

Only after Bob shut and locked the doors did Arya suddenly go from impressed to terrified. Not of the surroundings, no, but of messing this up. Bob is irritated over receiving a box along with an interview then she acted the fool coming upstairs. She was going to blow this if she isn't careful. Bob gestured towards a peculiar looking couch and invited Arya to sit down. "I shall speak with Myranda then come back for you. Since you have an eye for traps and cameras, I will assume you won't be doing too much spying while we are gone." Arya sat on the couch while Bob took a reluctant Myranda further into the suite. It only took seconds for Arya to understand what she was sitting on. Instantly she reacted, as all do when they understand it's human flesh. Except, Arya didn't react with horror but with fascination. She spent quite a while inspecting the furniture before wandering the room. Bob had been right, Arya kept her hands and feet firmly where they belonged as she took the room apart with her eyes.

A tank rolled through the delicate garden, uncaring of flowers, plants or romantic scenery. Lancel and Sansa parted before the invisible force of Gilly. Eyes full of polite ice fell upon the lovely couple and her smile was condemning somehow. "I appreciate the difficulty of your situation but wife or not, Sansa is not allowed to engage in sexual activity upon our school grounds. Your father's house is a different story, young man. Out here, Sansa is a student and must abide by the rules. I had assumed you were offering her comfort. That is far too much comfort. I shall obtain you a copy of our student rules, Lancel." Stepping past the startled couple, Gilly towered over Ramsay, who was still laying in the bushes, napping. "Young man, I know you aren't sleeping. It is repulsive of you to snoop on others. Polliver will be coming to see you soon. You will come with me to the crafts table or you will go inside the dorm house."

Sansa and Lancel both gave Gilly's back of look of black hate then they quietly walked away, leaving Ramsay to deal with her. Ramsay opened his eyes and looked up at Gilly with a scowl. "You said we could use the garden. I was using the garden and Polliver can find me himself if he wants to see me that badly." Gilly's smile lit up and Ramsay sighed. "If you would rather have me tell Polliver you were in the garden peeping upon a romantic couple, I can do that. Perhaps this is just your way of asking for help. Help with a sexual addiction, maybe? If you want, I can discuss that with you until Polliver decides to look here for you. Then I'll tell him about your issue. How is that incontinence problem? I know Raff said it was cleared but it should be periodically checked."

With a swear, Ramsay got up and stormed towards the damned craft table. "Hey! That's mine!" Gilly smiled with satisfaction as Ramsay worked upon the murder hotel, complaining about Arya using it the whole time. She sat silently until Polliver came by. Scowling, he stared at the confiscated work then at Gilly. "I took that away from him. Why did you give it back?" A beaming smile attacked Polliver. "I actually gave it to Arya to work on. After she left with Bob, I let Ramsay work on it to keep him busy and within my sight. I understand that something like this craft shouldn't be in the student rooms. But here where I am supervising and able to assist them therapeutically with these projects, I think it has merit. I have gone through the shed where all the confiscated items are and took a good portion of things out to reuse." Polliver sighed and shook his head. "I can't. Not today, not with you. Let's go, Death Row."  

Harold was beyond miserable. Stannis sober as a judge is hard to take when he is in lecturing mode. Drunk Stannis doing it was beyond tolerable. Even Gregor left the garage, muttering that he couldn't take the torture. Stannis not only gave Harold a tour of the inside of the car, but a full inspection of the engine. Then the man felt compelled to explain how to change the tires, check the oil, how to read the blueprints of the engine. Stannis made sure Harold had a folded towel, a first aid kit, jumper cables, a map clearly labeling their destinations. The professor provided handy wipes, a can of Lysol, extra flares and several new air fresheners. Stannis sat Harold in the car to show exactly how the car liked to be started. When he pulled out the car manual and said there would be a quiz, Harold nearly cried. It took a quick pleading text to Tyrion before he could escape to get ready for his date.

Myranda let out a sigh of relief when Bob didn't bring her to one of the special closets. Instead she found herself in a small den that held a desk with her box on it. Bob guided her to stand before the desk and he stood behind her. He stroked her hair with one hand as the other reached around her to stir around in the box. "Hmm, this is clearly extreme rebellion. And the bottle, that was yours too?" Myranda couldn't do more than nod and seethe. In order to tell that Polliver was framing her, Myranda would have to tell of the incident. Which led to her admitting what she did for contraband items or favors. There was no way that Myranda was willing to confess to that. Bob chuckled and squeezed her as if finding her adorable. "Sweetheart, after we allowed you to pick your own client, dye your hair? No, you wouldn't dare to be rebellious after that. My sweet girl doesn't like the taste of beer. So no beer bottle. You rarely keep any cigarettes you manage to get that close to yourself since you share them with Hot Pie. So no cigarette pack. As for the joints, you wouldn't keep this many on you, you would keep one and sell the others for cash or favors."

Bob leaned closer to the girl and whispered with amusement in his voice, "Do you want to tell me why Polliver is after you?" He already knows, Myranda shivered and shook her head. "I would rather not, Sir." Bob stroked the girl's hair a last time before moving back a little bit. "You wish to handle this situation on your own? If you discover you can't, come see us about why Polliver is bullying you." Myranda nodded and smiled. He knows but is allowing her to choose which situation is worse. With relief, Myranda chose to accept the punishment for the box contents. Bob chose to only discipline for the joint, cash and jewelry that belonged in the luggage. "You are very lucky that I also have to see Arya today. We are going with a traditional punishment for the sake of time." Myranda shut her eyes and winced at the order to pull down her pants and lean over the desk. "Five strikes with the crop for stealing. Five more for the joint. With each strike you can thank me for being so merciful and understanding."

Jeyne was happy as she used her crutches to maneuver her way onto Kevan's porch. Raff chose not to physically punish Jeyne for her stealing. Instead, Jeyne must compose a letter of apology for the theft and mail it to the store. Along with cash to pay for the stolen item. Jeyne had to borrow the money, she had none and that was something to think on. Not now, not when she was doing something so exciting, so Person, as helping Gilly get ready for her date. Knocking on the door, Jeyne was surprised when Kevan opened it. The man smiled at Jeyne in a way that was different and it made her nervous. Kevan was too effusive and interested. He told her that Gilly was showering and would be ready to see her soon. Then instead of leaving her to sit in the foyer, Kevan invited her to sit in the living room with him. Jeyne looked at the breakable items in the fancy room as her crutches thumped.

"Did I do something wrong, Sir?" Kevan patted Jeyne's shoulder, almost making the girl jump into a wall. "No, dear, you have done nothing wrong. I am simply wanting to know how things are going for you. Is your leg feeling alright? Are you in pain? How your classes and therapy is going? Do you need anything? How are you getting along with the other students?" The feral instinct to hide from such a barrage of intensity was strong and Jeyne fought it with all she had. Putting her hands against her chest but forcing them to be still in a tight clasp, Jeyne sat, speaking very slow and carefully. "I am learning to be a Person. I work hard in class. I make mistakes but I am trying. To be a Person, a Responsible Person. I am sorry for running over the fence, Sir. It was a Feral thing, a bad thing. It's my fault Sandor is dead. Am I getting the circle for it, Sir?" Kevan spent the time until Gilly came trying to convince Jeyne that he wasn't speaking to her because of an impending punishment.

Harold was heading into the suite as Myranda was coming out of it. She was wiping away the last of her tears and seemed to move stiffly. Bob must have punished her for whatever was in the box. He grabbed her by the shoulders and spoke fast. "Sweet girl, please do not make Gilly look like Jeyne did. It was a nice look for the feral, but it will not do for Gilly." Myranda gave a pained smile. "I am only going to give Gilly the looks she wishes for. She wouldn't want to look like Jeyne. I mean no disrespect Harold, but have you considered that you cannot control a date like you can control me? A person like Gilly makes her own choices and decisions and won't like being told what to do or how to look." One hand stroked Myranda's face gently but the other squeezed her very sore ass, causing her to yelp. "Thank you for the advice, sweet girl. You are right, I do control you, if not Gilly. So you will not make up her hair or face into anything severe. Understand, darling?" Myranda nodded fast. "Yes, Sir." Harold kissed Myranda's forehead before releasing her. "Good girl. Run along now."

Gilly served tea and cookies to the girls then showed them a CD that made Jeyne squeal in delight. "It's a compilation of some of my favorites. I hope you'll both enjoy it as much as I do. We can sing and dance while I get ready." Jeyne's eyes got huge and almost reverently she whispered, "I Feel Pretty Person song is on it?" Gilly made sure that song went on first as they surveyed her closet. By the time Summer Nights began to thump, they were all dancing, Jeyne thumping her crutches while picking out make up and hair styles. Myranda grimaced when Gilly put on her only good dress and even Jeyne wrinkled her nose. "You look proper, like you are heading out for a church function. It's not really a date outfit, is it?" Gilly shrugged at Myranda's words. "I know. But Harold ruined my only other nice dress."

Myranda began to ruffle through the closet, Gilly's jewelry box and drawers. "We can work with this proper dress. Trust me." She examined the lace insert and removed it, allowing for a small amount of cleavage. "I suppose it's not too much to show a little. Do you know how to hem? I would like to raise the hem above my knees a few inches. I feel a little reckless." Gilly heated the curling iron while Myranda worked on the dress and Jeyne started to set out the hair clips to judge which would match best. "Do I wear nylons with the dress?" Myranda laughed and shook her head. "Bare legs are in now." Gilly smiled. "Good. I hate wearing nylons. What about a slip?" Even Jeyne giggled and shook her head at that. Myranda surveyed the black dress on Gilly and added the pearl necklace and thin gold hoop earrings. A gold chain link belt to hang over her waist and delicate gold colored butterfly clips for her hair.

Myranda gave Gilly's hair tight curls that were then gently teased and styled upon her head in a fancy pile with curly tendrils that fell lazily down her neck. The small butterfly clips circled the curly fancy hair. Gilly admired the fancy new look and Myranda started to polish her nails with a dark speckled blue. Jeyne started to set out all the make up, Myranda brought her whole three tier case of it. "Hmm, what about a good bold look? Can you make a smoky eye?" Myranda smiled sweetly and spoke carefully. "I was thinking of going classic, maybe some neutral colors." Gilly raised an eyebrow. "Oh? No, I would like the smoky eye look, please." Jeyne held out a pair of strap on heel black shoes that Gilly had swiped out of the confiscation boxes she found mouldering in the shed. Myranda laughed. "Those were the shoes I wear on client visits, I always try to swipe my accessories." Gilly gave a little frown. "You are right, its unfair that you are not allowed to use your own items."

"What are you doing on the date? Will you kiss and eat popcorn and see a movie?" Gilly smiled at Jeyne's wistful face. "Well, I am not sure on any kissing. Harold is taking me to a nice supper at a restaurant then we will see Guys and Dolls." Jeyne gasped and clutched the lipstick. "Someday, I will be a Person going to a Musical. Can Persons go without a date to a musical?" Myranda shoved Jeyne. "Stupid. Of course anyone can go to a musical that can pay for a ticket." They continued to enjoy the music as Myranda tried to balance out the cosmetics. She needed to appease Harold and yet please Gilly. Myranda did a first look and both Gilly and Jeyne agreed it was too boring. Gilly spoke in a dry voice. "Myranda, if Harold has an issue with my make up, I will be happy to tell him that I ordered you to do it the way I wished." Jeyne said what Myranda wouldn't and couldn't. "But he will hurt her for not doing what he ordered first."

Gilly thought on that for a moment then nodded firmly. "Very well, I do see your point. I do not wish Harold to cause you any further bother, Myranda. So you will simply coach me and I will do my own face. That way you are not giving me the look but merely preventing me from making a total mess of it." A few moments later, Myranda was dancing to The Lonely Goatherd as she advised Gilly on how to make a smoky eye. While applying her cosmetics, Gilly and Myranda were somewhat quiet, intense upon their work. Jeyne decided to sing along to the music, knowing a good amount of the songs. They smiled at how Jeyne always managed to mimic any dialect and harmonize in a sweet soft voice.

Then a song that Jeyne loves to sing to herself in the woods. Domeric had loved musicals and taught Jeyne many of the songs. This was by far her favorite and it always reminded her of her lost beloved brother. Gilly and Myranda found themselves staring at Jeyne through the mirror as the girl soulfully belted a song in a voice no one has ever heard her use. The song ended and both of them wiped tears away. Gilly gave the girl a rather grim yet fierce smile and nod. "Jeyne, I agree fully with that song. Don't you ever let anyone rain on your parade. You sing very well, Jeyne. Did you know that?" Jeyne shrugged. "I howl better." Myranda laughed and Gilly grinned. Jeyne bounced at the success of her joke.

Harold had polished his glasses until they had an unbearable shine. His hair was styled, nails manicured and he was dressed in a nice light gray suit with a dark purple tie. His shined soft leather shoes were the same color as his suit. Waiting at the bottom of the staircase along with Kevan and Bob, he fidgeted. Myranda and Jeyne came down the stairs with bright, expectant grins. The men looked at Gilly who was just behind the students and Bob cleared his throat. "Okay, I will admit it. Gilly does clean up nicely." Kevan glared at him while Harold stared at Gilly and muttered, "Bob, I will skin you if you say another word." Harold looked at how the prim, proper and solid Gilly had suddenly transformed. She looked like a challenge more than ever. The make up was just slightly too much, the cleavage was almost too much and her legs were tantalizing. Harold couldn't decide if he loved or hated Gilly's look. 


	117. Strange Dates

Harold was not familiar with the practice of dating but he was pretty sure that a date should not draw this much attention. By the time he managed to maneuver Gilly past the girls and Bob there was Kevan. The man was acting like a protective father allowing his only daughter who has never seen a boy out of church go out on prom night. Harold had always seen Kevan as his own father figure and it was strange to suddenly be treated as if he were a strange man here to molest Kevan's beloved new daughter. It was confusing and Harold nearly dragged Gilly out the door at a run. Just to encounter Stannis, Tyrion, Lancel, Sansa, Unella, Gregor and Raff. All but Stannis remained silent. The professor harassed Harold the whole time the man tried to get himself and Gilly into the car and drive away. As soon as they left, Raff announced he will set up a betting board in the cafeteria. Tyrion patted Stannis with detached sympathy as he led the man away. Stannis was beside himself with worry and eagerly accepted a spiked lemonade from Hot Pie.

 Arya had been shocked at her strange treatment so far by Bob. First she was left in the sitting room and though it was interesting, Arya was not a patient person. She had leaped to her feet when Myranda was guided by Bob into the room. Without looking at Arya once, Myranda waited while Bob wiped her eyes with his handkerchief and he fixed her hair with a small smile. "There, you look just fine. Have a good time getting Gilly ready for her date." Myranda had given her usual smirking sweet smile and Bob patted her cheek with approval. "Thank you, Sir. Have a good night." Myranda fled and Arya waited for Bob to turn to her. Instead, they both watched Harold rush in and fly past them. With a smile, Bob gestured to Arya. "This way, please." Arya followed Bob down a rather dim hallway then he opened a door, gesturing for her to enter. Taking a deep breath, Arya straightened her back and entered the small room. It contained a small desk which had Arya's school folder and the box on it. Two chairs, both plain wood and uncomfortable looking. "Please, have a seat, dear girl. Excellent." Arya was right, the chair was not easy to sit still in, every angle of it was slightly off. Bob shut and locked the door. With her inside and him leaving down the hallway. "Are you shitting me?" Arya flung her arms out and stared at the door in disbelief. Is this a test of her patience or does Bob just suck that much?

Ramsay followed after Polliver and drawled out, " Are you taking me to the clinic for another game of Student Surgery? Or is this going to be more of a traditional beating with maybe a question answer section on dead killers?" Polliver twirled his baton and turned slightly to grin at Ramsay. The grin wasn't friendly, cheerful or nice and his eyes were black holes. Fuck, he is actually impacted by Loras's death, that surprised Ramsay. Time to tread a little lightly if the sadistic counselor is feeling even more emotion than he was earlier today. Polliver was already being an extra dick today thanks to his anger with Myranda and Jeyne. Ramsay decided it was prudent to shut up and look away from those eyes. "Nah, no clinic for you tonight, Death Row. Gregor and I have tried enough physical tactics on you. Raff and Unella can give you all the pills and therapy they want and it won't matter. Shock treatments won't change it. Tried to tell Unella that but she has scheduled them. Enjoy being chicken fried, ask your sister how that feels." It nearly killed Ramsay to keep his mouth shut but he did. Polliver started to walk again but this time he used his baton to make Ramsay walk before him, prodding when the boy would slow down. "Time to try a little something different. How about a preview of the future for you? Let's take a walk into the woods. Don't worry, I have a flashlight for when it gets too dark, honey bunches."

Harold drove the speed limit and as the sun set, he tried to think of what to talk about. Gilly watched the rocks in the distance glow pink then purple as they went down the seemingly endless road. "It might seem desolate to some, but I love the wide open spaces, the smaller hidden ones within in it. Isn't that sunset lovely, Harold?" Nodding his head, Harold glanced at the sunset through his glasses and didn't see it but smiled anyway. "I do love living in this area. I don't mind traveling to other locations, but I'm glad that Kevan made the school here." His voice sounded stiff and Harold silently cursed. Gilly tried the car radio which was all the options for features and found three preprogrammed channels. One flooded the car with a Glen Miller, the other one sent Kenny G. trilling into their ears and the third was a voice nearly whispering about pros and cons of agricultural stocks. "Please don't change any of the stations. I'm afraid Stannis will kill me." Gilly laughed a bit and asked, "When did Stannis get this car? It's like a glowing blue boring sedan, but he treats it like it's an antique or something." Harold saw the sign for the town up ahead and felt a thrill of joy that things were going well so far. "When he came to the school, he had the car with him. He said he bought it new from the factory in the early seventies. The first car he ever bought brand new, paid for in cash. Stannis told me all about it in great detail."

Gregor surveyed Damon, Myranda and Jeyne with a pitiful shake of his head. "Polliver said to make sure you got your jogging time in. Jeyne, hop into the jeep with me, you can't run. You can be their support." Gregor drove at a sedate pace, the joggers chasing after the jeep. He handed Jeyne a bullhorn and now the joggers were wishing their legs would fall off right along with their ears. Unella gave Gregor a dirty look as he pretended to swerve as if to hit her and the joggers swerved right along with him. They recoiled from the formidable stomach as they jogged and Jeyne bellowed through the bullhorn. "WATCH OUT FOR THAT STOMACH, MAGGOTS! COME ON, DUCKLINGS! RUN, LIFT THOSE LEGS, PUT YOUR HEART INTO IT!" Suddenly, Jeyne's voice changed into R. Lee Emery from Full Metal Jacket and the joggers lagged due to laughter. Gregor himself was chuckling and the let the kids laugh and run themselves out while Jeyne kept throwing out entertaining voices. He received a text from Raff. A confirmation that Unella had entered his bet along with her own. Gregor was sure that Harold would injure or kill Gilly and Unella was betting that Gilly would maim or murder Harold. 

Gray walls, gray smooth carpet, gray ceiling, no windows, one door. A plain wooden table and two wooden chairs to relieve the lack of color. No pictures, no knickknacks, no shelves, no bookcases, nothing else. Arya read her file straight through. She skipped the parts she didn't understand, mostly things that Unella or Raff had written. Test results on tests she didn't understand were scanned past. She didn't care about any diagnosis mentally, she has already been through that discussion with the doctor and Raff. Boring. Arya read through the professor notes with a scowl. They thought she was of average intelligence but lazy about working on her academics. Was more interested in being the class clown and had no understand or interest in gaining further education. Fuck them and Arya moved on to read the counselor reports. Gregor was as gruff in his reports as he was in person and that made Arya grin. He thought she worked well when motivated to do so. Arya was a little stunned to see the depths of the reports from Polliver. It was interesting to see how well he knew her habits, her tantrums, even the silent turmoils. He felt that separating her from her sister was the first big step to Arya's healing. Arya laughed at that part then sobered as she turned the page to Sandor's reports. A tear or two fell as she read Sandor's belief that Arya's talent lay not only in spying. That there was more for her to learn and be.

As they walked deeper into the woods, in the part that was considered off limits to students at all times, Ramsay started to worry. Polliver whistled a jaunty song and swung the baton in time to it. "Don't worry, dear little duckling. You are with Uncle Polly, it's safe to be here. The Tickler won't try for your yummy little bouncing body as long as I'm with you. As long as I don't announce you are here as his reward for doing such a good job getting rid of the bodies. Minus their skin, of course, that goes to the twins. The skin they don't use for their personal furniture is sold to others who like sitting on former folks." Ramsay scowled at Polliver and muttered, "Is it scary story time again, Uncle Polly?" With a wide stretching of his lips and teeth, Polliver gave a small bow. "Indeed it is! And you are the only lucky duckling to get this nighttime tale, Ram Ram. It's not a story that I like to have to tell, it isn't one that I am proud of telling. It isn't an action I ever like to take on a duckling. But I've never met a duckling more in need of this story and tour than you." Polliver shoved Ramsay further into the deepest part of trees and rotting foliage until Ramsay fell upon soft earth that stunk. "It's time for you to hear about where our failures end up. After all, I don't want you to feel that you weren't given a chance to see the future. Want to know which decomposing student you are kneeling on right now? Oh, look, the Tickler is here after all. I'd run if I were you, student." It only took one horrible second for it to dawn on Ramsay that Polliver wasn't joking.

Harold opened Gilly's door and helped her out of the car. Gilly looked about the full parking lot and at the rustic looking restaurant, aptly titled, The MooseBeak Restaurant in large red wooden letters. As they walked past a town car, a tractor trailer, seven motorcycles, a school bus and an actual horse and buggy, Harold mused, "This town is only slightly bigger than FourHeads. I guess everyone must use this parking lot." Gilly shrugged and smiled. "Or, the eatery is very popular with the locals and is so good it draws customers from everywhere." Harold smiled and nodded, liking how positive she was already to this dating thing. The lobby was loud, it was also full of every type of age group. Harold was not used to anyone younger than a teenager and was frankly overwhelmed and terrified by the children that suddenly began a game of chase around him. Gilly seemed excited and happy to engage with the children, allowing Harold to escape and nearly attack the hostess. Almost screaming into the woman's face, Harold said that he had a reservation. Harold watched in numbness as the woman moved so slow that he wondered if she suffered a head wound. She cracked her bubblegum, checked her nails for chipped paint, made sure she was still breathing then checked her clipboard. Not a single page or line was used but one line that had his reservation on it. Nevertheless, the infuriating hostess whom didn't appreciate being yelled at, checked carefully. "Yes, there you are. Good thing you made a reservation, it's one of our busiest nights here. Only get that on holidays or community theater nights like this. Not much happens around here. So when the community drama does something, everyone here all the way to FourHeads shows up."

Lancel walked out the gates with his father. "Are you sure about all of this, father? I can stay here at the house and help you tomorrow with Olenna?" Kevan smiled at his son and patted his shoulder. "Nonsense. The day I can no longer handle Olenna Tyrell will be my last day. Go on and get things sorted out. At the end of the week, you'll return on Visitor Day and take your wife home with you. We can speak more often now that you've taken on this large role in our family." Lancel paused before his car and looked at his father. "I wish I understood why you suddenly want me to take Sansa home with me. Not that I mind but you were firm before that she must stay in the school. What changed?" Kevan leaned on his cane and gave a rather unguarded and wistful smile to his son. "You are going to be heading our Lannister dynasty. A wife is needed, children are needed. All of the responsibility, the money, the power, it's all yours now. My hope is your heart and mind will always conflict, balance you out." Lancel nodded but he noted that his father's eyes weren't old manly and wistful, they were dark and a chill went up his spine. He allowed his father to hug him tightly. "I love you, son. I truly hope that this is what you wanted, that all these years you've spent traveling, learning and giving will prepare you for this. I hope you find this and your new wife enough for you. I don't think there is much more I can do for you or for Sansa. This has to be enough. Leave and remember that I love you, Lancel."

A bestial look on his face, Lancel raced down the road, his rage and car tearing up the dirt. He cursed Loras every way he could, his spittle flying, fists slamming on the wheel. He heard a buzzing and checked his texts. It was that asshole Podrick, letting Lancel know that he had texted Kevan hours ago with the terrible state of affairs. Lancel started to laugh so hard he had to pull over. Kevan must have already seen the state of affairs earlier and that is why Sansa is sent off, why Lancel is sent off so fast. The relief only lasted a moment, not that he felt his father would think he was behind the mess of Jaime's work but that cell phone Loras had. What if they got anything incriminating on it? Lancel began to drive fast but not erratically this time. He just had to hope that Loras kept nothing on that phone that they cannot explain away. Time to head back to Casterly Rock and tell the girls of the news. They will get to meet Sansa and they were merely inches from their joyful bloody days now. 


	118. Digging Deeper

The table was sticky, under a television that was blaring a sports program, surrounded by loud boisterous diners. A waiter came by, announced his name was Chad, he threw a bowl of popcorn on the table. He took their drink orders and left, never to return. Another waiter came by with their drinks, his name was Dennis and he informed them that Chad was on break. So he will take their order and ripped the sticky menus out of Harold and Gilly's hands. Dennis wrote down the orders and dove away into the kitchen. They never saw Dennis again. Gilly sipped at her drink and grinned. "This tastes delightful. What is it called again?"

Harold sipped at his own strong mixed drink. "That is called a Mudslide. Careful with those, they taste too sweet, you won't notice how much alcohol you are drinking. When I was a teenager, all of us students crept into the cafeteria and made them. They were easy to make and so good, Kevan found us black out drunk. Back then, it was a new school and not much staff yet. So Kevan wasn't just the director of the school, he was the counselor too." Gilly giggled and sipped her drink more. "That must have been interesting. Tell me what happened when Kevan found you!"

Harold blushed slightly. "He beat us all into our rooms then waited a few hours before waking us up. He made us all go into the kitchen and not only clear away our mess, but cook food. Of course, we were all too sick to eat but he decided we would feed the staff. Ever try to cook ground beef with a stomach flu? Same reaction. Kevan kept buckets out for us throw up into as we all prepped, cooked and cleaned. We cleaned the fat out of the fryer, we scrubbed the ovens and the grime under them. We made ground beef, we made sausages and it was truly awful. It was me, Bob, Varys, Selyse and Meryn."

Laughing, Gilly found herself relaxing against the seat. Harold found himself chuckling too. "Worst thing was that was the day that Olenna Tyrell was starting as our new counselor. Kevan was livid. We didn't make a very good impression, all green and leaning on each other. Didn't take that she-bitch more than an hour to take over and Kevan went to his house and his son. I am telling you, Gregor and Polliver have NOTHING compared Olenna. That woman was not just sadistic and pure evil but she was a bit of a cougar. She had a wild time playing with Bob. Kevan almost murdered them when he figured it out."

Susan came by to introduce herself and inform them that Dennis was on break. She put down their plates and wandered into the crowd, never to return. The table behind them filled with a family and behind Gilly was a rowdy college age group. The food gave reason for them not to have to try and hear each other. To Harold's relief, the food was correct and delicious. If it hadn't been, Harold wasn't sure if he would have been able to flag any of the rapidly disappearing staff. Once he swore he saw Dennis streak past with a flaming bowl for the college table.

As they enjoyed the food, Harold began to tense. He felt eyes on him, boring through his skull and he found himself holding tightly to his steak knife. A puff of breath his his neck and Harold was ready. About to twist and plunge the knife when Gilly gave a huge but silly smile to Harold's shoulder. Another puff of moist breath in his ear and Harold slowly turned to encounter a gummy juicy smile of a hairless large head. Frozen, Harold had no idea how to achieve freedom from the nightmare as the drooling pink mouth suddenly attached to the glass just seconds from his eye.  

Arya rummaged through her box and found her gum to her delight. She put a piece in her mouth, sighing with joy. Cracking the gum, Arya started to reconstruct the trap she had in her box in her head while touching the pieces. A spy she might be but Arya never heard Bob enter the room. If the door had opened, Arya would have seen it from the corner of her eye. Earlier, Arya had gone around to feel the walls and found no traps, no other doors. Yet, Bob was not only in the room, he was behind her, breathing down her neck. Arya leaped hard enough that her chair rattled and she swallowed her gum.

Bob stood behind her and held lightly onto her shoulders and Arya froze. "Please forgive me for taking so long. I promise that you have my complete and utter interest and attention now." He leaned over her, so close that his breath made her hair stir when he whispered, his long gray arm stretching past her to stir the contents of the box. "Let's not worry too much about this box business. It's pathetic for contraband. Stolen or bought gum is petty and boring. The trap you are trying to create is unrealistic for your setting. I will punish you for it, but not for the box contents, but for it's lack of ingenuity."

How does one respond to that? Arya tried to stammer out something, an apology, an excuse but Bob's hand moving the box aside caught her attention. He had on a gray glove, it seemed to be of the same leather as the couch but softer and dyed. As if Bob knew that Arya saw the glove in that moment, his other hand confirmed the type of leather when it caressed her face. The hand that pushed aside the box was now rapidly flipping the pages of the folder. The voice was soft but without any emotion but disdain.

"You think you are a good candidate for my mentoring skills, for Harold's skills? Hmm. That folder tells me you are average. You have no drive to better your education. Pranking staff and students alike. Beating up your husband takes up a good amount of your time. You are considered mouthy, sarcastic and you almost live in a state of detention. A spy shouldn't be noticed and you never shut up, stop pranking or fighting. A little noticeable, don't you think? You can kill, is that what makes you qualified? No, that can't be it. If that were the case, I would be mentoring all the students. Do you think you are qualified because you make traps? Ramsay and Damon can make traps too. So you know that can't be it. Why are you here? What do you think makes you deserve this chance?"

Arya had no clue what to say, she choked. A fist came down so hard and fast on the table that she yelped. The other hand was grabbing her chin hard and the voice came hard, fast and relentless. "Don't stop to think of a good excuse or flowery reply. No lies, no evasions, nothing but the bare raw truth or you may leave right now. Why are you here? What do you want from us? What makes you a qualified good candidate for our mentorship?" Panic welled and every rehearsed line in Arya's head that she had time to craft blew apart. Her voice was honest, ragged and scared, blurted out the words, even as they hurt her like live chainsaws running through her.

"Because it's the only time I have peace! The only time I am focused, happy, relaxed or whatever you call it! When I prank, it's just a funny version of a trap. When I am making traps, when I am spying, it makes me content, it's all I have, all I like, all I know! I can't make friends, I don't know how, I don't even know if I want friends! All I know is the only thing that I am ever feeling sure about is spying and making traps! Because, because I LIVE in a trap! I know I need help besides just Raff. I am messed up, I hate school work and I talk too much, I know that. I will probably be awful to mentor but I am begging you because I need help and I know THAT for sure."

A tear slid down her cheek as Bob tossed the folder aside with the box. "And so we discard the folder along with the box. Nothing in those papers gave me as much information as your honesty has. Now all that remains to be examined and measured is you alone." The most dreaded, horrible question slid into her ear and Arya shivered at the breath and the words. "Who are you?" The honest answer came out in a lonely confession. "I don't know."

Ramsay flew, tiny branches slapping small cuts onto his face. He grew up in the Bolton woods as much as Domeric and Jeyne had. Ramsay and Damon enjoyed hunting most in the woods, whether human or animal. But these were Tickler's woods and for him it was home. No matter where he dodged, jumped or turned, the repulsive troll was there, grinning and looking at Ramsay like a good dinner. Ramsay didn't waste his breathe cursing or pleading, he was focused on escape. The Tickler toyed with him and Ramsay knew it.

Blocked but never actually touched as the troll got closer and Ramsay would start to tire. Fuck. He was fucked and so he turned and tried to punch the man. The troll grabbed the extending fist and used it to throw Ramsay over him and onto the ground. As Ramsay lay flat on his back and tried to breathe, the only relief he had was hearing Polliver laughing nearby. Before he could recover enough to move or call out to Polliver, the troll landed on him. Ramsay was embarrassed that he screamed at all, never mind that since he hadn't much breath, it came out high and faint.

The man was heavy, solid in a shifting muscle and fat combination that felt just wrong and awful. His entire body from head to toe was covered in black latex, his hood and cape smothered them in a hideous parody of intimate privacy. Everywhere that Ramsay tried to grab or kick gave no purchase. His hands and feet just slipped away, the slick material was oily. A terrible face, thick lips, thicker tongue that licked across his face, Ramsay gagged at the thought of attempting to bite it. The stink, the smell of the breath, of the unwashed skin underneath the suit, it was so bad that Ramsay brought up burning lava bile and it dribbled out of his mouth. 

Tickler licked the bile trail up from his chin and lips. Ramsay started to vomit and the vile troll flipped him onto his side. Helpless while vomiting, Ramsay was as easy to move as a rag doll. The latex body rubbed against him and a huge erection poked at Ramsay's ass. Slippery limbs enveloped him like live bondage and he sobbed as the last of his gagging ended. Blinking tears away, Ramsay noticed the boots in front of his face. They were boots he knew, damn it, yes, they were. His voice didn't sound normal at all but Ramsay didn't care.

"Polliver, please! Please! Don't let him! I get the point, I will do better, I swear, I can change, okay? Just get him off me, get him off!" The worst thing about being a liar is that when you finally tell the truth, no one believes you. It is an infuriating feeling and Ramsay swelled with it when Polliver crouched down and shook his head. The man gave him a playful grin that didn't look one bit convinced. "Nah, that isn't enough this time, dear. I told you that Uncle Polly has a story for you. Consider this story a sort of pop up book, okay?"

Ramsay's hands scrambled across the latex hands that were removing his pants, sliding them over his hips. He couldn't kick or squirm away as the legs were entwined with his own. He panted in disgust and terror, his own vomit covering his face, tears falling, whining. Polliver's eyes were calm, they were stone and his voice was lyrical, that storytelling Uncle Polly voice.

"Kevan is proud of his school and it's success rate, we all are. It is rare when a student isn't treatable, when a student just cannot rehabilitate or be trained or reached. When that happens, it doesn't, can't, reflect upon our shining school records. So one of two things happens to those students. They either end up in that mushy rotted ground I just showed you, which means our creepy twinsters are probably sitting upon their skin or they end up as our Tickler."

Sansa lightly rubbed at her arms and tried not to fall apart but practice her serene look in the mirror. Ramsay was gone with Polliver, Lancel is heading home and Loras is dead, leaving behind only worry for his Family. What was on that phone? What was worth killing himself and smashing the phone over? Sansa understood that it was probably the thought of interrogation by the twins that made Loras kill himself. He knew he would be too weak too withstand the creepster twins questioning.

Furrowing her brow, Sansa paced the empty dorm house trying to think what the phone had on it. Sansa knew Loras used it to gain copies of all the records and files at the clinic that he can get. They used three phones in total that Lancel had left them in the bunker when they arrived at the school. One was for Loras, one for Sansa and the third they both used. The third contained the calender project. 

She heard the others return and went to sit on the couch as they staggered in, sweaty and tired. Joff was moaning and nearly crawled into his room, slamming the door behind him. Jeyne used her crutches to stomp up the stairs to head to her room, Damon staggered straight to the shower and Myranda stopped to drink the can of soda that Sansa held out to her. "Thanks, Oscar." Sansa gave a small smile and flipped her ginger locks behind her and the girl laughed deep in her throat.

With a smirk that was like a sharp sexual pain, Myranda trailed a hand across the long neck then whispered, "Do you know the difference between you and the Tickler? You are a troll that is beautiful on the outside. It's been a thrill knowing you, sweetheart." Myranda sauntered away and Sansa gritted her teeth. She couldn't wait to get the fuck out of here.


	119. Making The Cut

Harold scrubbed his face, his ears, hair and hands vigorously, trying to regain composure. He cleaned his glasses until they were shining, then he cleaned them until he stopped trembling. Fixing his hair in the bathroom mirror, Harold tried to think, to try to understand how he felt. Confused. Confused and terrified. Confused and terrified and he might be in love. Confused and terrified and he might be in love and Harold thinks of killing Gilly. No, that's a horrible response to how he feels and Gilly would find it very rude. It would be very rude to kill her after she saved him from the baby and complimented him on his eyes. 

While Harold had struggled to not murder the small pink suckling thing, Gilly had cooed and tried to pry it off. Harold's relief at the help only lasted until moist, sticky little fingers stole his glasses right off his face. The light nearly blinded him and he recoiled as Gilly giggled at the squirming worm, wrestling for the glasses. Gilly managed to extract the glasses and hand them back. Thrusting the baby into it's distracted and drunk parents booth, Gilly grabbed Harold's hand as he stood up to run away. "It was nice to see your eyes even if it was under stressful circumstances for you. I like your eyes, they are very unique." He managed to choke out a thank you and muttered that he needed the men's room. Gilly let him go with an understanding smile that made Harold want to both hug and strangle her.

Gilly narrowed her eyes as Chad showed up with the check and a tip winning smile. Chad got the point of her icy look and didn't bother to try any talk. He dove back into obscurity and Gilly sighed. She was taking out her own upsets and worries on another person. What the heck was she doing here? Why was she complimenting those amazing eyes? It wasn't like she didn't know what kind of man Harold was. She knew what he did for business and for pleasure. Wasn't Craster and his buddies enough to teach Gilly to stay away from dangerous men? Good gods, she knows what he and Bob do with Myranda and Theon! Not very different than her father, was it?

No, it would be only this once and that was that. She enjoyed that she can take down any man but Kevan, it was her private pleasure and it was enough for her. Kevan was immersing her in musicals and a safe, comfortable job and home. That was enough. Gilly was now working with students, contributing to staff, to the actual school community and that was enough. Working with troubled teenagers was a newfound delight and that was certainly going to be enough. Why add the extra hassle of a relationship that would no doubt fail? No, this would be the only time.

Except there was something about Harold that made Gilly want more than just enough. What did she think the end result would be? Sure, in fantasies she wanted to marry and have children with him. What a laugh that would be, he would kill the children or suffer a heart attack from being near them. No. This was enough, feeding his obsession and her fantasy was just plain silly. So why was she so happy to see Harold heading back to lead her towards the musical? And why did she blush when she thought how adorable Harold was when flustered by children and social situations. It was nice to know that Gilly wasn't the only one that might suffer some social anxiety.

Polliver gave the crying boy a grim smile and continued to talk in a hard but pleasant tone.

"The Tickler trying to rape and eat you? His name is Meryn. He used to be a student here too. He was a wild fucking thing and no amount of discipline from Olenna or Kevan could change him. No amount of experimentation from Qyburn could change him. Refused to learn, refused to obey and refused to pick a mentor, he couldn't try because he just wasn't maybe capable of it. Finally, Meryn was truly deemed a loss. He did a terrible thing, an unforgivable thing and Kevan was faced with a terrible choice. He could have just killed the man, buried him. But this wasn't someone from a wealthy house paying Kevan. No, he was one of the first attempts with kids no one gave a shit about. So why take the loss on the money spent to try and rehabilitate the little monster? So Kevan found a way to make use of him. It's a permanent punishment with few perks. It's not often he gets a student to play with, never mind one he can actually take the time to torture and kill."

Ramsay was frantic as Meryn actually managed to get his hard flesh poked between his buttocks. "Please! Don't let him rape me! Oh gods, how many diseases does he probably have! Polliver, I swear I'll change, I will pick a mentor tonight! Please!" Polliver glared at the monster and growled out, "You are wearing protection on every other part of you! No condom, no penetration! At least, not yet. Right, Death Row?" He smiled at Ramsay and seemed content to allow the Tickler to rub himself against the boy while biting on the back of his neck. "Now, the way I see things, duckling, you are either going to end up as our next Tickler or you'll end up as his next true rape and eat. Either one isn't a legacy that your daddy will be proud of. And it certainly won't be any fun for you."

Bursting into a fit of tears that were ugly and as full of fear as any child that found the monster under the bed was real, Ramsay broke. When Meryn poked a fat latex finger inside of him, Ramsay pissed himself. He found himself pleading, begging, groveling, trying to crawl away from this thing, dragging his hands through his own vomit. Polliver signaled something and with a growl of frustration, the repulsive troll finally released his victim. Ramsay screamed as he crawled through the dirt, mindlessly full of revulsion and panic. When someone grabbed him, he wailed and thrashed, thinking it was the troll. It was Polliver, who restrained Ramsay and rocked him while he sobbed, grabbing the man, nearly climbing him in his terror of the Tickler's possible return.

"Don't...please, I can learn, I can, don't let him, don't make me him, don't, don't, please, don't." Ramsay couldn't get anything else out, his teeth chattered and he couldn't stop the flow of tears or the shaking of his whole body. Polliver's restraining arms, the rocking motion and his voice were all comfort and Ramsay latched onto it with a desperate need that made him even more sick to his stomach. "It's exactly what I don't want to happen to you, boy. I am showing you this future so you can get your head out of your ass and prevent it. Now, tomorrow morning, I want you to pick a mentor. I want to see you start to improve in your attitude. Let's start there. Think you can do that much, Death Row?" Ramsay sniffed and lowered his head and whispered, "Yes. Yes, Sir, I can." All Ramsay could do was shake and think how much he hopes to kill Polliver when the time came for it all to come down. He will make it slow and he's going to rape him before the bastard dies.  

Bob whispered back, "You know your name, you know you are a student and a wife. You just don't know your own head or motives yet. Is that right?"

Arya didn't know if that was right or not, everything felt jumbled the way he said it. And the way she felt was just as jumbled, how to explain that? Bob stood up tall behind her and Arya tensed, waiting. His voice was at a soft but normal volume now. "Let's talk about something else. I want to talk about how you managed to cleverly get a little revenge upon your sister." Arya sucked in her breath but didn't dare deny it. She had thought she was rather clever too but didn't think anyone would catch on. Sandor told Arya once that she had the arrogance of her family. Was it arrogant of her to assume that someone like Harold or Bob would be fooled by her? Probably and it's too late now. Fuck. Arya wondered if she should just walk herself out the door now.

Arya let out a small gasp when suddenly Bob was just there, bent at the waist, his face nearly touching hers. His hand began to tap on the table, each finger rising and falling in a maddening rhythm. Arya tried to turn her head to face him but couldn't stand the sight of her face in his glasses, her eyes so close back at her. So she stared straight ahead at the wall instead. He was smirking as if he knew her thoughts and it made her blush. The fingers tapped and Bob spoke in a calm, inviting tone that made her shiver in dread.

"I am only trying to understand how it went in your head. You were making traps, having a merry old time but not too good of a time because it was a dangerous situation. During a quiet bonding moment while building traps, you just happen to mention or boast to Harold of your talents in spying. To give him examples of how well you can spy, you managed to spill tidbits that would get nearly each person in trouble if addressed. Try and make it look equal and rather innocent that way, right? By mentioning Myranda and Hot Pie's little contraband which I am sure Sandor had already told you everyone knew about anyway. You told Harold how you figured out how to spy well enough to catch others in the acts of sexual congress, drinking and drugging. It slipped out that you saw Sansa sneaking about with Ramsay with Damon as a look out. That you saw her using drugs and drinking with Ramsay, having sex with him. And what did Harold say to you then?"

 The fingers began to tap faster, the face seemed to get larger, closer and Arya could feel those eyes even if she couldn't see them. She saw that Harold not only managed to rely the entire conversation word for word but apparently saw through her instantly. Swallowing hard, flinching as the fingers moved almost in a blur now, Arya responded. "Harold said that a good spy would have proof to back up their words." Bob nodded and his fingers went back to that maddening slower tapping.

"But you had proof at the ready, wasn't that amazing? Yes, you had two pictures you managed to get on your stolen wedding camera. Both of Sansa and Ramsay. Interesting. No bother with offering any proof of any of the others you mentioned, just of your sister. Harold would have no choice but to take your story and pictures to Kevan, of course. Did you assume that Kevan would send Sansa away to her husband or were you hoping she would land back in the circle? No, you are too smart for that. You understand the way things work in the upper class families, like Starks and Lannisters. How they would view a cheating wife.The best way to handle such a scandal is to send her off with her husband to deal with it, to keep her in line. You know that Kevan already suspects something might be rotten in your sister, the way she already followed in your mother's footsteps. So you knew he would send her away."

Arya hung her head a little as she nodded. She was sunk. The tapping got faster, faster and Bob was staring at her as if waiting for something. "Why?" Trying to not squirm, to stare hard at the wall and not cry, Arya muttered defensively, "Why does it matter now? I am not getting my mentorship so what does it matter?" The fingers tapped fast and hard now and Bob's voice was more insistent. "Why?" His face got closer and his fingers were moving at light speed now. "Why? Why? Why?" And she shattered into a million pieces.

"BECAUSE I FUCKING HATE HER AND I WANT TO KILL HER, I WANT TO HURT HER! I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I AM! I FEEL LIKE A FUCKING ROBOT, LIKE A OPEN HOLE, JUST BREATHING BLACK SPACE! I HATE MY MOTHER, I HATE MY SISTER, THEY DID THIS TO ME! I WISH I COULD KILL MY FATHER FOR LETTING THEM DO IT TO ME! I CAN'T KILL HER BUT I CAN MAKE SURE THAT SHE IS AWAY FROM ME, SO I CAN TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT THE HELL I AM! HOW DO I KNOW SHE DOESN'T STILL CONTROL ME SOMEHOW? I NEED HER GONE OR DEAD! I HATE HER! I HATE HER! I HATE THEM! I  HATE THEM AND I HATE WHATEVER THEY MADE ME INTO!"

Bob calmly stopped tapping and pulled out a handkerchief to hand to the sobbing girl. He stood up and fixed the cuffs on his sleeves as he headed towards the door. "As I told Harold earlier, it is a very good thing you are going to be mentoring under us, once your sister figures out what you've done, you will need all the help you can get. Now, I want your academic work up by a full grade by next report or you'll suffer consequences. I don't give detentions, young lady. I will also make a note to Raff and Unella. I wish your therapy and medication to be examined carefully. Healing will not be easy for you and this mentoring will be difficult for you. I hope you are ready to exchange revenge plots for real craft work. Dismissed."


	120. Skye And Sister Sarah

Harold frowned as he surveyed the extremely full parking lot. There was a space between a trailer and a car that has enough dents to assume the driver was familiar with court ordered anger management courses. Gilly smiled and suggested, "Why don't we park across the street at that little bar? It looks nearly deserted and I don't think anyone there will care. It's a lovely night, I don't mind a little extra walking." He took her advice and parked Stannis's car as far from the other three vehicles as possible. They walked across the street and weaved their way through the parking lot until they reached the medium sized theater.

To Harold's horror, the crowd ate up Gilly the moment they entered the lobby. A group swelled and just swept her along then Harold was stampeded by two eager families. He had the worst urge to start throwing condoms in the air and explaining how they are used. How many children can some of these women have? Was this an epidemic of some sort? Gilly swam back through the throngs and grabbed Harold's hand, towing him towards wide doors and a disinterested teen boy taking tickets. Harold regained his composure as Gilly handed their tickets over.

When she went to enter the doors, Harold got in front of her just in time. What seemed to be an entire football team came thundering from the right towards the left. The woman actually giggled and yelled over the dim roaring crowd, "I believe you just saved me from a proper squashing." Harold smiled and boldly squeezed her hand as he dove forth into the crowd. Gilly laughed the whole time that Harold used himself as both a human shield and a human tank until they reached their seats. Once they settled into their seats, she leaned into him and teased, "Now who is the Tank?" Harold blushed. "You knew the nickname everyone had for you?" Gilly nodded but didn't look upset in the least. "I like it. The Gilly Tank. Sounds pretty formidable, doesn't it?" Smiling, Harold took her hand again. "It does. I like that too."

Harold watched as an elderly woman wearing a towering black silk turban and what appeared to be an entire bear sat next to him. Her perfume smelled of dusty rubber flowers and her fur stunk of moth balls. To his further horror the family with the glasses sucking/stealing baby sat next to Gilly. "Be careful, that creature will snatch your eyes out, Gilly." She laughed but patted Harold's hand when she saw his real honest concern. The curtain opened and Harold knew this was going to be torture for him. Between strangling on dusty ancient rich lady and worrying that Gilly will be harassed, plus he never had interest in musicals, this will be awful. The music began, the actors strode forth and Harold was as lost as Gilly and the rest of the audience.

Sansa sat in the dimly lit common room, watching the window while the television played a movie. She narrowed her eyes as she watched Arya coming down from the hill.  She was going to confront her but just then Raff came by. The staff has all gathered in the cafeteria making bets and they each take turns strolling by the dorms. The therapist spoke with Arya then led her into the house and ordered her to bed. Sansa pretended to be just intent on her movie. Tapping her shoulder, the man leaned down and spoke to her. "Hey, Oscar. Time for nighty night." Sansa went to her room and listened for Polliver to return with Ramsay. The second that Polliver had left, Sansa went to Ramsay's room and tapped lightly. She could hear Joff snoring.

Ramsay opened the door and slipped out of the room. He silently followed Sansa to her room. "Why are you trembling like that? What did Polliver do?" He didn't answer, he shoved Sansa onto her bed and climbed over her. While they tore at each other's clothing, writhing, pressing and seeking hotter flesh, Ramsay growled, yanking at the red hair. "You can't fucking just leave me. Don't you dare fuck me over, you hear me? It's together, it's us, we are partners, tell me." Sansa licked a path up his neck and whispered into his ear.

"I'm yours, you are mine and our pact stands strong no matter where we are. I am no fool to fall in love with Lancel. Look where that got Loras. Our dear leader is our beloved prophet, we believe in him and our cause and that is all. He won't care that we are in love, that doesn't matter to him. Once it's all done, once this place has gone down, once the others out of here have be slain, we can be together again. Lancel won't care as long as we are discreet. And then we can start to make our own plans." Ramsay thrust inside of Sansa, trying to erase the horrific memory of the Tickler. Of Polliver comforting him and giving him a quick shower at the gym while Ramsay cowered like an abused child.

"You are a fucking idiot, that's what you are!" Polliver frowned at the fat finger in his face and had the greatest urge to bite it off. Soon as he started to join the staff in their drinking, he told them what went down with Ramsay. Instantly, they all jumped on him like crazed hyenas. Well, not really everyone. Hot Pie and Raff were too drunk and had little love for the boy, so they just kept laughing over it. Tyrion gave a stern look to Polliver and muttered that he didn't approve of such drastic treatment. He wasn't able to do more since he was trying to keep a drunk and worried Stannis from a nervous breakdown over his car.

Gregor and Unella were the ones that were in Polliver's face. Bob had wandered in and was also hovering, offering his sincere belief that Polliver was indeed, a fucking idiot. "The Tickler should never be used that way! You technically just told that boy where we bury bodies and where we keep our worst punishment. And gave the boy a greater need for Post Traumatic Stress treatments. How does that help, exactly?" Polliver thrust past them all and went to sit with Raff and Hot Pie. Arching an eyebrow, the cook asked if Polliver got all that bitchiness out of his system now. He earned a good natured whack in the head from Polliver, but no actual answer.

Unella sipped her tea, jealous that the others could drink and muttered that Polliver just made more work for her. Gregor snorted. "As if you aren't overjoyed at the latest suggestion he put forth about giving Ramsay shock treatments? I always figured you must have been rubbing one out while you sparked up Jeyne's head. Like your once a week secret pleasure." Giving her husband a snarly smile, Unella spoke with true feeling as she grabbed one of his hands. "I hope that whatever spawn thrusts forth from my womb, eats you first." Gregor snarled back and pulled his hand away. "Better to be eaten by infant cannibals then to be nagged to death over years." Unella raised her tea cup. "At least we can agree on that." 

Harold found himself standing along with the audience, eagerly clapping, a full smile upon his face. It was clear the reason that every town came to the show. This might be a small production company in a tiny town but the musical had been amazing. The actors were talented, they didn't miss a mark, the entire crew, the props were truly made with care and a true artistic touch. From the costumes, to the dancing, singing, lighting, it all wove a fantasy around their audience that even seems to hold that baby. Gilly and Harold fought their way outside and started to slowly walk across the parking lot to cross the street. They babbled about the show and their favorite characters, the parts they enjoyed the most.

Gilly poked Harold as they waited for some other cars leaving the parking lot before crossing the street. "You are like Skye, I think." With a smirk, Harold gave her a teasing grin. "Thank you very much, Sister Sarah." They crossed the suddenly busy street. Harold nearly got himself clipped by a half busted milk truck as he teased Gilly. "Would you run off to Havana with me and let me get you drunk?" Laughing, Gilly ignored all the honking from an old Mercedes as she quipped back, "Only if you promise not to wince when I drunkenly start singing If I Was A Bell." They walked up the dirt parking lot of the bar and Gilly looked back at the line of vehicles all jamming the road. "Maybe we should get a drink or a coffee at this bar? Everyone is trying to leave the theater at once. We won't even be able to get into the street." 

The bar was dimly lit, the floor was covered in peanut shells, every crunch causing Harold to wince a bit. It was only dedicated drinkers, empty booths, lonely pool tables and a silent jukebox. Gilly picked a booth while Harold got a mudslide for her and a coffee for him. He gave her a wicked leer as he deliberately shoved the drink across the table at her while he sipped his coffee. Laughing, holding her stomach, Gilly gasped out, "I take back what I said before. You do have a sense of humor."

Gilly was a third of the way through the drink when the bar suddenly flooded with customers. Others that had been at the show and didn't feel like waiting in the traffic or simply didn't wish to end their night. The jukebox came to life, the pool tables and booths filled up. The booth directly behind Gilly was rather loud and seemed already to be flying upon something. This didn't stop the group from ordering shot after shot along with pitchers full of beer. It was getting harder for Gilly and Harold to hear each other. Gilly started to hurry on her drink and Harold was quick to finish his coffee. "Let me just visit the restroom and we can leave. By now the traffic should have thinned." Harold threw money on the table. "I shall do the same." 

Turning to head towards the restroom, Gilly collided with a woman from the booth next to her. The woman was wired and had leaped up, still holding onto her beer. The beer landed all over Gilly's dress and the woman's tank top. Gilly gave a brilliant customer service smile but the woman wasn't interested. "Fuck! Cunt, you made me spill my beer! You owe me a beer, bitch!" Tilting her head, as if considering this, Gilly responded through her smile, "No, you jumped out of the booth holding a full glass without any warning. You have ruined my dress. I do not owe you a beer. Please, excuse me, I need to use the ladies room." Harold loomed behind Gilly and he gave a stern frown at the others within the booth. Three college age men that will never see college nor a dentist. They did look as if prison or rehab might be in their future. They glared back at Harold, bolstered by their poisons racing through their systems.  

Gilly moved past the woman and the straw haired girl dressed in a way that Harold would never allow Myranda to wear, followed her into the bathroom. Harold cursed and headed towards the restrooms. He heard the three men get up to make sure he wasn't about to crash into the women's room. Harold thought about it but he heard no trouble behind the ladies room door. Just voices, just mainly that druggie bitching. So Harold went into the men's room to do his own business and the drunk young men had decided not to follow him further. Harold washed his hands, fixed his hair and left the men's room to encounter the three men. They weren't waiting for him, they were staring at the ladies room door. That's when he heard the commotion.

 


	121. Trash Fire

Gilly had entered the restroom and hurried into a cubicle to relieve her full bladder. The lock and her foot against the metal door kept the squawking woman away while she used the toilet. Humming the musical to herself, Gilly paid little attention to the threatening and banging. What was she doing, falling into love with Harold? It would be a disaster, a dreadful mistake for both of them. But she had so much fun tonight so far and to discover Harold had both a sense of humor and some weaknesses just made him more interesting. But Gilly had to be practical. One of the reasons Harold found any interest in her was because she said no, because she was a mystery. You can only date someone so long before those mysteries are known things. What's left then to keep Harold interested in the likes her?

When she opened the stall door she did so with a frown. The woman was right there, still hollering insults and was now declaring that Gilly owed her a pitcher of beer. Gilly sighed and pushed right past the wiry thin girl to go wash her hands. "Dear, you need a rehab not another drink. I am very sorry your night isn't going well but mine was. But it's only this one night because I must be the sensible, logical one. So I need you to back off. I need to scrub beer out of my dress and go try and enjoy the last bit of my date." The tiresome young lady wasn't interested in hearing Gilly's response, she was quivering with outrage that she was just ignored and brushed aside.Gilly washed her hands then started to try and get the beer out of her dress.

Maybe there wouldn't be too much harm in seeing Harold a few more times? Gilly saw the woman rushing from behind in the mirror and without thinking, spun fast and upwards with a solid fist to the grinding, swearing jaw. The girl fell back, grabbing her face. "I grew up with ten sisters and one real prick of a father. I can kick your drugged out, small town syphilis ridden body into the trashcan. Please, leave me alone. I really must get this out of the dress so I can return to my date. I can't get into the professor's car with a beer soaked dress."

Gilly turned back to the sink to continue ministering to her dress while the woman shrieked at her. Of course, this date might have been the end of Harold's obsession with her anyway. That made her feel sad and lonely. How strange to go from being wary of a man, to feeling insulted and bullied by him, now stuck in his charms? The woman rushed at Gilly again and she sighed as she turned around to face her.

Harold waited with the other men, more have gathered. The sounds for a few minutes were alarming, shrieks of the young lady, thuds, crashes, what seemed to be a metallic shriek. After a moment, the door opened and Gilly blinked in surprise at all the men staring at her. "Gentlemen, is there a problem with the men's room? I am afraid the ladies room is still occupied." They could hear the faint calls of help from inside the restroom and as Gilly swung out of the door they all got a brief look into the room. All including Harold were struck mute by the strange sight of legs and one arm thrashing from inside a metal trashcan.

Gilly smiled at the men and headed for the exit, Harold silently following her. He stared at her back and thought to himself how utterly fucked he was, falling in love with a tank.

"You are a friggin moron! What kind of loser bet is that?" Hot Pie rolled his eyes as Polliver poked at him. Raff sneered and agreed with Polliver while Hot Pie defended himself loudly. "I think you are all wrong! Harold and Gilly like each other, I think they are a good fit actually!" The entire room reacted, from bellowing laughter out of the Cleganes, Tyrion choking on his wine and Bob throwing a leftover brownie at the cook's head. All but Unella were drunk. Drunk enough that she was the only one still remembering to wander around outside of the dark windowed dorm house every now and then.

By far, the drunkest person in the room was Stannis. Only Tyrion would go near him at this point. Stannis sat limp in a chair, staring out a window with tears rolling into the crinkles of his skin. He has personally finished two pitchers of lemonade. He moaned out a heart wrenching slow sea chanty and the others groaned at him. "It's a fucking car, Stannis, get over it!" Stannis lurched unsteadily to his feet and shook his fist at Raff. The handsome blond man simply smirked as the professor ranted. Any dignity and respect the professor had was greatly diminished by his sparse hair spiked like a halo, as he moved like a drunken sailor, slurring his words.

"How could someone like you ever understand the importance, the significance of a good memory! Of one good solid proud moment that you created for yourself! You never knew any life out of this place as an adult, you are barely an adult! I chose not to use my families wealth, no, I worked hard for that car on my own merits! My marriage might have been falling apart, but not my car! My daughter loved the car, she would help me make the soap and wax formula for the car, help me wash it. Inside and out. Selyse hated the car, hated our daughter, but the car brought me peace and pride. Shireen would love to take car rides with me."

Tyrion directed Stannis back to his seat and rushed to bring him another drink. "They are too young and don't know about those bits of independence, Sir. Ignore them and have a drink. Harold and Gilly are both adults, both are responsible and logical adults that will not sully your car." Stannis began telling Tyrion stories of the car, stories that Tyrion knows quite well but nods anyway, drinking heavily. Unella snatched the few last treats lest Bob decide to throw them. Then her eyes zoomed in hard onto Hot Pie.

"You. I heard you were playing games with Polliver the other night on his x box. Are you trying to set yourself up for a relapse? Would you like me to put you back into therapy? Do you want to find yourself back on medication again?" Hot Pie snorted and waved a dismissive hand towards the doctor. "I am doing just fine, thanks. No problems, I just played for an hour or two, see? Still here at my job, still fit, healthy and just fine. And it's not your business anymore, I'm no student to be pushed into your treatments or Raff's online therapy course crap." Raff and Unella were now glowering at the young cook and Polliver gave a disdainful shake of his head.

"That's not true, boy. Didn't you read that contract that Kevan had you sign? Since we live here all the time, all our medical and mental health goes through the school nurse and doctor. And we are forced to see them and follow their treatments. Just like the students, staff gets reports once a month before visitor day." Polliver chuffed while Hot Pie sullenly declared that wasn't fair. That no one should tell him what to do, that if he wants to game, he can game. "My life and world isn't the same anymore! I have no reason to lose myself in gaming anymore, now it's just a bit of fun."

Raff smirked and drawled out, "Methinks you protest way too fucking much. Getting defensive over an addiction issue is very normal for addicts." Unella started to list the different signs of relapse just to watch Hot Pie go into a drunken tantrum. Gregor and Bob finished off a pitcher of heavily spiked iced tea together while the others harassed the cook. Gregor blearily looked at Bob and lamented, "Harold is a moron if he doesn't end it here. This is where staff relationships end up." He pointed towards the stone eyed doctor with the planet sized stomach. Gregor pointed at his wife and stage whispered to Bob.

"You end up married to someone that you enjoyed fucking. Then you spend your life getting fucked over for it. You are his twin, aren't you? Talk to the man if he survives this date and is stupid enough to continue this relationship." Bob sighed and shook his head as Gregor put his head in his hands. "Gregor, staff relationships have always happened here. Sex and even love pass through this place, students and staff alike. It's a matter of whether or not you are caught at it. This is different, Kevan has approved this dating situation. Harold and Gilly are given the green light to have this doomed romance. That only makes it harder for them when it ends up going wrong, which it will."

Bob drank more and stared over at Raff and Polliver as he spoke to Gregor. "Some staff here should learn to use the brothel or find hook ups in nearby towns when they feel the need to get their pleasures. Forced marriage is one of the nicer penalties for inappropriate sexual behavior at the school."

Ramsay licked up Sansa's spine and she shivered, whispering. "I know Arya was somehow responsible for my leaving here. I can see it in her smug little fucking face. Probably used her new spying skills to check up on me, get dirt on me to make Kevan push me out. Lancel thinks so and he is pissed over it. I really wish he would let me destroy my toys if I can't use them anymore." Laughing softly, Ramsay bit gently into the back of her neck, not daring to leave any bruises or marks Lancel might see on his wife. "Now you know how I felt about Damon and Theon."

Sansa kissed Ramsay with renewed vigor then rubbed her face on his neck. "Keep a close eye on that brat sister of mine, Rams. Make her miserable if you can, take Joff from her completely. I want her alone, vulnerable and bullied until I can reach her or until it's the special final fiery night here at this hellhole. No matter what Lancel says, I will find a way to be the one to take her down. I built that kid, I can take her apart." When Ramsay whispered later to Sansa who the sleeper was, she was as shocked as he had been. "Damn, I never would have thought it. Even I can't act that well, I am feeling a bit jealous."

"They call you Oscar but I am the one who is going to have to earn best acting award now. I have to win back Damon, you better try and sweet talk him for me this week. I want to pound that traitor into the fucking dirt and instead I have to call him brother and act happy about it. Not to mention how the hell I am going to lure dog sister after she knows damn well how I feel about her. And I feel sick to make some sort of peace with my father and his breeding hog. Not to mention, play nice for the staff and pretend I want to mentor with anyone in this fucking place. And I want to kill Polliver the same way you want to go after Arya. It is going to be so slow and painful, I want to fuck you while thinking about it. You think about how you'll torture and murder your little sister." 

Ramsay stroked the girl's breasts and Sansa climbed over him, grinning. Giving a serious look back, Ramsay spoke grimly. "Even if it all falls apart, even if they find shit on the phone, we will find a way out of it together. We can cut out our trackers and run for it, if need be. It's not like we won't mind killing our way out if we need to."

Gilly worried about her damp dress that still smelled lightly of beer. So Harold draped his suit coat over the passenger seat and had her crank down her window. Harold added an extra hanging air freshener just in case before starting the car up. Reluctant to end this date, Harold turned to Gilly as he prepared to pull out onto the now nearly deserted street. "I know a little place just about thirty minutes from the school that sells homemade ice cream and they are always open late." Gilly smiled and nodded. "That would be wonderful. I do love ice cream."

The bar door opened and three angry young men and the woman who had climbed out of the trash poured out. As Harold began to pull out, they ran at the car and one of the greasy haired, pupil blown men decided to kick the fender. Another one slammed his hands against the hood and the girl kicked at Gilly's door. Harold could have just gunned it like Bob but he snapped. Gilly saw Harold switch into that other dangerous personality and she tried to touch his hand. "Harold, you need to keep your temper, I don't have any restorative tea with me." Opening the door, Harold got out of the car and with a sigh, Gilly did the same.


	122. Ice Cream Talks

Harold approached the asshole that kicked the car first. That man seemed stupid enough to gesture him forward. It took Harold less than a second to send the man sailing face first onto the ground. The other two rushed him and one of them had a tire iron. This caused Harold to block the car in alarm.

The girl had a broken beer bottle and was shoving it into Gilly's calm face. "I am going to put you in a dumpster this time, young lady. I have had just about enough of your attitude this night." This caused the girl to shriek in rage as she thrust the sharp glass at Gilly, who leaped out of the way. "You stupid fucking CUNT! Too stupid to be scared! I'm going to fucking gut you!" Another leap forward and this time Gilly didn't move as fast and stared at the long thin bleeding line that cut right through her dress. She staggered back and she bent over fast.

Harold caught this out of the corner of his eye. Giving one of the men a chance to slug him while the other was wrestling Harold for the crowbar. A blast of worry for Gilly went through him and he stopped fighting to take the crowbar. Instead he drove it hard into the man's ribs, cracking them. As that one fell back, he let go of the crowbar, allowing Harold to grasp it. The other man was jumping onto Harold's back. Flipping the shocked druggie over his shoulder, Harold brought the crowbar down onto a hip. The man screamed while the other one writhed and Harold turned to save Gilly. Except he ended up just watching as she took care of it herself.

When Gilly had bent over, the other woman had run forward, crowing with victory. She had begun to lean over Gilly, her bottle raised high, ready to come down and begin a stabbing frenzy. Gilly's high heel came upwards and the point of the steel tipped heel punctured the girl's shoulder, causing her to drop her weapon and scream. The other heel followed to puncture into the other shoulder and that one hung there as the female just started freaking out. Her arms waved pinwheeling as Gilly shoved her hard onto the ground. The heels clattered aside as the drugged out woman hollered as Gilly advanced on her.

Harold watched with awe as the Tank rolled up to the squirming, bleeding female and started to bellow.

"I have had it with you! You ruined my dress, tried to damage our borrowed car and you are ruining my one chance at a date night! I have this one night to love him and I won't lose it or the good memory of it because of the likes of you! If you so much as move before we leave this place, I will drive my heels through your eyes, do you hear me, bitch?" The sobbing woman nodded and Gilly collected her bloody heels, heading to see if Harold and the car were alright.

Harold stepped over the wounded, groaning men and approached Gilly. She turned to look at the car but Harold grabbed her arms to turn her to face him. "You love me? But you will only date and be in love with me for this one night? Why? What kind of logic is that?" Gilly looked slightly flustered. "Oh, you heard that? Oh. We don't have time to discuss that, we need to check the car."

"Forget the car, answer me! Because I think I love you and I don't want to do it for only one night. You drive me crazy, do you know that? I have never been this insane in my life until I met you. On a daily, sometimes hourly basis, I debate if I want to kill you or love you!" Gilly gasped and tried to yank herself away but Harold was stronger.

"We have to be practical, Harold. We have to be sensible and logical about this. You said yourself that you can't decide if you want to kill me! You are obsessed and all I am is fantasizing over things that cannot happen. It won't end well. If you try to kill me, I will surely defend myself and try to kill you. Whoever survives will probably be killed by Kevan and all for what?" Harold shook her then yelled, "You like my eyes! No one has ever liked my eyes, no one ever liked or loved or fantasized about me! Just you!"

Gilly narrowed her eyes and yelled right back at him. "Do you know what I fantasize about? Having you as a husband and us having children in our own house! You already are turning pale at the thought of it, look at you! Besides, if that car is messed up in any way this entire argument is moot considering the professor might kill us." Harold released Gilly and turned to survey the car, still reeling over his warring emotions.

While they inspected the car for any damage, Harold and Gilly remained silent and tense. Only some minor smudging and dirt that they could wash away with the materials left in the car trunk. They chose to wait and drive a bit first, in case of trouble with any local authorities over the injured folks on the ground. Harold drove and eventually broke the silence first.

"I didn't pale over the thought of marriage. It's the idea of children, young ones, that make me nervous. I have never really been around anyone younger than teenagers. But dating you, even marrying you, that doesn't make me go pale." Gilly stared out the window and then gave a small smile. "Let's get that ice cream. I will buy the ice cream while you clean up the car." Harold smiled and nodded, the night isn't over yet.

The cafeteria has moved on to several different subjects as they got more drunk.

It was decided that the gaming cabin should have a proper bar and Hot Pie can be the bartender. Hot Pie wasn't all that interested unless there were perks in it for him. "I mean, everyone is pretty much docked on pay and I already work for free. Why should I add more to my duties? What's in it for me?" Raff smirked nastily. "How about you can pick a few hours a week for bar tending or for intensive therapy?" The cook stared drunkenly at Raff then muttered, "You are such a smug prick usually, but drunk, you turn into a true asshole. Fuck you. Fuck your therapy."

Polliver grabbed Raff's shoulder as the insulted man tried to launch at Hot Pie. "Sit down, asshole. The boy is drunk and running on at the mouth. Shut the fuck up with the insulting, Hot Pie. I could remind you that you technically aren't old enough to drink. Settle the fuck down. Good. Now, how about this? Tell us what you want in exchange for a bartender service every now and then? Hmm?" Hot Pie raised his hand with a finger up to deliver his demands then his eyes rolled up and they all watched as he slid to the floor.

"Can't hold his own drinks. Some bartender." Raff shook his head with pleased disgust.  

Gilly was barefoot, her hair looked like it was attacked by a bird, her dress smelled like beer and had a huge slice across her middle, which was covered in bandages from the first aid kit. Yet she grinned like a carefree girl as she ordered the ice cream from the staring teenager in the old fashioned stand. Harold had looked confused when Gilly burst out laughing when he told her the flavor of ice cream he would like. "Vanilla? Really? Oh my." Gilly had giggled herself all the way to the stand.

Harold was busy cleaning the car when Gilly returned with the ice cream cones. She sat on a small bench and began to lick at her ice cream, watching the moon. "How is it? Did we do any damage?" Harold shook his head and came to sit with her after tossing the rags into the trunk. "Nope. Not a ding, thank the gods, just needed a quick polishing up. Thank you for the ice cream." He had offered to pay for the ice cream but Gilly had turned him down. She had smiled and said since he paid for supper and the show, ice cream was the least she could contribute.

He chuckled suddenly as he took his ice cream and licked it. Gilly raised an eyebrow. "What is so funny? Share the joke, please?" Harold shrugged and smirked. "I am recalling something Myranda said to me today. At the time I thought she was being a little sassy brat, but now I see that she was just offering me real clue about you." Gilly tilted her head as she enjoyed her mix of flavors. "What was it?" Harold flushed a little and spoke a little hushed.

"She warned me that you are very independent. That I wouldn't be able to control you like I do her. That you wouldn't appreciate me making any decisions for you. She was right. I am shocked that I am not bothered by it anymore. I don't want to order you around, I don't want to try and change anything about you. I just know that I want to be with you, be around you. I want to make sure you always make restorative tea only for me. I don't want to scare you, I want to make you give me a real smile just for me. I want to find ways to make you happy, to want to be with me. It's way past obsession, Gilly. I don't want to take your Independence at all. I want to be in love with you, not rule you."

Gilly blinked back sudden tears and that seemed to startle her. Harold sat up in alarm. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry." Shaking her head, Gilly wiped her eyes. "I haven't cried in years. It was merely a little stinging of the eyes. Listen to me. Harold, you barely know me, I am just the housemaid that moonlights as a detention counselor." Harold grabbed her hand and squeezed it, speaking softly but with fervor. "I know Craster was your father. I know you went through hell. I know you found the courage and strength to rebel, to get away to a better life for yourself."

She let out a jagged laugh. "That sounds so wrapped up, neat and pretty. No. We aren't going to do that. I want you to face me and hear me. Then see if you still want anything to do with me, okay? Turn and face me, take off those damn glasses. It's dark here, you won't get pain. I want your eyes to see mine." Harold turned and slowly removed his glasses, blinking to adjust. He focused on her face and Gilly the Tank, dropped her mask, that brilliant smile just fell away. The eyes held invisible deep scars, her face was drawn into a bitter, angry and sad look.

"I couldn't tell you of my first experience losing my virginity, Harold. Because I was too young to remember it. I have nightmares, I am still fighting the memories, I have to FIGHT to remind myself of my worth, to keep my self esteem going. I have never had any sexual contact that wasn't forced, I don't know if I am even capable of enjoying it. I have to take pills, Harold. I have to see Unella and Raff for my issues. Kevan was kind enough to allow me full discretion and all the support he could for me to get better. I am better. But not all better and I may never be."   

Harold shrugged. "I don't care. I am not asking you to have sex with me. Date me, walk and talk with me, enjoy time together, I don't care if we ever go further than a kiss or holding hands. So you are a bit messed up. Who isn't here? Have you met me? I spent most of my life in this school. I have no social skills, I couldn't even understand how to ask you on a date. I have a temper. I can't see well without my glasses, I am half albino. I don't exactly have a career that is normal. Shall I go on, it might take a while."

Gilly gave a small grin, it was a tad crooked and two teeth peeked at him. Harold smiled widely and pointed. "There it is! That is the smile I hoped for, my smile. A goofy little grin, I love it." She slumped her shoulders and did another stupid and brave thing in her young life.

"A smile just for you. And eyes just for me. Yes. We can try to date. But there has to rules and conduct during school time must be-" Harold's hand stroked her face and he whispered, "We cannot kiss at the school, it wouldn't be proper. How about we have one here? Just one and if you want me to stop, I-" Gilly leaned forward and kissed him.

Kevan had been watching with his binoculars, checking his watch and giving updates of no return down to the cafeteria on his cell. Stannis kept driving him crazy with texts, worry over his car was growing. It took a threat of having Raff sedate the man that made him finally stop the texts. Kevan was sure this was one of the silliest things he has ever done. Placing a bet on Harold and Gilly, being the look out for them as if he were a student pulling some prank. On the other hand, he has reached an age where he no longer really cares what others think of what he does.

In his mind, he knew this was just a way to distract himself from darker matters. He didn't want to think of what Arya told Harold about Sansa. He didn't want to try and unravel what Podrick has told him. And he certainly didn't want to address his concern for Lancel. If he worried over what might be on that phone, or how Olenna is coming for her son's body, a boy that was in Kevan's care, he might never sleep tonight.

So he watched for the car, like a spy and enjoyed himself with it. He had put on Hogan's Hero's and made himself a stiff drink. Kevan even thought of smoking a cigar but decided against it. He never truly cared for them, Tywin did. That was something else not to think about. So it was with delight that Kevan saw Stannis's car pull up to the gates. He quickly texted the group staff chat to inform them and then he headed downstairs as fast as he could.

With his crimson bathrobe flowing behind him, his soft leather slippers making whispering sounds. Kevan wrenched open the door and tried to catch his breath and composure as he stood regally upon the porch.

Harold and Gilly had only gotten halfway out of the car when Stannis ran up to begin to investigate his beloved vehicle. All the staff but Hot Pie, who was left out cold upon the cafeteria floor, stared intently at the couple, trying to understand who won the bet. Harold had a bruised and cut cheek, his suit was dirty, ripped and his knuckles on one hand were raw. Gilly had a cut on her stomach, her dress was ruined and stunk of beer, her hair was a mess and she was barefoot. Both of them were smiling but seemed slightly taken aback at the intensity of the staff.

Gilly cleared her throat and spoke loud enough for all to hear. "We had an excellent time. We plan on dating more. So, who won the bet?" The group began to curse and stomp away. Tyrion stayed to sway and answer. "Hot Pie won. Good thing he is sleeping off a bad drunk on the cafeteria floor. Raff, Polliver and Gregor would beat the shit out of him while paying him."

A shout of outrage took everyone's attention as Stannis held up a small bandage, a bit of dried blood upon it. "This was in the ashtray that I personally polished last week! You animals!"


	123. Run Until You Can't

Polliver has always been able to hold large quantities of alcohol and drugs, as can Raff. They aren't like Tyrion who must always have a drink, not like Stannis, who uses it every time he is stressed or upset. No, a joint or a beer sometimes to relax after work hours or drugs and alcohol to party was their style. A hangover for Polliver was very rare. Raff would get hangovers on occasion if they partied too hard but he got over them fairly quickly. So they both took great pleasure in making sure that Hot Pie was woken for his cafeteria duties a little early.

They had to pour the moaning boy into the shower, a cold one and scrub him while he cursed and wailed at them. Polliver held the naked, wet boy over the toilet so he could puke afterwards, while Raff laughed his ass off. After he was dried off, they easily stuffed the resisting Hot Pie into his clothing and dragged him to the school kitchen. Anticipating how sick the boy was going to be, Polliver had started to make coffee himself while the cook tried to put on his apron. "My head is killing me, my stomach feels like hell. I don't think I can do this today. Gonna die."

With a joyful glee, Raff helped by pulling out the usual items he knows Hot Pie preps in the morning. Polliver shoved coffee into the graying kid's hands and grinned. "Buck up, little buddy. You wanted to drink with the big boys, well, welcome to the day after." Hot Pie sipped the coffee and then tried to pick up a paring knife with shaking hands. He managed to savage a potato into strange shapes before Polliver decided to take out the sausages and throw them onto the heating stove. The smell hit him and Hot Pie was halfway into the garbage can vomiting. Raff sighed and shook his head, taunting the boy.

Polliver let this continue for another few minutes before he nodded at Raff. "Okay, that was fun but he needs to feed folks soon. Fix him up while I go wake my joggers. By the time I send the Whore and Feral here, Hot Pie needs to be functional." Raff smirked as he pulled out the items he had in his pockets. Polliver left, whistling and swinging his baton and Raff turned to the sick cook. "I am giving you a shot that will help your nausea and another for your headache. Pull down your pants and bend over." Wincing, Hot Pie turned and reluctantly lowered his pants. "Wasn't there any other method besides jamming needles in my ass?"

In a cheerful voice, Raff assured him there were other less painful methods. Then he jammed the needle and giggled as Hot Pie yelped.

Myranda, Jeyne, Ramsay, Joff and Damon all stood half asleep in their jogging suits. They had their backs against the hallway wall and Damon was lightly snoring, Joff's eyes were closed. Jeyne leaned heavily on her crutches, yawning and Polliver was happy to give each of them a light but startling whack of the baton to wake them up. "Good morning to my darling ducklings! It's time for our early morning invigorating waddle! I want an orderly line to the jeep then I want a nice jogging line all around the grounds. Let's go, waddle forth, assholes!" They staggered into the pale morning and Polliver got into the jeep.

When Jeyne thumped over as if to climb in, he blocked her with the baton. "Woah there, Feral. Just what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Blinking in surprise, Jeyne looked up at Polliver. "I can't jog with crutches." The ducklings were all stretching out still but watching the interaction. "You can't jog but you know how to walk, don't you? I mean, you got up and down the stairs with your crutches pretty well. So you walk behind the joggers. Get in line, duckling!" 

Unella gave Theon a last once over and a thin smile. "You may return to the dorms today. Raff will make sure you receive your new medications and if your pain gets worse, come right back here. You will be on a restricted schedule for some time and the cook will be informed of your dietary needs. I expect to see you every three days and you will have therapy with Raff everyday. I will alert your mentors of the good news, that you are back on your feet, young man. Such a terribly close call, I truly hope you have learned from this, Theon."

The pale boy gave a slight nod and croaked out, "I have learned, Doctor."

Kevan waited until Gilly served breakfast, poured coffee for himself and Bob. He waited with a small grin as Gilly brought Harold his restorative tea with a bright smile that Harold returned. Bob sighed and Kevan kicked him under the table while glaring at him sternly. As soon as the girl left for the kitchen, Kevan wagged a finger at Bob and lectured him.

"You should support your twin. Harold has always been there for you, you should be there for him. I think its wonderful that two such different people have found love. We could use a good example of a correct relationship for the students! The Cleganes are not the example of a good solid relationship, more of a warning. But this is true romance, old fashioned and pure and utterly refreshing for all to see!"

Harold turned the color of a tomato and Bob looked ill at Kevan's effusive words. The subject turned grimmer a moment later. "How are you doing with the cell phone? Have you checked on it today yet?" Harold nodded. "I am able to retrieve some images. The reader should have results soon." Kevan nodded and sipped his coffee, toyed with his grapefruit.

"Podrick is positive that someone, whomever killed Jaime most likely, has created this new financial mess. So many forged contracts, new red tape and a financial court war for the ages. I am sure by now, nosy and now probably vengeful Olenna will already know of the issues. She is going to be here in a matter of hours and I must be prepared to deal with her. Clear my mind of other problems. But that phone is driving me crazy, if it provides a clue to why Loras killed himself, if it can offer us or Olenna something, it would help."

Arya was showering when the curtain suddenly ripped aside and Sansa was snarling at her. "What did you do? I know it was you, what did you do?" Arya glared at Sansa and continued to wash. "Do you fucking mind? I am trying to shower before Polliver gets back." Sansa's long elegant hand hovered over the water dial and Arya sucked in her breath fast. "I remember it now. If I pissed you off, you would give me a bath or shower, burn me or freeze me until I did or said whatever you wanted. One of your favorite little torture techniques. Go on, do it, cunt. I'm not your little puppet anymore, Sansa."

The bestial look on Sansa's face erased her usual pretty features, Arya saw the real monster under the bed. It wasn't her mother, this was the real voice and face stuck in her head. Their mother was a horror but Sansa was something worse somehow, even if Arya wasn't quite sure in what way yet. The dial was wrenched and Arya shrieked as the water began to scald. Just as Arya's skin began to turn bright red, it switched to freezing. "What did you do to get me sent away?" Shivering in the cold blast that was relieving and irritating her tender skin, Arya grinned at Sansa in a sort of manic defiance. "Suck my clit." 

Sansa crashed into the tub, slamming her little sister against the tiles, uncaring of the freezing water drenching her. "You ungrateful little fucking brat! I should have killed you myself! I should have let mother kill you! You are a fucking traitor to me, to our whole family! You killed our mother, and now you are after me! What did you do! What did you say? I know it was you! Tell me!" A sudden blow to her solar plexus made Sansa stagger and gag, almost falling out of the tub. Arya slid past her and leaped out of the tub, skidding briefly. She reached back to give a hard twist to the dial and was satisfied at hearing Sansa shriek as the hot water hit her.

Scrambling out of the tub and shutting off the water, Sansa cursed Arya. The girl had grabbed a towel and left the bathroom, locking the door behind her. With a growl of frustration, Sansa kicked the door before storming out through the opposite door into Ramsay and Joff's room. Running out of their room and going to Arya's bedroom door did no good. The bedroom doors had no inner locks only the bathroom doors had locks inside and out. But Arya has jammed the door shut with something heavy and Sansa stormed away, pissed and soaked.

Bob followed Harold into the smaller server room and hovered over him as he sat at a rather cluttered desk. "I want to talk to you. This Gilly thing has gone on long enough. We aren't the kind of men that get to have love and domestic fluffy romantic fairy tale shit, Harold. Think of our lifestyle? How are you going to fit THAT into your fantasy romantic life?"

Mimicking a fake Gilly voice, Bob kindly asked while fluttering his eyes, "Darling, how was your weekend trip away with the students?" Bob then did a dramatic rendition of Harold. "Oh, it was fine but a little tiring. This old rich man that likes to whip and degrade Myranda went a bit too far and we had to give her two stitches. We had to force the elderly prick to pay extra for damages. Such a pain. So how was your weekend?" 

Harold scoffed as he pulled up the pictures that were rapidly clearing up. "It's not like Gilly doesn't already know what I do, who I am. We did more than just eat and watch a show. We talked, like honest, awkward painful talk and we decided to take a chance on each other. It won't affect our work and it won't affect my relationship with you if you are worried." Bob began to invite Harold to practice several illegal and a few impossible acts upon himself.

"Bob, shut the fuck up. Look. We have pictures." Harold started at the beginning, dismissing the picture of Loras's dead finance and sister. There was a picture of Lancel, dressed nicely and smiling. A few more pictures of Kevan's son, all of them seemed to be without Lancel being aware of his picture being captured. "So he had the hots for Lancel? Okay, embarrassing for him, maybe but not a reason for suicide, for such secrecy. Is it?" Harold muttered as he clicked further then both men stared at the red haired girl, narrowing their eyes. Bob leaned over Harold's shoulder.

It was a picture of Sansa with Lancel, posing for their wedding pictures. "Loras wrote something right under the picture, can you see it?" Nodding, Harold read it out loud. "Cunt, Bitch, Whore." The next few pictures were of Sansa having sex with Ramsay in different locations. Consuming bottles of wine, smoking joints and fucking like animals in the cornfield, in Sansa's bedroom, in a clearing of the woods, in the garden and in any cabin not housing staff. In at least two of the pictures, Sansa's wedding ring caught the light. Bob sighed.

"Well, if there was any doubt that Arya was lying about her sister's actions, here is the proof. Kevan will not be happy to see this. Did Loras have such a crush upon Lancel that he was hoping to gather information to show the man, hoping he would leave Sansa for him?" Harold shrugged then clicked the arrow for the next few photos. Both men groaned at the last picture.

Then Harold said something so shocking that Bob grabbed the desk for leverage as he stared at him with disbelief. "What? What did you say?" Harold frowned. "Don't be so damned dramatic, Bob. I said maybe we could just delete this one picture and we can handle it ourselves."

Bob shook his head. "I care for our sweet girl's safety as much as you do, Harold. But we simply cannot hold something back like this from Kevan. We start deleting things we decide he shouldn't know and that becomes a slippery slope. You know that, you've seen it happen. It's minor compared to the rest of the pictures. I doubt that Kevan will be really focusing on Myranda, considering Ramsay and Sansa's rather adventurous adultery. Plus, it's looking like Loras was so obsessed with Lancel, obsessed with getting dirt on Sansa, that it drove him to the edge. Getting caught with the phone pushed him right over."

Harold stood up, thrusting his chair back in frustration. "Kevan has a temper, a bad one when triggered. This will do it, seeing these pictures, finding out why Loras killed himself. This isn't something he can really bring to Olenna, is it? He is on edge, you see it as much as I do. He might not give Myranda the worst of his attention but she won't miss out on his wrath." Bob stared again at the image of Myranda on her knees before Sansa, between her legs. In Sansa's hand was a roll of cash, which Bob recognized as the money that had also been in the box of Myranda's contraband.

Kevan stood tall and silent as he stared at all the images. Each one from beginning to end got his full scrutiny. The twins stood aside and waited, hands clasped behind their backs, sunglasses hiding their concerned eyes. When Kevan spoke it was in a very deep, far too calm voice that filled the twins with dread. "So, I am supposed to tell Olenna Tyrell that her grandson killed himself over an obsession with my son? And I am supposed to tell my son that his wife is not only having a very intense and quite filthy affair with another student? Oh, and that Sansa enjoys paying for the occasional female whore."

The elderly man looked as stern as an olden days judge ready to condemn prisoners. He seemed to fill with a very dark vengeful energy that made him look a bit younger. Kevan strode forth, his pen thrust into his pocket as he grabbed his cane. "I can take no more of this blatant disgusting behavior. I shall handle this one myself, oh yes." The twins rushed after Kevan as he headed down the hill.


	124. Top To Bottom

The staff breakfast table wasn't a cheery one. Hot Pie had come forth, pale but resolute, handing forth the usual favorite items. This time he didn't receive any thanks but he didn't care as he just smugly stuck his hand out at each of them. All of the staff paid up with a grudging look before looking away from the triumphant cook. He left without a word to go snooze in the kitchen until it was clean up time. Hot Pie growled as he heard Polliver holler after him, "Keep an eye on the ducklings, staff member! So we can enjoy our breakfast. Thanks, chef." Polliver grinned when he heard the cook snarl back for the counselor to go fuck himself.

Raff shoved at Polliver, hissing at him. "I would love to enjoy the torment of our new staff member but I am too pissed at you. What the fuck were you thinking, huh?" Polliver rolled his eyes but Unella was on him next. Her eyes were stabbing into his skull as he tried to ignore her and eat his food. "If I ever see Jeyne come into the clinic in that condition again, you will be in Kevan's office with me. Do you hear? That was way overboard and you know it!" Without bothering to look up, Polliver responded, refusing to give in on his error. "You are both overreacting. The student was simply instructed to walk on her crutches across the same path as the joggers. It's not a very long or hard walk, if she had taken her time and hollered for a water bottle, things would have been fine."

All eyes landed on him, even Stannis stopped his ranting over the car to stare at Polliver. Gregor leaned forward to tap gently with a finger upon Polliver's head. "Excuse me, but I would just like to mention that you are full of shit. I don't overreact and I am telling you that you are going too fucking far. You've had your fucked up little revenge on Myranda and Jeyne with the boxes, the nicknames, the detentions and the jogging. Enough. Before it blows up in your face, before someone gets injured or killed." Polliver squinted up at Gregor and pretended to give a grateful smile. "Wow, gee, thanks for the advice. I know how to handle the ducklings, don't need any advice on that. And you are the last person to talk about going too far, how many kids have you sent to the clinic here though your years? How many circle punishments have you done? I haven't ever cut pieces off a student."

Gregor gave Polliver a very calm but chilling look and spoke slowly, as if to Damon or Jeyne during a hard lesson. "Game Over, do you think you can pay attention to Nanny Gregor for a minute? You seem to have forgotten some of my mentoring. Both these students you are pushing over the edge are killers, are very fragile and damaged. Push too hard and too unfairly and it goes one of two ways. Either they will snap and attack or they will end up too broken to fix. Open your ears up and pull your head out of your ass. If anyone has a right to be angry at the girls, it would be me. Sandor was my brother. But I don't blame them. Because they are teenagers, they are students and we know what happens when they are triggered by something. Jeyne lost control over loud sounds and Myranda was overtired, stuffed with caffeine and unable to make a logical decision. Get over it."

Tyrion didn't look up as he muttered, "I would think after having Loras kill himself in your arms would make you have a little mercy for at least a day or two."

Polliver wanted to hit the professor but all he could do was sit and fume. "Fuck you. Don't you dare blame me for that! I am not a fucking doctor or therapist! I did everything I could from day one to get that boy to talk to me, I didn't pressure him anymore than any other duckling! Hell, he got less physical lessons from me than any other student here! I tried to get through that kid, I watched him and I never saw a fucking HINT that he was going to kill himself! I gave everyone the same amount of shit for their rooms! I had no clue the cell would have anything on it to make him do that. I have caught kids with phones before, never had this reaction over it. What the fuck do you want from me? You think I don't feel bad about what happened to Loras?"

Unella made a clicking sound with her tongue as her fork continued to push her eggs around. "No one is blaming you for the boy's death. Of course, we all feel bad about what happened. All of us will have an extensive review of the student's time with us, see what we might have missed. I am sure that phone will provide us information. It is pointless to try and blame each other over it. What we are blaming you for, Polliver, is the condition you put Jeyne in this morning. I had to give the girl I.V. fluids because of her low blood sugar levels and her dehydration. Raff had to increase her pain medication and her stitches needed repairing. What bothers me the most about it, is that you waited until Jeyne fainted before letting her stop."

Tyrion made another comment as he finished the last of his quiche. "Then instead of doing the decent thing by putting the girl in the jeep, giving her water and taking her quickly to the clinic, you just told Damon to carry her to the clinic in a jog. Very caring of you, counselor."

Stannis looked up at Polliver with his sternest frown. "You are mad at the girls when you should be mad at yourself. Leave that poor broken feral alone. And I know damned well why you are really angry with Myranda. We all do, let's not pretend we don't see what's going on around us, just for a second. You are pissed because that young lady rejected an advance from you. She didn't want to give you oral sex in exchange for some drugs or whatever you offered this time. And I bet the girl acted like a teenager, spoke boldly and rashly, it bothered you. To quote Gregor, get over it. You should never have been engaging with her in the first place. Now it's over and you want revenge. Well, you had it. You and Raff should be ashamed of yourselves and take this as a sign to end any further sexual relations with students!"

Gregor narrowed his eyes at Unella as she kept stirring the eggs while Raff and Polliver started to curse at Stannis, telling him to mind his own damned business. "Hey, eat your damned eggs, don't just run your fork through them. Think I didn't notice you haven't eaten in two days? It was nice to not fear you eating me and the house but enough is enough. Eat." Unella sighed and dropped her fork. "I am not hungry. I will eat when I feel like it." Raff arched his eyebrow. "I'd like to take a look at you later. Are you feeling sick to your stomach or sick when you try to eat?" Unella shrugged as if she wasn't really interested in the conversation. "I just don't have the urge to eat. If I force myself to eat, I just feel ill and sluggish. I am sure it will settle itself out."

Gregor looked at Raff. "I will come by later and you will check her out. Do an ultrasound of the demons or whatever is needed. Do you think you can use a feeding tube on her?" Raff grinned at Gregor's hopeful look. Unella began to curse Raff and Gregor. They all began to get up and head into the common cafeteria area where the students were also just standing.

The doors burst open and Kevan came in, in his white suit, silver cane gleaming, with the twins behind him.

For a moment, no one moved, this was not expected, no one really knew what to do. The man was clearly enraged and everyone watched as he went straight to Sansa. Even though the silver cane only landed upon the red head, everyone felt clobbered. Students fell back from him and Polliver went on instinct. He dashed around Kevan, gesturing wildly for the ducklings to press against the wall. Polliver stood before the ducklings, Hot Pie was frozen behind the counter and the rest of the staff were in a befuddled trance at the rare show of violence from Kevan.

Kevan had struck Sansa in the arm, then in the back of the knee to drop her down. Three more hard, fast strikes on the huddled girl that screamed, begging so pretty for mercy. He forced himself to stop, he reminded himself he wasn't Tywin, he wasn't their father, nothing like the rest of them, he wasn't even like his own son. He would keep his temper, he can control himself unlike the other tainted lions of their family. Kevan thought of his wife and it calmed him slightly, even as the memory hurt him.  Pointing the cane at Sansa, breathing heavily, Kevan spoke, his cultured voice ragged at the edges.

"You are expelled! As of this very moment, you are no longer a student of my school. So I am not speaking to you as your kindly school director and mentor. I am speaking to you as your father in law. I am speaking to you as the head of the Lannister family, which you sadly now belong to!" Sansa stared up at Kevan, she looked lovely, terrified, confused and abused. Arya held the moment in her mind as hard as she could and wished mightily for a way to take a picture. The moment of extreme vindication crashed down a bit at Kevan's next words. The man was circling the kneeling girl, looking like a lion ready to pounce upon his meal. His cane kept pointing accusingly at Sansa as he moved.

"When your sister warned me of your activities, I chose to have you live with your husband. But that wasn't the only reason for my decision. No, you see, I was warned about you from the very start, my dear. I was warned by your very own mother that you would play games. I was warned by Cersei that she recognized what you would be under that lovely facade. Hell, Petyr warned me as he died that you were his protégé. But I truly wanted to go against my own instincts, because here at the school, we try to discard those old outside thoughts. We try to leech out the poisons. Did you think I wasn't aware that you were following in the footsteps of Cat and Petyr? Cersei saw it right off and knew they probably put you up to attempt their former revenge tactics. But I thought the circle would be enough for you to learn from. I thought you did learn from it, that is the worst part. I actually believed that we were helping you. I thought you would be a good match for my son, I should have known better. No wonder you bring out the worst in my Lancel!"

Sansa was pale, her face was streaked with tears and she had no idea what to say, where to turn. Ramsay was somewhere behind her and no one came forward to stop this madman. The cane caught her in the ribs, not enough to crack but to bruise and cause her to gasp in agony. Kevan's voice was iron, it struck as hard as the cane had.

  "I should grant my son a divorce. You are very lucky that I am not going to do that. I am going to allow you to continue being a Lannister, continue to allow you whatever comforts your husband can offer you. Because you are still a child, because I am not as ruthless as my brother would have been. I will tell my son of your exploits, he has to know, in spite of his quick temper. Do you want to know what was on Loras's cell phone, my dear? Pictures. Pictures of you having various forms of sex with another student. It is clear that it went on both before and after your marriage in the pictures. Alcohol, drugs and secret liaisons all over the school grounds.  That wasn't the only thing Loras had spied with his little eye, young lady. No, he also got a rather interesting picture of you paying the school whore for oral pleasure. Shall I show those pictures to Lancel or just tell him over the phone about what you've been doing? How about Olenna Tyrell? She will be here in a while. Should I show her these pictures and explain her grandson died because he had an obsession with my son and catching you as an unfaithful bride?" 

Kevan struck the girl two more times then he didn't trust himself to keep hitting her. He stood over her and collected himself before pointing the cane at the huddled, sobbing mess. "I had forgotten that history repeats itself. I wanted to show you mercy in the circle. I should have castrated you like I did to your mother. Or maybe since it's my son that will be injured by this, I should give you to Tickler for two nights like I did to Cersei. You disgust me. If you weren't my daughter in law, if you were not still a child, I would toss you into the Tickler's domain and find my son a worthy wife. If you speak a single word to me, to anyone, if you even look me in the eye, my cane will strike you in the face. I am trying my very hardest to not lose my temper, to not be as ruthless as most Lannisters would be."

Polliver was unable to move, to do anything about Kevan storming at his ducklings. He was helpless and frustrated as Kevan pointed his cane at Ramsay with menace. "Come here, young man. Now." Ramsay looked like he wanted to turn invisible but he moved forward and kept his eyes a bit lowered. Kevan's voice had become the growl of a predator, of an alpha who's pack has been messed with.

"I gave thought to expelling you or to giving you to the Tickler. I really considered both options while I studied those pictures. Regardless of how much you might despise your father, you should be grateful for him right now. Because if the Lannisters didn't need Bolton support, I wouldn't be sparing you. As much as you cannot stand Polliver, you should also thank your lucky stars for him too. If I hadn't seen his report this morning before I saw those pictures, I would be seeing you in the circle. He believes your experience last night was enough to break through your head. Was it? Consider yourself on warning, Ramsay. I will watch every report for the smallest slip. I want to see a mentor!" This was followed by a quick strike of the cane to Ramsay's thigh. The boy stifled a yelp as he tried to keep his footing.

"I want to see your grades go up! I do not want any dancing on the roof! I want to see you at your best instead of your worst! I want to see therapy, more therapy, shock treatments if need be! I want improvement!" With every statement came a strike of the cane and by the end of it, Ramsay was crying out with the pain of it. Kevan stood tall and grim as his eyes surveyed and measured Ramsay, causing the boy to cringe down further. "We have discipline measures here that we do not often use unless its truly needed. I am judging this one of those situations for you. Gregor, this student will visit with Bob and Harold's punishment box. He will stay in it until this evening." Ramsay had no idea what that meant but judging by the staff's reaction it was bad. Unella had gasped, Polliver looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't.

The twins tensed when Kevan swung his cane to point at Myranda. Ramsay stood there, quivering, not daring to move as Kevan was so close with that damned cane. Myranda paled as the cane rested inches from her face. Kevan's voice was thunder, it was condemnation from a rich judge to a poor offender.

"I took you in our of charity. It was pure luck that you had a talent to use to pay us back for all we've done for you. I always assumed you were grateful to the school for offering you a better life, sheltering, feeding, educating and caring for you. I thought you were just clever enough to understand that the only time you use your talents was when it was approved by your mentors or myself. Is my daughter in law your only client here at the school? Should I check with every student here to see if they've also tasted your talents? Are you servicing staff, students and delivery men in between pretending to learn and going to detention? If there are more, I want to know! Say something!"

Myranda was in tears, shaking and she jumped when Kevan yelled into her face. "I, I, uh." She was too scared, afraid she was about to be tossed out, penniless and homeless, thrown into a circle or given to the Ticker. Bursting into tears, Myranda was stammering, unable to catch her breath. Polliver and Raff were pillars of stone, waiting to hear with breathless horror if Myranda was about to confess all. The sixteen year old threw herself to her knees before Kevan and settled into the all too familiar feeling of groveling.

"I was, was, only with her. Once, just once with Sansa. I'm sorry, Sir! Please, please forgive me! It will never happen again, Sir. I am grateful for this school, I am grateful for what you've done for me! Please, I'm sorry. I can do better. I will do better!" Kevan leaned over the girl and his growl was fierce, it made her go lower and to his slight shame, hidden under the anger, he felt slightly bad. The girl was repentant, the flawed, penniless, nameless child was desperate and put hard into her place. It was an effort, a true effort for Kevan to rise above his own ire before he spoke. Staring down at the groveling young whore, Kevan made sure every word was a hammer to solidify the girl's place in her stubborn, pretty head. "Since you seem so eager to work, I shall see to it that Harold and Bob have a steadier supply of clients for you. And I shall leave your counselor to administer an appropriate, very strict punishment." Myranda  nodded and managed to thank Kevan for his mercy.

Kevan turned away, dismissing the two terrified students to head back over to Sansa. The girl had managed to make it to her feet. No one had helped her or moved near her as she struggled to regain her dignity. The dignity was shattered when Kevan walked up and grabbed Sansa's hair at the roots. He began to march with purpose and Sansa cried out, forced to be half dragged behind him. Kevan marched up the hill and to the gates while holding that red hair. To Sansa's horror, he tossed her out of the gates then walked back to push the button, sliding the gates shut. Then he told Harold and Bob to electrify the gates until the girl was gone.

"Expelled. I shall call your husband and inform him immediately of your situation. You should start walking up the main road, I am sure Lancel will come as fast as he can to find you once I've spoken with him. Please don't worry about all of your belongings. They will be packed and sent to your husband's home."


	125. Getting What You Deserve

Gilly looked up startled, when Harold came flying into the house, looking for her. "Make restorative tea, please. Kevan needs a cup of it, immediately." She flew off to make the tea as Kevan came into the house, rubbing his temples and pinching at the bridge of his nose. "I lost control of my temper. I am unbalanced and this is no way to see Olenna." He slumped into a chair and Harold stood there, trying to think of what to say. "Well, Sir, as far as your temper is concerned, this wasn't the worst one by any means. It was quite mild, actually."

Kevan gave a small sarcastic chuckle. "I just threw a young girl into the street with nothing but the clothing on her back. I consigned a student to a cage that I personally deemed inhumane a few years back." Gilly appeared with a steaming hot cup of tea that she silently set down next to Kevan. Harold smiled a thanks to Gilly as she retreated back to her work. Kevan sniffed and then raised an eyebrow at Harold. "It was mild, my temper? Then why did you just ask Gilly to let me have a cup of your most coveted restorative tea?"

Harold gave Kevan a smile and tone bred from years of familiarity. "Because you are about to engage in a battle with Madame Roses. And you will need to be balanced, calm and ready to remind her how she came to such power. Because you also must call Lancel and explain that you just beat and tossed his wife into the road." Kevan gave a small smirk and sipped at the tea. "I should have been dignified, I should never have acted that way before students. I might have been too harsh, I was too harsh. But it cannot be undone, what is done is done."

After Kevan dragged Sansa out by her hair, Harold following them, they all stood still, jaws gaping here and there.

Bob was the first one to break the silence. "Does anyone else have anything to do today?" As Gregor headed for Ramsay, Unella got into Bob's face over the complete lack of safeguards for the box punishment. Bob argued back that had been the point of the box. Polliver turned to look at the line of ducklings. "Sidebitch, you are on kitchen clean up duty, aren't you? Get to it! Target and Princess, you have ten minutes to get to Professor Tyrion's class. Feral, you have a free twenty minutes until class with Professor Stannis. Use it by going to get SuperD at the clinic. Be a Person and help him get all comfy at the dorm. Then get your ass to class on time."

Polliver glared, barked and whacked until they all scattered. Myranda stood still and quiet, trying to dry her eyes and be calm. Breathing slowly, she watched as the professors tried not to seem like they were running out the door. That made her smirk a little and her eyes were drying up. She saw Gregor drag a very pale Ramsay out the door and she was glad she wasn't him. That made her relax her shoulders, raise her chin a bit. Bob was following after them but Unella was chasing him, still wanting her argument. Unella's stomach bumped into Bob's back and the man recoiled as if he had been stabbed.

That made Myranda feel a blast of humor that just pulled her big girl pants right on up. Polliver was finally ready to give Myranda his attention and he asked, "What could you possibly have to smile about right now?" She kept her eyes off his and her voice was respectful in it's tone. "Bob and Harold take their time to make booties and caps for the babies but that is their weakness, you know. If you wanted to take them down, all you would have to do is send an army of babies and toddlers." Polliver chuckled. "Okay, yeah, that's funny. Let's go. The dorms."

The baton lightly tapped upon her back to get her moving faster and Myranda stopped smirking. She wondered if it was going to be a baton beat down or a full on bare ass fury of a strap? Myranda spent the entire walk into the dorm house thinking up all kinds of tortures that Polliver is capable of. By the time she stood in the hallway of the empty building, all her sassy humor had deserted her again. Her punishment might not be as bad as what Ramsay was getting, certainly not worse than what Sansa just went through. But this was Polliver, who already had a grudge with her and Myranda knew whatever it was, it would humiliate and hurt.

Polliver stood over Myranda without speaking for a moment while she sweat with anticipation. Her eyes tracked the baton as it smacked into Polliver's palm over and over. When he spoke, she jumped even though his voice was low and calm. "I want every piece of the common areas scrubbed down. Hallways and staircases included. You do nothing else, no stopping for meals, until it is completed. If you have to miss any academic classes because of this punishment then you'll be marked as absent and you'll have to make up your work. Until this place is ready to be photographed by Cleanest Schools magazine, you do not stop except for a potty break or to get your happy pills from the nurse. Do you understand me, Whore?"

Staring up at the man in amazement, Myranda replied, "Yes, Counselor Polliver. Thank you." She only had to clean? No beatings, no degradation or smug bullying attitude? It struck her then and she fought not to giggle. Did he or Raff think she was stupid? Did they think that there was even a second that she was going to confess their sins along with hers to Kevan? Sweet gods, her very own mentors were Bob and Harold and she doesn't confess to them! Giving Polliver a grateful smile, Myranda rushed to get started. The man was thanking her for not saying anything by letting her off easy. Myranda wondered if this meant Polliver would let go of his grudge with her but didn't dare to ask.

Sansa ached and her hands couldn't seem to fix her hair in the slightest. It was as if she switched hair with her sister. Oh, her little sister, that vile stupid cunt and Loras! Loras, just the thought of him makes her see red. How dare he spy on her, take pictures of her like that? She wishes she had powers to resurrect him, just so she could kill him in a much slower manner.

Limping up the road, not seeing a single car, Sansa wondered if Kevan would call Lancel right away. Or would the spiteful old man decide to wait awhile. No, Kevan was a gentleman under most circumstances, he wouldn't leave a girl alone on a road for very long. He would call his son as soon as Sansa got to her feet and limped off. Sansa rubbed at her swollen knee for a second before continuing her long lonely walk. When Lancel comes for her, will it be to end her? Lancel won't beat her or kill her out of jealousy, he doesn't care about that sort of thing. He cares about how everyone appears and keeps things discreet.

He cares about the mission, his own image and the plans. Lancel will be furious with Sansa and Ramsay over not being discreet enough. He will be even angrier with Loras for the phone but since Loras is dead and Ramsay is unreachable, it will be Sansa to bear the price for all of them. Stopping again, Sansa raised her hand to pull hair out of her face and squinted at the dusty old brown car coming towards her. That certainly isn't Lancel. Not only would he never drive that awful kind of car, Lancel couldn't possibly drive here that fast.

She staggered back a little as the car pulled up, then she started to choke on the plumes of exhaust and road dust. Bronn leaned out of his open window and gave a sarcastic smirk to the girl. "Need a ride, sweetheart? No offense, ginger, but you look like you've had one hell of a morning." Sansa tried to pull herself up to her full height and gave the scruffy derelict looking man a once over. "No thank you. I am fine." Bronn laughed in her face and Sansa gave an offended sniff as she tried to limp off.

"Aww, come on, darling. You are the least fine thing I've seen this morning and I've passed two dead raccoons on the road. Hey, I know I might look a little bit date rapey, but I promise you, I'm not like that. I pay for it straight up or I charm my way into panties. But I won't rape or kill you and clearly I can't rob you, what would I steal? Your fancy stained white sweat suit and sensible sneakers?"  

Kevan finished his tea before picking up his phone. He took his cell into his office and locked the door, sat behind his desk and pulled out a pen to twirl. Then made the distasteful call.

"Son, I will be brief and brutally honest to you as I have always tried to be when discussing awkward or distasteful subjects. I have just expelled your wife from my school. I personally beat her with a cane and tossed her out with only the clothing on her body. It was wrong of me to lose my temper and I regret bruising her and doing so in front of the others. Loras's phone showed us pictures of your wife having an affair with another student here. It also showed Sansa paying the school whore for pleasure. Photos clearly showing her drinking, drugging and sneaking about all over the school having her sordid affairs. It was more than I could stand. So Sansa is walking up the main road towards Kings Landing. I have asked my new employee Bronn to watch over her, he will be her bodyguard."

Before Lancel could reply, Kevan hung up and put the phone on the desk gently. In his head, ghosts tried to get his attention and he ruthlessly shoved them back. I have given my son everything. The money, the power, fame and even the socialite pretty girl with a pedigree. It has to be enough. Lancel has to make his own choices and decisions and abide or suffer by them. Kevan cannot shield him any longer, he has let his golden boy go onto the front lines. Now he can only hope that Lancel chooses his father's teachings rather than those of his dead or suffering relatives. Kevan really does hope the next time he sees Sansa, it won't be at her funeral.

Ramsay stared at the steel cage and Bob smiled at him. Gregor and Unella were standing behind him, they had no smiles. Bob put a hand on Ramsay's shoulder and his flesh tried to vacate his body. Another hand landed on the bars of the cage and stroked it as if it were made of something luxurious. "You will need to remove your clothes and shoes for this. Let me explain how this works while I help you remove your clothing." Ramsay croaked out, "I can take off my clothes by myself." The smile widened and grew colder as Bob breathed out, "Oh no, I insist." 

While Bob peeled each piece of clothing slowly off the boy, baring his flesh to the chilly air of the unused barn, he spoke. In a voice that sounded sensual and deadly, causing Ramsay no end of mental horror, Bob taunted him. "I hear you met the Tickler up close and personal. That must have been very discomforting for you, dear boy. Look at how your bottom lip quivers, you are reduced to a child by the mere thought of it. He likes to rape, torture, eat and murder his victims, in that order usually. Interesting fact for you, do you know that Cersei had to have plastic surgery to fix her after spending some time with our former Tickler? That was the real secret behind that woman's perfect breasts and bottom. It was all put there to replace the missing chunks. The man was smart and knew not to mark her face."

Once Ramsay was naked, Bob guided him into the cage and leaned in the door. "It isn't turned on yet, don't be nervous. I will warn you when it's time to be nervous. Please, pay close attention to what I say or it will be to your own misery once the punishment starts. No one will be around to answer any questions for you once I flick the switches on. Eyes on me. Excellent." Ramsay looked at Bob and tried to stand straight, silent and unafraid. Not one of them were buying it but Ramsay didn't care what anyone thought of him at the moment. All he wanted was to get whatever this was over with. Being near Bob was bad, near him naked was worse. A cage was nothing compared to that.

Bob spoke like a proud father as he stroked the metal around him. "You have four feet to move around in and the bars above your head are just tall enough for you to stand straight without touching them. There is a small bench attached to the cage behind you as you can see. It is just wide enough for you to sit your ass on it. When I flick the switches, it will become electrified along with the bars around you, the ones above you and the ones on the floor. Do you see those small metal plates, six of them all unevenly spaced among the floor bars? Those are the only things that will not shock you. You must stand on them and touch nothing in order not to receive a shock."

Ramsay stared around him in horror and put his feet on two of the smooth plates. He couldn't stand without having to be slightly off balance. His body instantly protested the awkward stance. Smiling, Bob gave him a thumbs up.

"See? You get the idea. Good. Now, because your doctor is an unreasonable pregnant woman, you will receive very small breaks. Once an hour, Unella and Gregor will come to see you. The cage will be switched off long enough for Unella to give you a quick check, for you to have some water and relieve yourself. Then it's back into the cage for another hour and this will continue until evening. One quick little fun mercy feature, I have added to this cage. Every two and half hours, the cage will sound a deafening beep that will last two full minutes. During the beeping, the electricity to the bench will shut off. You will have two minutes to sit and rest while your ears are pierced. When the sound ends, you best jump up fast or it will be a nasty shock right up your ass."


	126. Empathy

Joff has been overstimulated in every way. He has had an invigorating jog, a hearty breakfast and healthy dose of violence to watch, dampening the front of Sansa's silky undies as he watched the redhead beaten. Then there was also a slowly dawning rage as he registered other things. Like what Kevan said about his mother. The only person that Joff felt truly loved him, the only person Joff ever loved back. Joff had dealt with her death by forcing it out of his mind. Now mother is back from the dead and he imagines her with chunks removed by the Tickler.

Stannis's dusty, dim classroom and his sonorous voice did nothing to keep Joff's overly burdened head from exploding. Arya rolled out of her seat just in time as Joff came lunging, trying to stab her with his sharpened pencil. His face was screwed up in rage, his eyes full of angry tears, teeth bared. Scrambling over his desk, the boy landed on her, causing Arya to curse, wincing with the impact. She grabbed Joff's wrist, trying to keep the pencil from her eye as Stannis marched over to them. With a stern frown, Stannis pulled Joff off the girl. 

He restrained the boy's arms and called out calmly towards Tyrion's classroom. "Excuse me, Professor? Please text Polliver to come for Joff and bring him to the clinic. Joff is in need of some therapeutic assistance. He is unable to control himself." Arya fixed the desks and chairs, sitting back down while Stannis waited, holding his screaming, raging nephew. Stannis has never acknowledged his brother's sadistic son as family, only as a student. Unlike Tyrion, Stannis had been more or less estranged from all family relations, therefore never had any true caring for the boy one way or the other.

Which was why when Tyrion offered to come over, Stannis said no. The last thing the boy needed was another damned relation to remind him of further upsets. Stannis held Joff calmly until Polliver came rushing up the hall. Polliver took one look at the thrashing Joff who was still screeching, no words, no curses, just the awful sound. "Okay, buddy. Let's go see Unella and Raff." Stannis released Joff upon the counselor's nod. Polliver let Joff wrench away from the professor and start hitting the walls with his body. He waited until Joff went to ram himself into the opposite wall and caught him tightly, lifting him right off his feet.

Polliver carried the thrashing boy down the stairs and out the door, speaking calmly to him the whole time. Stannis went back into his classroom and shut the door quietly. Arya sat at her desk, leaning back, watching him, saying nothing. He meant to continue the lesson, the girl was still here and at least pretending to pay attention. Instead, Stannis stood in front of his chalkboard, holding the chalk, just staring back at the girl. Arya was as startled as the professor was when he spoke. "Have you ever once managed to see past the faults in others to see their pain? Can you see past your hatred for your husband or your sister to see their pain? Do you feel nothing at all?"

Arya shrugged and replied. "I don't feel bad for either of them. I have feelings though, I am learning that I have feelings. I feel bad for Myranda, Jeyne and Theon when bad things happened to them. Isn't that empathy? Isn't that good enough, to have empathy for those I think deserve it?" Stannis lowered the chalk and smirked without any mirth, staring at the girl. "But who are you to judge? Who gave you the Gods right to judge others and decide who is worthy of mercy or forgiveness?" Arya gave it some thought while Stannis put down the chalk and sat at his desk. He folded his hands on the blotter and observed the girl thinking it through. When she responded, it was slow and careful, as if she was trying to hear it said out loud to see if it made sense.

"I logically know I have no right to judge others. But I can't feel bad for someone like my sister. She did awful things to me, I'm so angry at her, sometimes I think it will kill me, choke me up until I can't breathe, like it sucks up all the air. Princess is just a horrid person that I can't stand to be near and being forced to see him all my life, it sickens me. All those terrible things he's done, he likes to brag about them to anyone who will listen! He gets excited hearing about Death Row's disgusting hunts. How can I feel bad for him? Death Row doesn't need anyone to feel bad for him, I don't think he has any feelings at all."

Stannis nodded and he seemed to consider his own thoughts before speaking. "Sansa and Joff have wronged you and hurt others with their heartless actions. They have created this bitter hard girl that has to judge others before she can decide how to feel about them. I understand that and it makes sense that you would come to this conclusion. However, consider this. Just like you, something happened to each of them that helped shaped them into what they are. They had to hurt, had to break and recreate themselves, just like you are. Keep that in mind, along with your judgment and hate. Because someone, somewhere, right now, might think those same judgments about you. Math has ended for today. I will see you after your workshops with Gregor for science class."

A Person was courteous to Theon, was careful to assist him all the way to the dorms. Being on crutches and holding someone's arm is difficult at best and poor Theon's arm kept getting wrenched. "Jeyne, thank you but-I am way taller than-ouch!" Theon's voice was not much more than a rasp and it hurt to speak but the girl was going to dislocate his shoulder. He wouldn't pull away, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. Myranda visited him a few times and told him about Polliver changing their names back. How upset Jeyne had been over it. It was clear how hard Jeyne was trying to escort him as a Person and so he suffered it.

Theon was relieved when they reached the dorm house and she let go of his arm, which was sore now. "Very nice of you, Jeyne. Thanks." Nodding, Jeyne smiled at him and then pointed at his heavily bandaged throat. "Does it hurt? Want me to get you water? I can tuck you into bed." Theon backed away fast, shaking his head, giving the girl a grin. "Nope, I am all good. Raff gave me medicine, I had water and its too early for bed. Have to see professors about making up work. Just going to change and get over to the school house."

Myranda's dusty purple head popped up from under the couch, where she was sweeping crumbs and sticky male socks from the dark depths. "Hey, SuperD! Welcome home, glad you are back!" Jeyne ran over and inspected her friend for the grievous injuries she must have. "Are you hiding under the couch from Polliver? Did you get the baton beat down or bareback strap fury?" Giggling, Myranda playfully shoved the girl away and stood up, wiping grime off her face. "I didn't get beat at all! Polliver and Raff thought I would tell on them. So I just have to clean all the common areas. Which is disgusting and very boring. At least it doesn't hurt and it gets me out of classes today."

A commotion outside caused the three students to lean out an open window. They watched as Polliver carried a screaming, struggling Joff towards the clinic. "Holy shit, kid finally lost his last marble, didn't he?" Theon's voice was full of a sadistic glee that was tempered by an awful pity. Myranda tossed her hair back and her eyes were hard as flint, her voice as dry as an ancient whore's pussy. And yet, there was a sadness to her voice, a compassion that was threadbare but present. "Kevan said the Tickler was allowed to take Joff's mother for three days. He bit parts of her off. Princess heard every word of it. Rich, fancy Princess doesn't come from a world where it's okay to cry and be sad over mommies. Good mommies or bad mommies, they are still mommies. That kid is so fucked."

Jeyne gave a small nod, trying to understand all of it. "I have no money. I never had a mommy. But I screamed, fought like that and got better. So that boy can get better if I did. A Person Teaches By Example. Raff and Nanny Gregor say that." Myranda and Theon exchanged a glance but smiled and nodded at Jeyne. "You betcha, Jeyne! Hey, is that Damon heading for the school house? Don't be late for Professor Tyrion's class, he will add another detention and we are already scheduled up until doomsday for detention! Go hurry!" Myranda shooed at Jeyne. With a laugh, Jeyne swung herself like a monkey on the crutches, heading out. Myranda and Theon watched Jeyne catch up to Damon and head into the school.

After sharing a small laugh over Jeyne's beliefs that even someone like Joff can change into a real Person, Myranda started to clean again. Dumping the crusty socks on Theon, who was trying to steal a nap on the couch, she laughed harder as he cursed, leaping away. Squealing as he peeled sticky, crusty socks off himself, Theon glared at the girl. "Well, if you guys would all jack off into your socks in your rooms, this wouldn't happen, would it? You don't see me or the other girls sitting out here on the couch rubbing one out, do you?" Theon croaked out, "Why do I get the blame? How do you know who's is who's? Do you do a quick sniff or taste test to know who's sperm is in each sock? Hey!"

Tyrion's mood was slightly lightened at the sight of Jeyne and Damon. It was never the same enlightening and serene sort of joy as it was to see Sansa and Loras, no. No amount of drinking was helping with this shock and sadness of the loss of his two bright pupils. But Damon and Jeyne were always hard workers, full of an interesting sort of amusement and a strange way of looking at things. Both of them have been earnest in their quest for self improvement and Tyrion actually had to give Raff and Gregor credit for inspiring them.

Large Damon was carrying tiny Jeyne in one arm, she seemed to easily sit in the crook of his arm, his other hand held her crutches. He was running up the stairs towards the class wearing a goofy grin and Jeyne was giggling. How could Tyrion do anything but smile and feel a bit better at that sight? The image of Sansa being beaten and dragged off school grounds faded as the giant and mouse sized students clattered into the room. Tyrion looked at their scheduled work and decided against it. This wasn't a good day to start new work on grammatical structures. "Today will be a fun class. Since you two are already clearly silly with those grins!"

That only made them grin wider and Jeyne gave a tiny bounce in her seat. Damon laughed at her and asked if she had springs in her chair. "We are going to our library and going on a humor search. Bring your pens and notebooks. This is research, I want us to find jokes, riddles, funny quotes! The student that brings the most laughter when we read them aloud, wins a passing grade plus extra credit for today. Twenty minutes to hit the books, starting now!"

Arya found herself on the ground, staring up at the sky. Gregor stared down at her and shook his head slowly as if it was the saddest thing he'd ever seen. "Where's your head at? That was the worst attempt at yoga that I have ever seen. A spy needs to be able to hold awkward silent positions for long spaces of time. A spy also has to be able to fight. Which you cannot do if you have no grace, no stamina. Your lack of grace and stamina right now tells me that your spy days won't last very long if your head doesn't pop out of your ass. Can you locate your legs and feet? If so, try very hard to stand on them without hurting yourself, okay?"

Gregor frowned at his phone as he received the text that Olenna will be entering the premises. A heavy sigh and Gregor gestured impatiently at Arya. "Let's forgot the yoga for today. Your clumsiness worries me. We can discuss it while you help me in my basement with the squirrel traps."

Stannis saw Theon in the classroom and handed him a folder of math and science worksheets to be made up. "There is a lot here and I know you must find it overwhelming. Do not despair, I understand it will not all be completed immediately. The new restricted schedule that Unella has given you, it gives us a bit of space to work with. Since you cannot do most of the classes with Gregor, you can come here during those times and work on this make up folder." He spent some time explaining the first of the worksheets to be completed until he felt Theon understood it.

The professor expected the boy to croak out a thank you and flee as soon as possible. So he was a bit taken aback when Theon shifted his feet, clutching his folder and rasped out, "I am sorry. I brought danger here and got a staff member killed, got Jeyne shot. I heard you spent all night making a fence just to try and keep everyone safe. Thank you. Sorry for being so stupid. Reckless." It was a ray of hope on a dark day and Stannis gave the boy a heartfelt nod and twitch of his lips.

"I appreciate that, Theon. I am deeply saddened about what has happened to you, to Sandor and to Jeyne. But I am glad you have a better perspective of things. I am glad you feel remorse and empathy. However, do not blame yourself for what happened to the others. Sandor's death was a terrible tragedy but it wasn't in your control, it was not your fault. Jeyne getting shot was also not your fault. Blaming yourself will only make it harder for you to heal. Trust me on that." Stannis patted the boy's shoulder and Theon burst into tears. As if he were a father again, as if it were Shireen crying, Stannis found himself hugging the boy, letting him cry it all out.

Unella stroked Joff's sweaty, red face with a cold cloth as Raff administered a tranquilizer through the I.V. they put into his ankle. The boy thrashed in the bed, fought the arm and ankle restraints with all his might. He has screamed until his voice was nearly gone and yet, his mouth was wide, the cracked, tortured sounds still coming. "I want ice packs under his neck, hurry up!" Raff muttered a curse as the doctor snapped at him. She has been a cunt all morning, running back and forth to check on Ramsay. Unella was furious over the student's treatment, stunned by the morning's events in general and overly hormonal due to her pregnancy.

Earlier, when Theon had just left the clinic and it wasn't time for Unella to check on Ramsay, Raff had mentioned about Unella's eating or lack of. The woman nearly ate his head and stormed out, hollering behind her that she doesn't need Raff's assistance, she was fine. He decided he wouldn't approach her about her health again, he would let Gregor deal with it. When the mountain was ready to restrain his rabid wife, then Raff will check up on her.

Joff finally started to go silent, his jaw open loosely now, drooling a bit as the medication kicked in. Raff rolled up a washcloth and put it under Joff's sagging mouth to catch the growing moisture. "There you go, just rest a bit. You need to just try and sleep, relax and know you are safe, everything will be fine while you sleep." Unella yelled again about the ice packs and Raff struggled to not snap back. The text that Olenna was on school grounds didn't help calm Unella one bit. As the doctor raged about making sure the corpse was ready, Raff wondered if he could sedate and restrain Unella.


	127. Rustling Lace

Kevan had stood, austere, well dressed, a rather formal somber look upon his face as Olenna came into the school. She had a much thicker, grander cane than Kevan's and she leaned on it to walk in a way that reminds Kevan of a plump, injured crow. From head to toe the elderly woman was dressed in layers of black lace, making it clear that she was in mourning. It was only when Olenna reached him that she pulled up to her full height, the black lace stirring and making rustling sounds. Her eyes glittered with grief and outrage. The woman cut off Kevan's sympathetic tone as he tried to greet her. Her voice was hot and insulted. "Don't you dare. Just give me the truth and my grandson's body, Kevan. I am not in the mood for your charming games. Loras was not suicidal. I want to know who killed him, was it on purpose or an accident? The truth and his body, Kevan."

His face tightened but Kevan did not lose his composure, if anything, his voice became softer. "Olenna, up until a day ago, I would have agreed with you, in fact, the entire staff would have agreed with you that Loras was not suicidal. But the fact remains that Loras did kill himself. I have proof to show you." Bob and Harold spent time compiling records into a folder full of every note and report made by staff concerning Loras. They also pulled only the picture of Renly and Margeary from the phone for the elderly woman. The phone was destroyed along with the rest of the images. Unella and Raff have treated Loras's body with great care and respect. The boy was laying in a plain wooden coffin, ready to be transported. He was redressed in his favorite suit that he had brought to the school but never got a chance to wear. They had washed him clean, made his collar and tie high up to hide the dreadful wound. Unella had even combed and styled the student's hair.

 Olenna looked down at her grandson and briefly touched his cold face. "Ah, my poor boy. What happened with you? Why didn't you call me if things were so bad, eh? If you had a damned phone, why didn't you just call me?" Kevan moved back and asked if she would like some time and privacy with Loras. "No, I have had my fill of staring down at younger dead bodies. I am tired of burying my damned relatives." Olenna allowed her hand to drift down the cold face and slightly move the starched collar to see the wound. "Gods." She stood up and rubbed her hand on her dress, causing a scratchy sound that made Kevan stiffen. "Alright, Kevan. On to your evidence that the boy was not killed by another." Nodding, Kevan led Olenna out of the clinic and over towards the house. "Harold and Bob have security cameras set in the most trafficked areas of the school. We have footage of Loras thrusting the bottle into his neck after his cell phone was found." The woman braced herself and her face was carved wood as the scene played out before her in black and white. It wasn't even given the mercy of being blurry to confuse anything, the footage was clear.

As the sharp, ancient eyes watched Polliver going through the boxes and putting on his sadistic show, Kevan spoke. "No different than you did as a counselor here, Polliver did a random room search. Each box was full of a student's contraband. This was the first time Polliver ever found any contraband in Loras's room. In fact, Loras rarely received any detentions, never got into trouble except for some mishaps, a few rebellions. We informed you of this last visitors day, if you recall. The therapists, his mentor and the counselor all tried to help Loras understand why he might feel a need for rebellion. There was no real concern that staff saw. The only one who felt any concern over Loras's behavior being an issue was Polliver. He felt Loras was hiding something, that he had some deeper problem. It has impacted Polliver greatly that he didn't see the signs of suicidal thoughts in time to save the boy. Unella also had noted in her reports that she felt Loras didn't truly wish to work at the clinic or mentor with any medical interest. Perhaps he was trying too hard, put too much pressure upon himself."

Olenna gasped when she saw her grandson plunge the bottle into his neck without any warning. Stannis had been near the upper screen and was now going from a hurried walk to a run. Harold and Bob came into the picture next but Olenna could see it was already too late for the boy. No matter how hard the medical team had worked, even Qyburn would have been unable to save Loras. A sharp nod and Olenna stood up from the desk chair. It sounded like tiny twigs breaking as her bones protested the harsh quick movements and her black lace gave it's own disapproval as it resettled with a scratchy fussiness. The lined face lifted up and those eyes were dry, there were no tears, just an acceptance, a dreadful resignation but a fire was lit in those eyes still, barely banked. "I would like to see all Loras's records, I wish to view his room and possessions. I want to speak to every staff member that worked with Loras. My grandson's secret cell phone, did you retrieve anything from it? Did you discover where it came from, who gave it to him?"

Kevan nodded and gracefully indicated for Olenna to proceed him out of the small security room. Gilly had brought two cups of restorative tea into the formal parlor and on the elegant coffee table sat all of Loras's information. Olenna sipped at the tea and took her time going through everything. She arched her brows at the one printed picture from the cell phone of her granddaughter and Loras's fiance. She harrumphed and tossed it down. "You are a liar, Kevan. I refuse to believe the only thing that could be retrieved from this destroyed mystery phone is this one heartwarming picture. Are you implying with this that Loras killed himself because he missed them so much? I loved Loras and I know he loved his sister and fiance, but let's face hard cold facts. My grandson wouldn't kill himself for another person. He was narcissistic and very selfish most of his life. I don't believe that had truly changed one bit. Not enough for him to do what he did. He didn't look sad, the boy was clearly terrified and out of his mind with desperation. Why? That is what I want to know."  

There was no answer Kevan could give that would satisfy the old woman so he gave none. "I wish I knew. It haunts all of us that we had no idea why the boy would kill himself. Perhaps reading the files and speaking to the staff will help you come up with the answers I missed." The woman dismissed Kevan as she carefully examined every shred of paper, trying to read every line as a clue or a hidden agenda. Finding nothing but the few notes of Polliver's that he felt the boy might be hiding some inner pressures or secrets. It wasn't enough and when Olenna finished the reports, she had no answers. "I would like to begin visiting the staff and interviewing them." Kevan smiled. "Of course you may speak to each of them but it will be here. I cannot have the students disturbed during regular school hours, they have been disrupted enough." Olenna narrowed her eyes. "I would also like to speak with any student that Loras was friends with. I know that Sansa was his partner in academics and they tended to stick together. I would like to speak with her."

Taking a sip of tea first, Kevan spoke delicately with a rather prim look upon his face. "Sansa Lannister is no longer a student at this school. If you wish to speak with her about Loras, you'll have to contact Lancel to do so. I am not sure if he will have his wife stay at Casterly Rock or at Tywin's mansion." Olenna tilted her head slightly and examined Kevan before speaking with a soft almost lyrical tone. "It isn't the least bit inconvenient that right after my beloved grandson dies that his school partner goes off to live in a high tower with her golden knight? Am I being insulted by you for such an obvious thing?" Kevan cleared his throat and his voice was tight, it was embarrassed, much to his horror and Olenna's delight. "Sansa wasn't here when Loras killed himself. She was with her husband. My reasoning for sending her out of the school had nothing to do with Loras. It was entirely a different matter. She was expelled this morning. For repeatedly breaking my rules on inappropriate relationships with other students. I think we are both aware that Loras wouldn't have been in that type of relationship with Sansa. I am sure being with her husband will cure this problem. Now, are we done airing Lannister laundry?"

Olenna seemed to consider it then nodded. "Loras tutored two students. The big hulking Bolton boy and that feral you keep off leash. I wish to speak to them or have they been expelled too?" Kevan hesitated and then spoke haltingly. "It would have to be supervised, you won't get much out of it, I would think. They are both impaired and both can become very dangerous if provoked. I would strongly recommend getting the opinions of Doctor Unella and Nurse Raff first on it." Olenna gave a clicking sound with her tongue and stomped her cane once with brisk impatience. "That is enough. This isn't a mental hospital, it's a school for dangerous teenagers. I am aware of how it works, Kevan. I worked here. If you truly felt that these two children were such a danger that they cannot even stand before an adult without trying to kill or maim them, they'd be dead by now. Bring me those children and the staff." Kevan gave a ponderous frown but he texted to the group staff chat that Olenna was ready to question them. He also typed that Damon and Jeyne were to be questioned, that the staff must do what it needs to for the children to make it through the interview. Wincing slightly, Kevan could mentally hear Raff, Gregor and Unella screeching in protest.

Speaking with Gregor was merely a chance for Olenna to vent her rage and to his credit, the mountain took it. She accused him for not remembering her mentoring and becoming soft, not keeping a sharper eye. She blamed him for not mentoring Polliver better, for not supervising his work better. Olenna lambasted Tyrion for being a sloppy drunkard that cared more for his classes than the students themselves. If he had paid attention to Loras himself rather than just his work, if he was sober, he might have seen something to save her grandson. Tyrion did no more than shrug and continue to tell Olenna the same things. He did not see any signs of distress, he enjoyed working with Loras, he will miss the student. Raff was a delight for her to rip apart, he got stiffer and more and more offended. She watched, hoping to make him snap, to say something, anything she could pounce on. Calling him a charlatan, he couldn't find his asshole with a map and a flashlight, his nursing license didn't qualify him for more than taking a temperature. His therapy license was a pure joke and he probably got it from the cheapest illegal website that Kevan could find. How could Olenna expect this hack to ever be able to see any true distress in a student? Raff never broke but he did end up nearly sputtering in rage before she ended the interview.

Unella was a wall that was erupting in the center, her eyes swum with emotions driven by hormones. Olenna eyed the huge stomach warily and decided not too push too hard on this one. Olenna has never met a reasonable or rational pregnant woman. She remembers pregnancy with the same inner shudder that others might recall a memory of any bad illness. "Doctor, I do not doubt your credentials. I know your mentor and benefactor quite well. I know that you were one of the few female students ever accepted at Citadel Medical University. Graduated top of your class and then had some rather controversial work in pediatrics. But you also minored in psychiatry. You supervise and approve everything that fake therapist does. You are the one prescribing medications, assessing the students over all mental and physical health. You saw nothing at all? Just this feeling that Loras had no interest in the work he was doing?" Unella spread her arms out and her voice was flat but exasperated. "I saw nothing. I truly wish I did see any signs at all." The woman began to give Olenna a very long and detailed timeline of how she reduced and stopped the minor medications Loras was on. How his behavior was monitored, she showed charts that made no sense to Olenna. Giving mercy to both of them, Olenna ended the interview.

Stannis had eyes like burnt holes and he looked like a very used rusty tin soldier. "As his mentor, I should have seen it and I didn't. The boy was so smart, so handsome and clever, I will miss him and I feel he was going to do great things. I would give anything to know why the boy did it, to have time go back for me to see it. I keep going over every single day, every word or glance, trying to see it and I just can't find anything." Olenna shook her head as the man droned on and she considered telling the man he was burning out. Not that it would do any good, no one left this school to retire unless Kevan decided it. Knowing what Stannis was running from, she knew he would never leave this school. Picturing Stannis's moldy skeleton leaning against a chalkboard covered with equations struck her mind and she curtly dismissed him. Polliver barely made it to the couch before Olenna leaned forward from her chair and began to verbally slaughter him. He took it calmly but his eyes were blazing and his voice was strained. Olenna could tell the man earnestly was shaken and confused by Loras's actions. He insisted that he didn't know beyond instinct that something was wrong with Loras.

"You are no real counselor! You are nothing more than a jumped up student with a baton. A bully that got too old for schooling and needed a job! You are incompetent! How can you spend so much time being suspicious of a student yet not watch them closely enough that they don't steal phones and stick shattered bottles into their necks?" Olenna went on until Polliver was red as a tomato and his fists were clenched as hard as his teeth. "Go away, boy. You are useless. Send me the children, they are smarter and probably have better information." The man stormed off in a high rage and Kevan sighed from the doorway, leaning in. "Olenna, you have managed to set off every member of my staff. I am becoming hesitant to allow you access to my two very vulnerable students. I won't have you upsetting the children." Olenna scoffed at the worried director and waved a dismissive hand. "I remember how to deal with teenagers, Kevan. Even ones that are a little more special needs. I bet I can work better with them than any of this newfangled group of idiots you call staff. Bring the kids on, Kevan."

Sighing deeply, Kevan went towards the lobby where Damon and Jeyne were sitting with Gregor and Raff. Both men were tense after spending time with Olenna's sharp tongue and this spread to the students. Smiling with full charm, Kevan beamed at the two nervous teenagers. "You both remember Loras's grandmother? Olenna Tyrell? She was here during our Visitor Days and she is asking to speak with you about your tutoring with Loras. You are in no trouble, you will be in no trouble. Just speak nicely with respect and answer the questions. Your mentors will go with you. Who wishes to go first?" Jeyne took a deep breath and forced herself to step forward, stiff back and chin up. "A Person can do an interview. I can go first, Sir." Kevan beamed with pride that Jeyne did not understand. "Thank you very much, Jeyne. You are very much a Person. Go ahead, Raff will go with you." The glow of praise and Raff's gentle hand on her back helped carry Jeyne into the room. Thumping on her crutches, Jeyne managed to keep her head high.

Jeyne sat down on the couch and Raff sat next to her. He took her crutches and leaned back, staring with black hate at Olenna. Ignoring the handsome nurse who's self esteem and ego were injured, Olenna assessed this so called feral. The tiny girl kept sitting in a parody of a lady at a dignified tea party. Her hands were trying to fold and sit upon her lap but they kept climbing up her chest to twist. In a dizzying second, Olenna's demeanor changed and Raff stared in disgusted awe at the grandmotherly beaming smile at Jeyne. "Well then, you must be Jeyne. We have never been formally introduced. My name is Olenna Tyrell, Loras was my grandson. I would like to talk to you about him for a moment. Would that be alright with you, dear child?" Jeyne smiled back at the kindly elderly woman and nodded. With a formal stiff voice and demeanor, Jeyne spoke. "I am very sorry about Loras. He was nice and helped me with my homework. I am sorry that you will be sad. I will answer any questions." Olenna gave a rather smug look to the smoldering young whippersnapper before she gave a true little smile to Jeyne. It was true, the girl was a feral, Olenna had heard all about the girl years back. Seeing the young lady now confirmed that much and she knew not much will come of this interview but a chance to further irritate the therapist. But even if the girl recalled something Olenna can use, a shred of a clue, it was worth the interviewing time.

There was always a tiny shred of shame that Olenna knew what Roose had in his dog kennels but never said a word. It was an innocent visit, just a quick drop by to mention a charity function to Bethany. To this day Olenna will never understand why young Domeric had grabbed her hand and dragged her, saying his mother was in the kennels. Surely, the boy knew that Olenna would see the girl and the horrid woman chaining the girl, rubbing her face in feces upon the dirty ground. Olenna and Bethany were horrified, silent just staring at each other. For the first time in her life, Olenna had a reaction that wasn't planned or thought out. She swung her fist and knocked Bethany out cold, dropped the note with the charity information on top of the fallen woman and she fled. Olenna heard the girl wailing all the way until she reached her car. Olenna never visited the Dreadfort again. A small piece of her always wished that she made an anonymous call to authorities. Not that it would have helped, Roose had the money and connections to keep the girl from leaving his control. But perhaps it might have forced him to remove the girl from Bethany's reach. But if Olenna had done anything it would have been traced back to her and a war with the Boltons back then? The Tyrells wouldn't get anyone on their side, back then to have snitched on a family on such a thing would have ruined them.

Olenna was impressed at how well Jeyne looked and acted in spite of the abuse she suffered. She was also full of pity to see how hard the poor thing was trying to just act normal, to see those hands telling the true story. It seemed hard for the girl to make full eye contact, the girl took a deep breath and forced her eyes onto Olenna's. Olenna wasn't sure the last time she saw a female with so much courage since the last time she looked in the mirror. "Child, do you have friends here at school?" Jeyne twisted her hands tightly and nodded. "Yes. Myranda and Damon are my friends. Myranda is my best friend. Damon is just a big friend." Olenna chuckled warmly and Raff looked sick. "He is big indeed! Well, I hear that your grades have improved immensely. Congratulations, young lady. I know your two professors, that dusty old Stannis and that tipsy old dwarf, Tyrion! If you can learn from them, my hat is off to you." Jeyne giggled and flushed. Her hands remained tightly together but they twisted a bit in nervous excitement. "Thank you. Loras helped me, he helped me understand my homework. He helped make me get math and science done. It will be harder to do without him now. Only Sansa and Loras were smart." Olenna had a small plate of cookies that rested near her tea cup. She offered Jeyne two cookies and thanked her for the visit. Raff looked like a jilted lover as he shoved the crutches at Jeyne. The girl was enjoying her cookies and smiling at the kindly old woman. Olenna had to keep from laughing as Raff hustled the girl out of the room. She did chuckle a little after they left then her frown returned. This wasn't getting her anywhere. But there was the slightest chance that Damon might have seen or heard something, Olenna had to speak with him. Just in case.

The large muscled blond boy was smiling widely and his eyes sparkled with interest. When he and Gregor both sat on the couch, Olenna feared it might break, but it creaked then held. Gregor gave her a baleful look and Olenna gave Damon a warm smile as she observed him. This boy might have been a killer but he looked fresh off the farm and simple, pleasant, calm. His body was slightly tense but he has never had to visit in the formal parlor before, it was natural to be nervous at something new. Perhaps his eyes were too bright but like the poor girl, he might just be trying to make a good impression, to be Person or whatever they call it. Olenna introduced herself and offered Damon a cookie. She was grandmotherly, sweet and so full of honey that Gregor looked positively diabetic. Damon accepted the cookie and the boy was polite, warm and cheerful. She asked if the boy had friends at the school and Damon nodded. "I was friends with my brother, Ramsay. Then I was friends with Sansa. Now I am friends with Jeyne. Myranda and Theon are cool. I might be friends with them."

"Excellent. It's important to have a friend or two. Loras was your tutor and roommate, correct? And was he able to help you with your school work? Was he nice to you?"  Damon chewed and swallowed his cookie then nodded. "Loras helped me with all my subjects. We shared a room. He was always nice to me." Olenna smiled and asked, "Did Loras seem happy or sad to you? Did you ever see him with a phone?" Damon shook his head and frowned a bit. "No. I have seen him serious or mad, but never sad." Olenna probed a bit further, she sensed there was something, it was upsetting the boy and she pressed. "Who was Loras friends with? Did you ever see him look upset with a friend?" Damon frowned deeper and his breathing grew slightly faster. "Sansa was his friend. Sansa was my friend, too. I liked Sansa, she, she was my FRIEND!" The coffee table cracked in two when Damon's fist smashed onto it and Gregor had the boy restrained a second later. Glaring at Olenna, Gregor snarled out, "Oh yeah, I can see that you still have that magic counselor touch. This interview is over." 

 


	128. Damage Done

Olenna may have taken her grandson's body and her suspicions and left but she left behind the damage of her visit.

The staff was volatile to say the least. The students were already shaken by the events of the last few days and having tense angry staff only made it worse. Damon missed his science class and math   while Gregor talked him down and Jeyne responded by slamming her crutches over and over until Stannis took them away. Jeyne did sullen work and only finished half her work before her classes ended. When Stannis warned her that it will due with her homework, Jeyne was rude by sticking her tongue out at him. Affronted by such a childish thing, he immediately responded without thinking it through. He marched to the open window and tossed her crutches out of it. "Class dismissed. I hope your attitude is better tomorrow and your homework is fully complete." Jeyne stared at him open mouthed, blinking for a second. Then she did something strange, while Stannis stood there trying to understand why he just did such a stupid thing. Jeyne gave the professor a tiny grin and nod. "Good one, Professor. That was better than throwing chalk and erasers at us any day!" With a giggle, Jeyne limped her way out of the room and proceeded down the stairs on her bottom.

Polliver stood over the crutches that just fell from the sky and picked them up with a smirk. He wondered if Jeyne tossed them out the window in a tantrum? Surely the dignified Stannis wouldn't have done such a thing. The counselor's temper was stormy, he wasn't in the mood to lecture today. Let Jeyne learn the hard way about tossing her shit around. When Jeyne got outside, she was tired of limping, it hurt her hip and the sore leg. To her confusion, the crutches were gone. She started to look around, went all the way around the building twice and checked the nearby bushes. No luck and Jeyne knew that someone must be pranking her but who? Ramsay was in some cage thing, Joff was in the clinic and Damon was with Gregor. Myranda wouldn't steal crutches for a joke. Theon was too nice for such a thing. Arya loved to pull pranks on others but she never pulled any mean pranks on Jeyne, didn't tease her either. "Like one of Tyrion's books. I have a Person Mystery to solve!" Limping was a pain but the thought of a mystery to solve made Jeyne smile.

 That is the sight Raff was greeted by as he walked down from the clinic, looking for Jeyne. He was fuming, first to be harassed by the old hag, then to watch Jeyne fall for the grandmotherly act. Now she was not only twenty minutes late for her therapy but she was limping with a stupid smile, clearly not concerned that she lost her crutches. Raff stood over her, his finger in her face, his scathing misplaced anger falling on her. "You are twenty minutes late! I have been waiting for you, should my time be wasted because you cannot respect me enough to show up? And here you are grinning, your leg is clearly not healed enough for you walk up a hill! Where are your crutches? How did you lose your crutches?" Jeyne cringed under the angry therapist and replied in a small voice, her smile gone. "Professor Stannis tossed them out the window. I went outside but they were gone, I looked everywhere, that's why I'm late." If Raff were calmer, he might have considered to at least check with Stannis on the matter, as silly as it sounded or not. Today would not be that day.

Raff grew taller, his eyes pierced into hers and he snarled out, "A lie! You want to lie to me now? Is that what you are learning from the other kids? How to LIE? By all means, let's treat you just like the other kids! Just like when they want to lie!" Despite Jeyne's frantic protests, her begging for him to ask Stannis, swearing that she wasn't lying, Raff dragged her over to the closest location he could sit at. That happened to be hellhouse and Raff didn't give a shit. He sat on the steps of the Clegane's front porch and tossed the injured girl over his lap, his hand ripping down her sweatpants to expose her buttocks. Raff's hand came down without mercy until Jeyne was sobbing and her ass was cherry red. When he was done, he yanked her up to her feet and Jeyne hurried to pull up her pants. Snarling, she flung herself from Raff and clumsily landed in the dirt pathway. "That was not fair! I didn't lie! I am very mad at you!" Raff jumped up and reached for her but Jeyne was already trying to drag herself away. He saw her leg was bloody, the wound has been aggravated. But Jeyne didn't care about if Raff was trying to fix her leg or spank her more, she wasn't waiting around for it.

Bob was trying to walk faster, desperate to get away from the doctor who's stomach and voice kept following him. He saw the feral on all fours, or rather on three limbs while a bloody leg dragged behind her. Jeyne was not seeing him, she was running from Raff who was chasing after her. With a sigh, Bob put himself in the girl's way and watched as she tried to skid to a halt before reaching him and colliding. Raff stopped and panted, trying to catch his breath while Jeyne tried to figure out a way around Bob, who kept blocking her. Unella was almost to them and she had her eyes narrowed upon the girl and the therapist now. Relieved that the pregnant woman will have a new focus, he cleared his throat so Jeyne would look up at him. As soon as the teary eyed girl gave him her attention, Bob pointed towards the clinic. "You are going to let the doctor see your leg. I am going to help you there. Am I helping you to the clinic the easy way or the hard way?" Jeyne burst into tears but she muttered, "Easy way." Bob had the girl lean on him as he escorted her to the clinic and he carried her up the stairs, depositing her on a chair in the narrow hallway. She cried out at the sore bottom touching the plastic and jumped back up just to encounter Unella's stomach.

Bob escaped while he still could. As he headed for the house, he encountered Harold next. "I need to talk to Kevan about the cage issue. That doctor is driving me fucking crazy and she says that Ramsay can't take much more. I know that I can't take anymore! Want to ever torture me? Just lock me in a room with that woman or any shrieking pregnant woman for that matter!" Harold sighed and gave Bob a pitying look that sunk his heart. "Sorry, Bob. Kevan isn't in the house, he won't be back for a bit. He went to go visit Dorna." Bob cursed and kicked a stone hard across the lawn into a tree. "Now? He chooses NOW to go visit her? After he just let Olenna set off the entire place?" Harold patted Bob's shoulder. "Olenna set off Kevan too. All of this shit has set him off. Sansa and Lancel are bringing back some shitty memories. Tywin and Cersei triggered the hell out of him. Let Kevan have his visit, it will center him, pull him out of this storm so he can pull the rest of us out of it." Bob nodded wearily. Harold smiled at him. "Lower the current on Ramsay's cage down to the lowest setting we have on it. I will text the doctor that Ramsay can have an extra break. Every thirty minutes, let the boy rest for five minutes. That should help."

Gregor didn't get Damon fully calm and ready to reintegrate until lunchtime. He didn't wish to put the boy through any therapy or chemical assistance which is what would happen if he took him to the clinic. This wasn't a situation to be handled by physical means though. It was clear the boy's anger was from grief, from hurting over losing a friend. Gregor had walked Damon out to the cornfield and tossed him a bucket and a stool. "Pull and shuck me some corn, boy. While you do it, you are going to talk, cry and yell all you need to. I'm going to listen. If you don't know what to say, I will help you. Let's talk about why you are so upset. It was hard to see Sansa hurting, hard to see her leave. She has been a very close friend to you. And Loras wasn't a close buddy but he was your roommate, he was your tutor." Damon wailed, ripping corn apart rather than picking and shucking but Gregor said nothing about it. He stood there and let Damon cry like a child, speaking of how Sansa was the only person to believe in him. How she guided him, how she made him feel that he had a pathway in life and now it was gone. How lonely his room will be without Loras, how will ever pass classes now without the smart boy's help? "Kevan took away the one good thing I had! How could he do that to her! She is nice and kind and never hurts anyone!"

When the boy had tired himself out with yelling, sobbing and attacking the corn, Gregor slung an arm around the shuddering, sniffing kid. "It sucks to hurt. It sucks to lose others and to have changes happen that you didn't want. You know what is good? Getting all those feelings out without hurting someone else. For now on, when you feel as suckish as you did today, I want you to come out here and yank on the corn, yell to the skies until you get it all out. I am proud of you for controlling yourself enough to come out here and pay attention to my lesson. Now, how about we get some lunch? I will let Stannis know that you have a free pass on the boring classes you missed today. I am going to mention to the staff that you and Jeyne will need some tutoring help. Now, I want you to try out your room alone tonight. I'm going to ask Polliver to check in on you a few extra times tonight and I'm going to ask Unella about giving you something a little extra to sleep easier. Okay?" Damon nodded and wiped his nose and eyes. "Yeah, thanks, Nanny Gregor."

Gregor led the boy towards the cafeteria they could just see in the distance and his stomach rumbled. At least good food will help a shitty day and Gregor hurried them along. "Hurry, boy, or I might have to eat you." Damon shook his head but grinned a little. "No thanks. We already did cannibals. That's so last week." Gregor burst into laughter and swiped at the boy's head. "If you start talking like Sansa and Loras did, Unella will give you a shocker of your own." Polliver swung his baton and did a head count as ducklings started to enter the cafeteria and the numbers were pathetic. Ramsay, Joff and Myranda were absent. One in an electric cage, one in lock down and a third still on cleaning duty. Jeyne had shown up with a freshly bandaged leg, on the arm of Unella, the girl's small face was full of indignation. Raff refused to allow the girl new crutches, insisting she find the ones she lost. Jeyne refused to use the wheel chair and also was refusing to speak to or go near Raff. Unella was too worried about Ramsay's heart stopping in that electrified hell to care much beyond healing the leg. So she offered to help Jeyne to lunch and left Raff to fume and come on his own. 

Damon came in with Gregor, he was calmer but it was clear he had been crying and was not at his best. Arya came in next, alone and brooding heavily. Polliver watched the three miserable kids sit down and he sighed, twirling his baton, watching Theon amble his way on over. "How you doing? Huh? What were doing that made you run late? Looks to me like you were napping. First day back from the clinic so I'm going to let it slide, won't let it go next time. Waddle to lunch and I best not hear that you were late to anything else today. Hot Pie went through extra trouble and time to make sure you had a lunch that would ease your throat and fill your tummy. Be grateful and go sip your lunch as if it's delicious, SuperD." The boy just nodded, thanked Polliver in a hoarse voice then went to sit next to Arya. Polliver got his own lunch while Hot Pie rushed over to Theon with a special tray. "Applesauce, jello and some light seasoned broth. Sounds boring, I know. But this shake will make up for it. Try it and see." The drink was full of icy blended fruit flavors and best yet, Hot Pie had hidden Theon's pain medication in it. To Theon's delight, Hot Pie said Unella is allowing him to have his medication in the shakes with each meal. 

The staff table was rowdier than the students table for once. As soon as Polliver announced that he was the one to steal the crutches, all hell broke loose. Raff and Stannis were all over him but Polliver just yelled back that it wasn't his fault that Stannis threw the crutches. It wasn't his fault that Raff's temper got the best of him. Gregor roared at them all, asking why he was the only one capable of actual counseling today. Tyrion argued that wasn't fair, since he hasn't had a problem with students all day. Unella snapped back it was because he was too drunk to bother. That sounded too close to what Olenna had accused him of. To everyone's surprise, that made the man stand up and toss down his napkin, to point at Unella and start to yell at her. The two of them went nose to nose in snarling, foaming accusations. It was ignored, then it was watched in amusement then it went too far way too fast. "Don't you dare talk to me as if you've any idea what happens in my classroom! At least my worst sin is that I drink! It makes me sick to think Kevan is allowing you to breed, to raise twins. How many little tots did you torture or see die, Unella? How many live with internal and external scars that have your name on them?"

Unella went white and to Tyrion's horror, the woman actually burst into tears. Gregor lifted the professor up and slammed him against the wall. "What kind of sicko are you? Do you want to spend the day soothing her wailing, hormonal ass? Because I don't, but I have to. Thanks to you, drunken half man. Fucker." Tyrion tried to curse back but groaned when Gregor dropped him, letting the man smash to the hard linoleum floor. Raff was trying to take Unella's pulse but she kept kicking at him. "Get away from me! Don't touch me!" Gregor growled at the entire group. "This is fucking unacceptable. What the fuck is wrong with all of you? We have a fucking school to run! We have students that are all over the place with emotion and need us to be calm, to help them out. Cry into your pillows later, lovies, we have work to do." Grabbing Unella, Gregor turned her face to him while she struggled to stop her tears, embarrassed of her loss of control. "That is it. Enough of this dramatic shit, you are going to the clinic and letting Raff look at you. If I have to carry you and restrain you to the table, I will." Raff glared at Gregor. "I'm not done eating! She is fine, Unella can wait until I'm finished." Gregor threw Raff's plate at the wall and announced, "You are done. Let's go or I swear to the gods, I'll drag you, Heathers." Raff stood up, hissing, "Don't call me that!" Gregor shoved Unella towards the door and threw over his shoulder, "Then don't act like it."

Joff heard the sounds of others coming into the clinic but he didn't call out. They weren't coming to his room and he didn't want them to anyway. When he had first woken from his drugged sleep, Raff had come into the room. He gave Joff some ice chips and asked him about how he was feeling, assessing if he had any control of himself back. Joff's tone was flat and tired but he was calmer. Enough that Raff took off the restraints. He told Joff that he had to stay in the room a little longer and they would check on him in soon to see how he was doing. Joff didn't even truly notice his surroundings for a few minutes after the man left. No windows in this room, the door was steel and locked only from the outside, with a small observation window. The walls and floor were covered in a sort of rough padded fabric and it was tiny, with only the bed and a steel toilet in the corner of the room. How dare they think to lock him away? Joff screamed and threw himself around the room for a while then sagged onto the floor, heaving with rage. In the silence of the little cell, Joff's anger solidified into an ice cold calming hatred.

He started to laugh, rocking back and forth for a while. It was funny, after all, fucking hysterical, really. Kevan has finally managed it. Yes, oh yes. Joff finally had a purpose, a goal and a positive outlook on life. I am going to kill Kevan for what he did to my mother. I will be the head of the Lannister family if I have to climb over Lancel's dead body. He thought of Arya and Joff's face twisted up as he growled, rolling against the walls. Joff can't kill her until she gives him little brats to carry on the name. But he won't let her act the way she has been. She needed a good beat down or ten to put the bitch in her place. Someday, someday soon, I'll find a way to kill Kevan then Arya will see how fucked she really is. If needed, Joff can hire the ugliest, meanest tempered brutes he can find to always watch over his dangerous bitch of wife. Give them permission to hurt her if she falls out of line. Joff fantasized of Kevan's death, his taking over as head of the family and tormenting Arya until she gave him babies. Then he daydreamed about how he would murder her with a crossbow until Raff came to check on him again.

Ramsay was in hell. He wanted to call his daddy and cried out for him a few times. At first it wasn't that bad, the first hour or so, he was irritated, sore but able to handle it. The constant need to switch positions due to muscle and joint strain didn't really kick in until after the second hour. It got harder to switch positions before he would freeze up a bit and accidentally zap himself. That happened more and more and the pain of his strained body was beyond tolerance by hour number four. At the end of each hour, Ramsay would see Gregor and Unella. The cage would shut off and Ramsay would stagger out to fall into Gregor's arms. The doctor would check Ramsay's pulse and heart rate while snapping at Gregor to massage Ramsay's frozen limbs and give him water. They would keep him out long enough to determine he wouldn't die. By the fourth time, he was sobbing, begging and refusing to step back into the cage. Unella went insane, screaming to Gregor that she was telling Bob it was time to end this. But Gregor forced Ramsay back into the cage, muttering that unless Kevan changed his mind, this was a punishment that lasted until evening. The fact that Gregor, Unella and Bob all didn't seem to approve of the punishment was no balm for the tortured boy. He tried to leave his body and let his mind wander.

Ramsay thought of wrapping Sansa's brilliant red hair around his neck and pulling tightly, one of his favorite comfort things to do. He thought of wild sex with her and best of all, he thought of how they will be together again soon. Ramsay worried about how badly Lancel might punish Sansa for their indiscretion, he wondered if it would be as painful and terrifying as his own punishment was now. Having a brother that he could create into his own personal killer was fun. Playing with Theon was also fun but there was no replacement for Sansa. Ramsay thought about how the two of them managed to keep their affair quiet for two years before they entered the school. Never once have been caught that whole time. Ramsay didn't know that Sansa's brat little sister was suddenly going to spill the beans or that Loras was fucking stalking them with a camera! Before Ramsay could work up a proper rage, his body finally gave up. He hit the electrified floor, the zaps began and Ramsay was falling into a painful dark hole. He came to and found Harold leaning over him. "That is it, young man. Clearly, torture is easy for you to deliver, but not as easy for you to take. Come on, I am going to carry you in a fireman's hold to the clinic." As humiliating as the words and the carrying were, Ramsay wept with relief that he wasn't going back into the cage.

Bob watched Harold carrying the limp, twitching boy and rushed over. "What the fuck are you doing? I was just on my way to check on him!" Harold went right past his twin and kept going towards the clinic. "I am taking the injured boy to the clinic, which is what I will tell Kevan when he returns. The boy was unconscious, getting zapped until his hair was smoking. Should I ignore that, Bob? We have had quite enough injuries and deaths around here. The boy goes to the clinic and then back to his regular scheduled classes as soon as Unella clears him." Bob nodded. "As long as you take the blame for it if Kevan gets pissed off." Harold nodded. "No problem. I would rather take the blame for letting a kid out of punishment early than take the blame for severe injury or death to a student." Harold entered the clinic with Ramsay and found no one in the main hallway or offices. He heard a commotion and wondered if it was Joff giving them some trouble. Instructing Ramsay to lay down in an empty examination room, Harold went searching for medical staff. He opened a door where he could hear the muffled voices yelling from. As he swung the door opened, Harold ducked fast as medical equipment came flying at him. Gregor swelled into the doorway and glared at Harold. "This is a private examination. What do you want? Hurry before Unella kills Raff."

Quickly, Harold informed Gregor of what happened to Ramsay. He could instantly hear Unella yelling and wrestling with Raff to go tend Ramsay. "Thanks a lot, asshole!" Gregor growled and slammed the door in Harold's face. 


	129. The Hidden Path

Kevan hated getting older, found the aching stiff joints and muscles an affront to his still very sharp mind. The walk to Dorna was long but it was a beautiful path. No student has ever dared step foot onto it without severe consequences. It was deliberately set past the Tickler's domain so a close eye would be kept on protecting this area. Kevan didn't actually go through Tickler's area, there was a hidden path that only he and the twins who created it know about. They have used tricks of illusion so that the path cannot be seen unless one is practically standing on it. Once upon the path, for the first stretch of it, one must go through gloomy dead wood and that was usually enough to end any interest. Kevan used his cane to shove at the wood and kept going to come out into the bright sunshine. A small clearing of wild flowers chaotic in color and size greeted him. Breathing deeply of their differing scents, he paused before continuing on the pathway. The small wooden bridge led him over a clear to the bottom pond full of frogs and fish. After traveling past some rocks and hilly areas, Kevan reached the white marble tomb. He sat against it and took a moment to catch his breath.

"Hello, Dorna. Sorry I haven't come sooner. I know, I know, I can hear you laughing on the wind. You know I only come when I am very lonely or very off balance. And though I do miss you terribly, I am way beyond off balance. I have gone off the rails. I lost my compassion and mercy. I was rather unfair to some students. I can only hope that the staff can see past my anger and show the compassion and logic that I didn't. I put the Bolton boy in Bob and Harold's cage. Yes, it was cruel and unreasonable, I was too angry to think clearly. The doctor was quite against it, I heard her screeching like an enraged seagull at Bob. They won't let it go too far, I am sure the boy will be slightly crisped but they won't leave him there too long. By the time I return I suspect he will be out. As for the whore, I overreacted, she committed a minor crime, she did as always and landed firmly into her place without a fight. Polliver will see my error and not give the girl much grief, at least there is that. Yes, I am sure of it. That leaves Sansa. I can almost hear your damned foot tapping at me. It was wrong of me to beat her like that, to act and speak that way in front of the students and staff. That girl is poison, Dorna. She is like the others and you know that bothers me, I wanted so damned bad to break that cycle." 

Kevan rubbed his sore muscles and he gave a smirk, hearing Dorna's voice in his mind. "I know. What right do I have to judge, why do I feel if I don't save them, they are doomed? Because I see they are doomed, I have watched so many of them die, suffering in one way or another until they are finally destroyed by their own means. I keep trying to save them and so many slip through the cracks and I watch them crash. And this avalanche of tragedy! Petyr, Cat, Jaime, Cersei, Tywin, Sandor, Loras. Too many deaths and betrayals around me. It is dizzying. I wish I'd known of Loras's obsession with our son. We could have nipped that in the bud, helped the boy past it and he could have flourished here. It haunts me that we all could have missed such an intense thing to have driven him to suicide. And yes, I know, it was mean of me to let Olenna rip at the staff that way. But I thought they needed it. Maybe a little fire under their feet, maybe a little arrow pointing at their faults and weaknesses will snap them to better attention. It's clear that things have slipped and need tightening. We need to make sure no one ever gets this close to attacking our school again. No more students with secrets that can maim or kill them. High time I tightened the ship."

Kevan laughed and rolled his eyes as if the wind had spoken. "Oh, I hear that voice of yours. Don't bother to lecture, what's done is done. Olenna doesn't matter anymore, I know you never approved anymore than I did of Lannister ruthlessness but sometimes, it is needed. There is no further need to think of her or speak of her. I have long believed that any misery that comes to that woman is well deserved. That old crone nearly destroyed Bob. I never have forgiven it and never will. It took months of therapy and Qyburn's close attention to get the poor boy to stop self mutilation after I put an end to the sordid affair. Speaking of bad matches, I see now that I never should have married Sansa to Lancel. I just helped repeat the cycle I keep trying to stop. But I thought the girl could be changed, I thought I found the right one for him under the circumstances. Tywin was desperate to see it done and what was I going to do? It would have been obscene to marry him to Arya. Sansa is only a few months away from her eighteenth birthday and Lancel is only twenty-seven. You and I were of similar difference in age and it worked for us. But to marry Lancel to a fifteen year old girl? I would have fought Tywin tooth and nail over that type of thing, I assure you. Not that Tywin or I did any service to Joff or Arya with their marriage. Those two are going to kill each other someday. I know, dear, I want to grant them a divorce but at least for now, until things have settled, it isn't a good idea. I am hoping that I will be able to temper them, to help them long before they ever need to leave our school. Then I will either have them find a way to harmony or grant them a divorce. All that is in the future and I am rambling, I know. It's a distraction and I am aware of it. I shouldn't have tossed Sansa into the street that way. I should never have married her to Lancel. I wish you were here. I tried so hard and I know I bumbled most of Lancel's raising but I tried, I did the best I could do. I thought this school would save him, save me and save others. Did I save anyone besides myself, Dorna?"

With a tiny smirk and a little chuckle, Kevan continued to chat with his dead wife. "I discovered we have a great niece. It burns me, Dorna. All this time our little Jeyne was Cersei's daughter. I would have cared for the child from the start of her young life if her parents had only done the right thing for once. It's too early for me to try and tell the girl of our relations. She wouldn't understand and naturally, the girl is nervous when I speak too much with her. I promise you though, once she is doing better, I will let her know that she was named after my own dear mother. I will make sure that Jeyne has a good life, one way or another. It's the least I can do. And yes, Dorna, I am going to kick Roose's ass for him on Visitor's Day. How dare he keep something like this from me? He will feel the sharper side of my tongue while his new wife goes to coddle the children. I'm not sure about Ramsay yet, but Damon and Jeyne can always use a little coddling from a mother figure. I think Walda will be good for the children. Ah, let us talk of something good, I feel so maudlin and it's simply too sappy and dramatic to be tolerated. Here is a good thing you will want to hear! Harold has found his first love, with any luck it will be permanent. Gilly is a very tough smart cookie and up to the challenge of Harold. It drives Bob crazy, maybe because he is jealous or thinks he will lose his twin to Gilly. He will get over it sooner or later. Dorna, I am adrift. I am unbalanced and as you've always told me, I need to talk to you and get my shit together."

Kevan stood up and leaned against the tall house shaped marble as if it were a lover. "Do you think any of those students or even this staff could conceive of the fact that I was once a wayward teen? Not the same way these children are, perhaps. But still the rebel, the outcast, the one who didn't do what was expected of him. Gods, how many times have you had to hear these old stories of mine? How many times have I drowned you in my past? I should have brought up a bottle of wine like I used to. If I didn't need to use this damned cane on harder paths I could have brought a bottle. This getting old crap isn't for me, Dorna. You would have hated it too, you know. Do you remember how smug I always was over being able to drink in front of my family? It was quite rude of me to do once father and Tywin managed to quit drinking. I know, you called it unresolved anger over my past, I called it funny as hell. And I had told you a thousand times, it wasn't all that bad. My father was a wonderful man, as far as Lannister parents go, he was a damned good father. Except when he drank. Knowing that, he only did it at home and then not so frequently. He scheduled it and we scheduled our fears according to that. It was never personal, Dorna. It was really a matter of who he saw first. Problem was, he tended to go a bit too far and so everyone had to get involved. My father got help and never drank again, that was that. No therapy, no apologies or discussions, it was just over and done. But I agree with you, that is when Tywin and I started our own rebellions."

The new look on his face belonged to a younger man, lost in his memories, his voice light and cheery now. "Oh gods, my brother was like a mini father puppet for so long. He was the captain of the football team, dated the most popular girl at the snootiest school our father could toss us into. Tywin would attend the university our father wished for him and our mother already had his wedding planned out. My brother would run large corporations someday and I wanted nothing to do with any of it. Father would look at me over the dinner table and point his fork at me. He would tell me that I should be more like my brother, use him as an example. That did it for me and the rebellion began. If Tywin was captain of a sports team, I was captain of the debate team. Tywin was homecoming king and that year I won a science fair. My brother went on dates and I went to my room to read comic books. When Tywin left for his fancy university, I was terrifying my guidance counselor by asking for every community college pamphlet I could find. Oh, it drove my father crazy, when I graduated and went to a school he had never even heard of. I became a social worker to piss him off. I got the teaching degree just to keep him groaning and the business management courses were only to keep him from going back to drinking over it all."

Kevan was laughing but then his face got a softer, sadder look. "That's when Tywin's own revenge started to get too serious, too dangerous and heartbreaking to my parents. To me. Tywin had been drinking on and off through high school. He was careful about who he was with and where he would party. Always discreet about it until he was too drunk to be discreet. It worked until that rage switch got flicked on. Then someone would get hurt, a very expensive home would be damaged or a pretty, rich girl with connections would be severely injured. Father always fixed it and Tywin would be grounded, lectured and released. Tywin would swear off drinking for a while, then start again. In University is where it started to get worse. Tywin discovered cocaine along with his alcohol and all bets were off. I still have to laugh when I think of how Tywin managed to graduate with a degree when he was raving, out of his mind, in a rehab center his entire last six months of school. Tywin came out all shiny and new, with his degree, ready to work for father. He got married to the perfect pedigree wife and started to work on his pedigree children. To my horror, I noticed that sobriety sucked up most of his sense of humor and any gentleness he might have had. Tywin was ruthless in his climb to success and I think father felt bad about it as much as he was proud of it. It broke father's heart when Tywin started drinking again. Tywin just wanted to celebrate a take over with his friends and accidentally sipped from the wrong glass. It was all it took and Tywin drank in the same horrific manner our father did. His children and wife bore and suffered the secret. It took beating his own wife to death to quit. Some revenge on our father, huh? Gods, why did I talk about that?"

He flung himself off the marble and used his cane as he started to pace. "I loved working away from Kings Landing, away from Casterly Rock. Well, just away from my family in general. I wanted nothing to do with our family works, our charities, I didn't want mother playing matchmaker. I wouldn't play nice and it drove them crazy, so they would argue, which only made me do worse. I joined protests, marches, I went traveling absurd lengths just to watch a concert. I worked in the inner cities as a child protection officer while living in a place so dingy, no family member dared to visit me. I have to admit, that didn't last very long. Turns out I am just a bit of a snob. I couldn't abide the dirt or cockroaches. Too crowded and loud, too many children that couldn't be saved. It was a good experience however and since it led me to you later on, it was a good thing. I need fresh air and lots of space after being in that city. My family still didn't approve of my next step in life but they agreed it was better than inner city social work. That juvenile detention school was the best thing to happen to me. Working as a teacher there gave me the burning desire to eventually build my dream school. But most of all, it brought me you. The first time I saw your fiery eyes glaring at me when you entered my class, I knew. Such an angst filled angry young lady and it took months before you were able to show your real personality. It was hard to be a gentleman then, you know. The first time you flirted with me, remember how I gave you such a scathing lecture for impropriety? But I also told you I was flattered. Do you remember? I do. It was difficult to be only your teacher and counselor for those two years until you graduated. Do you remember how scandalized our families were? The day you left, I left with you and we got married, found a nice plot of land in the Riverlands. We had plans, dreams, ideas and none of them included family names."

A dreamy cast came over Kevan's face and he sat down again, caressing the marble. "It was so good for so long, wasn't it? We were in love and we were immersing ourselves in every experience we could find. We had our own garden, had a goat for milk and cheese, chickens for eggs and trees for fruit. We grew our hair out, sang folk music and had careers we loved. Your pottery store was always full of customers and I love how you ignored your family over it. I loved working at the local orphanage, so fulfilling and rewarding, to do what I could for the children there. Then we were blessed, we had our son. Our families thundered forth, they actually came in person to argue about our lifestyle. You were full of hormones and I was full of worry of being a new father so we caved. Well, I know, Dorna, we didn't really cave, we negotiated. A fancy house with a fenced in yard in a modest upper class suburban cage. Replaced the goat with a cat, chickens exchanged for hamsters and the van became a station wagon. We swore it wouldn't change who we were, we would still get jobs we loved, be ourselves. What a joke that was. Everything was different from that second. I got a position with a competitive high school for the rich and pompous. The children were atrocious and no one stopped it, no one helped them rise above their shallow cruel shells. The kids being bullied and pressured at home were suicidal or becoming unstable and no one intervened. And I was warned not to ever intervene at the cost of my job. My only bright light was to come home to you and Lancel. You were just as miserable, weren't you? No way to get back to work, you were stuck in the mother groups, playing housewife and organizing charities for diseases you didn't care about. Small wonder you needed a small fantasy, just a little release."

Kevan massaged his knuckles, his face was darker and his tone was full of pain. "I understood, Dorna, I forgave you when you confessed it. I loved you and I knew we could work through it. We allowed your families the joy of visiting more often with their grandson so we could go to musicals, we went to fancy dinners and even went clubbing like you wanted. I wish I found out you were still sleeping with that man in time. I wish that you weren't so young and foolish that you cheated in front of our son. It's still my only real gripe, you know. Napping children don't tend to sleep until you decide they should wake up. Damn it, you should have locked the bedroom door, at least! No, no, don't you dare try and defend it or switch the blame, Dorna! It was a dark time and a stressful one, yes, I know that. No, I wasn't blind or stubborn, the boy was only four or five years old! Small children bite, it was an accident. Little boys don't bite little girls pinky fingers off on purpose, it's absurd. We paid the family, changed preschools, all was fine. I know, I should have let you take him to a doctor but at the time I was concerned that you were going to leave me for a damned repairman! As for the hamsters and the cat, well, small children unattended with small animals are never a good idea. Lots of kids accidentally kill their hamsters and cats. Doesn't mean anything. How could I have known that Lancel had seen you and your damned boyfriend? How would we have known that our poor boy would be so affected by it? If only I had woken up just a few minutes earlier. But I didn't wake up until I felt wet and saw Lancel standing over you with the knife. Who would think a five year old boy would kill his mother? I did what I could, I did everything I could to save him, protect him."

Kevan wiped his moist eyes with his handkerchief before continuing, his words coming as a great purge. "I called my big brother. Tywin took care of the clean up, he took care of your body. I let the family, including Tywin all think that I had killed you over your lover. I took our son and ran fast and far. I bought the land here and before the school was built, this place, your place and your body were put here. I am sorry I could never bring Lancel here to you, but I was afraid it would trigger the boy. The first hire here at our school wasn't a teacher but that doctor. Qyburn worked with Lancel and the boy forgot what he did. For years the doctor gave the boy intensive therapy and pills, I gave Lancel all that I could. Love, shelter, safety and the joy of watching others helping troubled children. I was terrified when he left the school but he has done so well, Dorna. He has spent years doing all sorts of good works, I was proud when he followed in my footsteps of social work and teaching. Now I have just handed Lancel everything that corrupted my family. All I can do is hope. But I should not have married him to Sansa." Kevan cried a little more and he heard Dorna's ghostly voice soothing him, pulling him back to balance.

Olenna Tyrell was nearly home with her son's body when she suffered a massive heart attack. She actually died from poison Kevan had put into Gilly's teapot for the old bitch.


	130. Fucking Impulse Control

Hot Pie was just finishing lunch clean up and beginning to prep for supper when Polliver came in, hollering. "Hey! Asshole, you need some fresh air and sunshine! I know, why don't you go run that gardening class for me? Kids are already there, already got them started for you. Gregor is at the clinic still and the professors ran off soon as they finished academics." With a huff, the cook asked why Polliver couldn't handle it himself. "Because I fucking hate gardening. I hated doing it as a student, hate supervising it as a counselor. Tell you what, you help me out with the gardening class, I'll get your prep started here. Please? It's an easy class for you, you like gardening. It's only Sidebitch and Target, how hard can that be? Big boy is all calmed down and Target hasn't caused any trouble all day."

Hot Pie wiped the sweat off his forehead and nodded. "Yeah, fine. I could use some fresh air anyway. But are you sure you can handle the prep? I mean, what I need pulled out and cut is on that sheet there tacked to the wall. Its a lot of stuff. Are you sure you got it?" Polliver smiled and shoved the cook towards the door. "Yes, yes, I'm not so fucking stupid that I can't read a chopping list. Go!"

Polliver walked into the dorm house and it was so clean, Gilly might have been jealous. Theon was sitting on the couch in the common room with white socks on his feet that had been on the floor and were perfectly sparkling still. He had his make up sheets all over the fluffed couch and the polished coffee table. "SuperD, what the hell am I seeing? I swear that I told you to go to the library for make up work instead of your outdoor classes. This is a dorm house, duckling, not a library." Shrugging, the boy replied. "Sorry, but the school is locked up. I looked around for the professors but I think they are in the gaming cabin." Polliver scowled. "Those asshole are ducking out early to drink away their bad days. No matter, I have something else for you to do. Consider it a form of therapy. Get your ass over to the kitchen and start working on Hot Pie's prep list. It's a bright colored paper tacked on the wall. I will be there in a minute, soon as I find Feral. Do you know where she hobbled off to?" Nodding, Theon pointed up the stairway as he headed for the door.

Polliver headed up the stairs silently, hearing the girls talk in the upstairs hallway. At first he was amused enough to stop and listen for a moment. "Why did you do that with Sansa? You told me I was wrong, to stay away from her. So why did you do it?" Myranda had replied. "I was stupid to do it. I wanted cash and she wanted a release." Jeyne asked, "Why did you want the cash?" With a small sound of bitterness to it, Myranda confessed. "I wanted to take you to a musical. I was hoping if I had the money for the tickets that I could persuade Harold or Gilly into chaperoning us. I had just enough too, dammit. Oh well." A sighing sound from Jeyne made Polliver grin. Then Jeyne started to talk again and he went into a concerned frown. "Can you teach me how to do that for money? I need to get some money and I don't know how to do what you do." Myranda's reaction was instant. "No! Jeyne, that isn't something you should ever do. It's, uh, it's not your talent. There are plenty of better ways to get some money." Polliver didn't want to hear whatever ideas those might be and quickly ran up the rest of the stairs. "That's enough quacking, ducklings!"

He tossed the crutches he had brought with him at Jeyne. "I let Raff know that I stole your crutches. I thought you tossed them so I took them to teach you a lesson. Looks like it all went upside down. Sorry about that, Feral. You are going to help out SuperD in the kitchen and we are going to talk the whole way there. Take your crutches and head down the stairs." Polliver watched as Jeyne headed towards the stairs, fuming silently at him. He turned to watch Myranda finishing the last doorknob, polishing it to a shine. "Soon as you finish, hit the showers. You can come to the kitchens and get something to eat before it's time to see Gilly for detention." Jeyne waited at the door for Polliver and he could see she was already thumping the crutches. "Uh oh, duckling is upset with Uncle Polly. Damn, that just breaks my heart." He reached past her to open the screen door and used the baton to gesture her out. Glaring silently at him, she went as tall as she could on the crutches, chin up and thumped under his arm and out the door. Trying not to laugh, Polliver followed and watched her thump harder than needed down the porch stairs.

"Okay, get it all out. Can't have you wrecking Hot Pie's poor kitchen in a snit." Jeyne kept moving and didn't look at him again, but her voice was strident and clear. "I got spanked! It still hurts! I am mad at Raff and now I am mad at you." Polliver nodded and twirled his baton lazily. "Well, I am sorry that spanking happened to you. Do you think Raff lost his temper maybe? Just like any other Person, maybe Raff is having a very bad day and he had a temper tantrum? Even adults have bad days and make mistakes." Polliver walked beside her and watched the small face trying to work it all out. "I will think about that. But I am still not forgiving Raff yet." Smiling, Polliver gave Jeyne's head a pat, causing her to scowl. "Think on it, Feral. Now, I heard your little chat with Whore. Let me make this perfectly clear to you, young lady. If I ever catch you trying to use Myranda's tricks for any reason, the punishment I'll deliver will be worse than Raff's spanking and worse than Gregor's promises. If a Person needs money, they get it one of two ways. You can work, do a job for money or you can borrow money then pay it back. You do not steal money and you NEVER offer your body for money. Are you clear on that, Feral?"

 Jeyne nodded and headed into the kitchen, wondering how to get money. But another thing bothered her more. She stopped dead so fast that Polliver almost walked over her. Spinning around, she stared up intensely at the counselor and demanded, "Why?" His eyebrows shot up and he threw up his arms in confusion. "Why to what?" Jeyne's chin was higher than ever and her spine went so straight that Polliver winced at the cracking sound. "Why is it for Myranda and Theon? Why is it not for me? What if I want to do that?" Theon suddenly became interested and leaned forward, watching the counselor look utterly floored. Polliver floundered for an answer, he wished mightily for Raff or Unella. Hell, even Tyrion would be welcome right about now. Jeyne stared up at Polliver, demanding an answer. "Myranda is pretty. Theon is handsome. I am ugly? I am not Person enough? Why?" Jeyne was thumping, no, slamming her crutches and Polliver saw that she was getting ready to escalate.

Just then a miracle came through the door in search of coffee and Polliver grabbed his opportunity with enthusiasm. "BOB!" The man jerked in surprise at the overly loud and jubilant holler. "Bob, buddy, old pal! Feral has a question for you!" Theon's look of amusement mixed with pity warned him as he slowly approached. "Yes, Jeyne?" Polliver leaned against the counter and looked ready to fully enjoy himself. "Why can Myranda and Theon use sex to get cash but not me? Why not me? I need money. I know about sex. They are pretty. Am I too ugly or not Person enough?" Polliver couldn't see Bob's eyes but the hoarse whisper the man aimed at him was just as satisfying. "I hate you. Hate you, Polliver." With a shit eating grin, Polliver nodded. "I know. It's worth it though. Go on. Answer the girl." Bob cleared his throat then tilted his head, considering how to word an explanation. "Jeyne, you bit off a penis. That disqualifies you for such work. You are pretty and you are well on your way to being a good Person. I am sure you can find a better way to get money." Bob got his coffee and left as fast as he could.

Polliver chuckled as he lifted Jeyne and sat her on a stool. "Here you go. Pick up a paring knife and get to work on those veggies, Feral." Theon muttered, "Wow, just wow." Polliver refilled his coffee. "Thirty minutes until detention with the Tank, better get chopping, children!" Spying Hot Pie's hidden pack of smokes, Polliver helped himself to one and went out back to enjoy it along with his coffee. Theon explained to Jeyne that she had to find someone with money who has a job to be done or is willing to lend money to her. Jeyne was also assured by Theon that she really wouldn't like to do what he and Myranda does. "When you kiss or have sex with someone for the first time ever, it should be personal. Not for money or a favor. A real feeling, because you want to do it." Jeyne absorbed all of this while she cut potatoes.

Soon Myranda appeared, wet hair shining under the fluorescent lights. She joined the conversation as she peeled carrots. "Jeyne, you want your first experiences to be special. They won't be special if you do it just because you want something else." Myranda looked at Theon with worry. "Sweetie, what do you need money for?" Jeyne sighed and looked up at Myranda and Theon. "I stole that whirlygig man and Raff says I have to pay for it. But I don't have money." Theon gave a squeeze to Jeyne's shoulder. "Well, Raff will just have to wait for it. Why don't you see if any staff has a job you can do for the money?" Jeyne smiled at the boy and nodded. "That is a good idea." Myranda sighed with relief. "So, no more talk about you and sex until you find someone that makes your heart beat faster and your no no spot get wetter. Right?" Jeyne flushed and giggled while Theon outright laughed.

Arya couldn't take it anymore, she clashed eyes with Damon who was a row across from her. "Stop it. You've been glaring at me since we got here. Either tell me what the fuck your problem is or leave me alone. Gods. Fucking irritating." Hot Pie looked up from his own planting work to snap, "No swearing!" Both students ignored the cook entirely as they stared at each other. "Why did you get Sansa kicked out?" Arya sighed and rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Loras's phone caused that shit this morning, not me!" Hot Pie yelled about cursing again and was still ignored. Damon growled at the girl, his large dirty hands becoming fists resting on his knees. "I heard Kevan. You told him about Sansa doing bad things, he was making her leave to be with Lancel because of you. Loras's phone only made it worse. But you started it. Sansa was my best friend. I needed her. She wasn't doing anything to you, you didn't need to do that to her. That was fucking just mean little brat snitching."

Hot Pie looked on the edge of a coronary as he bellowed the no swearing rule into the deaf ears. Arya was on her knees, her hands still in the soil, her eyes fixed on Damon's cold and ruthless. "You have no idea what is between me and Sansa. I'm sorry you lost your friend but to be honest, Sansa isn't your real friend. She used you like she uses everyone." Damon moved fast, Arya fell onto her ass as he loomed over her, his large fists at the ready. In sheer panic, Hot Pie was reaching for his taser. At the top of his lungs, Damon shrieked into the girl's face, "I AM GOING TO SHUCK CORN!" He turned and stormed past Hot Pie, heading for the corn field. The cook and Arya stared after him blinking for a moment. Shaking his head, Hot Pie muttered, "Nope. I am not engaging in whatever that was." The harassed cook turned to glare at Arya and point accusingly.

"You! Stop swearing or I'll-"  Arya scoffed right in the young man's face as she stood up dusting herself off. "Or you'll what? Send me to detention? I already have a permanent spot there." For one second, it looked like the girl might win, the cook might back down. Then Hot Pie's smile grew and his eyes became harder. His voice was without mercy. "I am staff and I am teaching a class. That means I can be involved in your schedule. I am also good friends with Polliver, your main counselor. That means I can FUCK with your schedule. Dirt bike time? Gone. Extra art classes, maybe an extra block of math and less outside activities. Kickboxing can be replaced by more yoga. Sound good? Or do you want to apologize for your attitude and your FUCKING swearing?" Arya fought with herself for a moment, opened her mouth and closed it. Hot Pie waited silently. Finally she dropped her eyes and choked out an apology. "Thank you. Now, lets finish up here before you head over to detention. Polliver can wander through the cornfields for Damon on his own."

Unella stood firm, facing down Gregor as Raff walked away, throwing his hands in the air as if done with her. "I have an electrocuted patient, I have a patient in the quiet room and two injured students that will need a check up before nighttime. I don't have the luxury of cutting down my hours, both of you can just forget it. If I get hungry I will eat and if I feel tired, I will sit for a moment. Now please, kindly fuck off and find someone else to pick on." She felt the prick of the needle from behind her and she snarled out, "Fuck you, Raff. Fuck you. I'll get you for this." Gregor let the woman slump into his arms, where she lolled, half conscious, slurring curse words and threats. Raff moved fast. "Quick, get her on this gurney and you can wheel her to hell house. Because she's pregnant, I couldn't give her a full dose, she won't stay down very long. Good luck, Gregor."

Unella could do nothing as Gregor put her on the gurney and tightened the straps. She watched the sky and trees above her as Gregor wheeled her towards their house. "This is for your own good, woman. If you don't go on the restricted schedule and new diet which includes actually ingesting food then Kevan will call Qyburn or that butcher bitch, out of concern. Is that what you want to happen?" Gregor half carried her up the stairs and tossed her onto the bed. Unella was able to writhe but not much else yet. She slurred out objections as Gregor put a tight leather strap around her left ankle and chained it to a bedpost. He covered her protesting body with a blanket. "You aren't leaving this bed until suppertime when I come to get you. Rest, read a book, plan a revenge, anything but get up. I left you a bedpan and the two books Jeyne gave us. Enjoy." Gregor left while Unella screamed in frustration.

Raff smiled down at Ramsay as he checked the heart monitor the boy was hooked up to. "Sorry, looks like you are spending the night here along with Joff. I can't say I feel bad for either of you considering that means I have to stay here all night. Hot Pie will bring you a tray of supper later on." Ramsay couldn't stop the chattering of his teeth, the random twitching of his body or the strange gasps he makes every now and then. Pain racked him and immense cramps would cause him to sob and scream out loud in spite of the medication Unella put into his I.V. tube. Ramsay rasped out, "I'm dying. It hurts too much, let me die." Raff smirked and produced a syringe. "I have something stronger than what Unella was giving you. This should take you to a happier place until after supper. Don't feel like listening to you scream about your boo boo's. I have Joff to deal with. Nighty, night, Death Row. Have a lovely little nap and dream of whatever serial killers dream of." The medicine worked so fast that Ramsay was asleep before he could finish saying "Fuck you."

Gilly fixed her braid and got her clipboard. Harold appeared with a smile. "Gilly, before you bring your careful plans for detentions today, you might wish to hear how the day has gone for the students. It's been a rough day and they are rather tense. I don't believe any of them even got their academics fully done today." Listening carefully, Gilly made notes and changed her plans for the afternoon. "Thank you for informing me, Harold. I appreciate it." Harold nodded and folded his hands together. "May I walk with you tonight after work hours?" Gilly smiled brighter. "I would like that, Harold." Gilly headed down the hill ready to try and soothe shattered nerves rather than discipline. While the children were finishing up whatever classes they were engaged in, she set up.

Polliver came by, swinging his baton and eyeing the table with crafts. "Are you kidding me? I thought it was detention?" Gilly looked up. "It is. But it is also a time to help the children through whatever got them into detention. And some days, like today, seem to be harder for them. It's best to help them calm down. I will deliver harsher detentions once they are calmer for it. Today is homework assistance then some crafts while we discuss their troubles." Rolling his eyes, Polliver walked away muttering to himself. "Next you'll set up a booth for free hugs and cuddles." Gilly called after the man cheerfully, "I would if I thought it would work!" Polliver growled and headed towards the kitchen. "Feral and Whore, it's detention time for you! SuperD, you are in luck, the Tank is offering a homework club. Head on over. Move, waddle forth, ducklings!"

Polliver headed towards the gardens to collect his other two ducklings. He saw only Arya working alongside Hot Pie. "Hey, yeah, so, you seem to be bad at counting, Hot Pie. I left you with TWO ducklings and I only see one. Target, go wash up, grab your homework and head over to the Tank's detention." Polliver glared at Hot Pie as Arya took off. "Where is Sidebitch?" Shrugging, Hot Pie tried to explain. "He was arguing with Arya over Sansa then he screamed in her face that he was going to shuck corn. Damon was very angry and I wasn't about to try and stop him." Whacking the cook in the head with one hand, Polliver growled out, "Next time something like that happens, text me right away, asshole." Hot Pie huffed, as he cleaned up angrily. "See if I help you out with a class again if this is how you treat me. Jerk. My kitchen better not be a mess and the stuff better be prepped or it's your stomach that suffers!"

Ignoring the boy, Polliver kept walking toward the cornfield. Then he turned and yelled at Hot Pie. "Your prep work is done and your kitchen is still all nice and neat. I kept my part up, unlike you! You LOST one of my ducklings, asshole! Meanwhile, I didn't lose so much as a single chunk of fucking ONION!" Polliver found Damon standing in the center of what seemed to be a corn tornado. Gregor was already there, an arm slung around Damon, talking to him. Polliver sneered when Gregor shot him a dirty look while informing him that Damon has permission to visit the corn when feeling very upset. "Whatever. It's not my corn being destroyed. Sidebitch, detention has started. The Tank is offering some homework help before nice relaxing crafts. Soon as you feel ready to stop hurling corn around, you should get to it." Gregor shoved Polliver aside. "I'll take the boy over. Why don't you go fuck off some more?" Polliver gave Gregor's back his middle fingers as the mountain escorted Damon away.

Detention was the smoothest class of the day. Gilly made sure to help each of the students with their homework as much as she could. She had brought her laptop to assist them. When they finished their work, they started on their crafts. Arya worked on the murder hotel model, Myranda made beaded jewelry, Theon drew an amusing cartoon and Jeyne beat the hell out of molding clay. Damon carefully made a fancy glittery card for Sansa and got Gilly to promise to ask permission to mail it. By the time detention was over, the students were much more balanced out. Enough that they were able to laugh when they went for supper and watched Hot Pie and Polliver yelling at each other. Supper consisted of carrots, potatoes and onions roasted in strange shapes and freezer burnt hot dogs. Apparently, Polliver had the students reference the wrong hanging paper for the kitchen prep after all. The other kids watched Theon drink his smoothie with jealousy. It made it taste even better to Theon and he drank it until his straw sucked nothing but air.


	131. Princess In A Golden Cage

Sansa ignored Bronn, limping up the road, forcing tears away, biting her lip so it no longer trembled. He followed her, constantly talking in that stupid slow drawling back country way. Bronn informed her that he was hired by Kevan to keep an eye on her and Sansa almost found that crueler than anything else that old bastard has done. It took forty minutes and the lure of a bottle of water before Sansa caved. With the snootiest look, with the utmost dignity, Sansa entered Bronn's car and accepted the water bottle. She ruined it by downing the water too fast and spilling a third of it down her chin. Bronn handed her some stiff and barely used fast food restaurant napkins. With a grimace, Sansa used them to dab her chin, neck and shirt. "Thank you. May I use your cell phone if you have one? I need to call my husband."

Bronn gave her a smile full of sympathy but his eyes were flint. "I'm sorry, darling. I'm not allowed to do that. Your husband already knows about me. He isn't going to be jealous. Your prince texted me a few minutes ago while you were limping up the road. I'm going to take you to him in Kings Landing. A nice fancy Lannister mansion, won't that be nice, sweetheart?" Sitting up straight, Sansa hissed at Bronn, her eyes full of fire. "You let me keep walking after Lancel contacted you! You couldn't tell me he texted you to take me to Kings Landing? What kind of hired man are you?" Smiling, Bronn reached over to put Sansa's seat belt on her then he started to drive them down the long road towards the city. His voice poured over her like honey with dead flies clogged in it while she burned.

"I am a man hired by your father in law. Not by you or by Lancel. I don't follow your orders or your golden lion's. My job is to make sure you are safe and alive. That is it and I do it my own way. If you or Prince Gagging don't like it, you'll have to take it up with Kevan Lannister, ginger." With a voice born and bred, rich with upper class blood, a voice that would have made Cat, Cersei and Olenna proud, Sansa replied. "Do not refer to me by pet names, Bronn. If you cannot bring yourself to be respectful enough to call me Mrs. Lannister, then you may call me Sansa. It's an easy name to remember, that should not be too difficult for you. Don't worry, Bronn, I have lived around servants and hired men all my life. I will be more than happy to explain to you how it all works as we go along. Never feel bad that you need to use misplaced humor and passive-aggressive actions in order to hide your inadequacies. I understand and will be patient with you."

Bronn burst out in hearty laughter and reached out to pat the girl's shoulder. "Oh, we will get along famously!" Sansa slapped his hand off her and attempted to pet her hair back in some semblance of order. Her icy demeanor cracked when her hand got stuck in her hair. Bronn pulled the car over and helped extract her from the greedy, tangled locks. Once Sansa's hand was free, it slapped Bronn's face hard, so hard, her hand hurt. Bronn winced and then shrugged. "I guess I deserve that instead of a thank you. I did laugh the whole time, didn't I? I thought my jokes were rather funny. You see, I was feeling passive-aggressive and inadequate about getting your hand out of that red rats nest on your head." Sansa didn't speak to the loathsome man again until they were at the edge of the city. "I can't see Lancel or anyone like this. You'll need to stop at a store and get me some clothing and hair products." Bronn snorted and looked over at Sansa with amusement. "Do you have the money to pay for these things? I don't lend money to rich women. Or any women or men, for that matter."

Sansa closed her eyes for patience and spoke slow, each word bitten out. "My husband will pay you back for it. Bring the damned receipt to him." Bronn shook his head slightly and gave her a playful grin. "Don't worry, Mrs. Lannister. Your husband married you for better or worse. Just think, if he sees you like this, then you've gotten that pesky worst look out of the way." Sansa looked directly at Bronn with a cold calm smile on her lovely pouting lips and spoke with all the sincerity in her bruised, aching body. "I despise you." Bronn smirked and chuckled as he lit a cigarette, speeding towards the glittering city. "Aw, that's alright, darling. I'm not paid to make anyone like me." Sansa tried to avoid being seen as they drove towards the rich part of town and thought of different ways to murder Bronn. It was with relief that Sansa saw Lancel standing in the driveway of Tywin's mansion. Lancel's eye seemed to twitch at the sight of Bronn's beat up car. He was even less impressed by the man himself, judging by the way Lancel glared at the man and pursed his lips. It wasn't until Lancel opened her car door and drew her out that Sansa recalled her fear. She had been so annoyed with Bronn, she forgot that her husband was going to be very angry with her.

Lancel kissed her forehead and gently hugged her, Sansa returning the embrace, searching for comfort. He turned to smile at Bronn with a frosty polite charm. "Thank you for bringing my wife to me, Bronn. I understand that Kevan has hired you to keep a close eye on Sansa's safety. It was a nice gift if a tad strange. We can hammer out details later, of course. Please feel free to use the servants kitchen and living room. One of the maids is airing out a room for you to use while Sansa is here. There will be a room for you in our servant quarters at Casterly Rock as well. We shall go between both homes as needed. Now, I am going to spend some time with my wife, who has had a very trying day. Excuse us, Bronn." To Lancel's impatient irritation, the man was following them towards the main doors. "Bronn? You can use the servant's entrance. Forgive me for not pointing out sooner where the door is. To your right, keep going around the side of the house and you'll see it." Bronn smiled. "Well, that is kind of you to point that out for me, but I am not a servant. I'm hired protection for this one lass." Sansa leaned into her husband and whispered into his ear, "This man is insufferable. He tormented me the whole way here."

Stroking the mess on Sansa's head, Lancel smiled at her warmly. "Then we shall have to ignore him the best we can. Come, let's go to our personal suite. I have taken over and redecorated Tywin's suite. The rest of his house as you can see still has the old furniture as much as I hate most of it. I had planned to get around to redoing it all. Now that my lovely wife is here, I shall leave the domestic chores to you. Redecorate away here. Casterly Rock must stay the same, but here you may decorate this gilded cage as you will." Sansa was being led by Lancel and she didn't dare resist, in spite of her fear. She wasn't even aware if Bronn was following them still or not. Sansa was afraid of what would happen once Lancel locked the bedroom door behind them. When she was ushered into the suite and she heard the click of the lock, she nearly cried in anticipation of painful blows. The rooms were unusual to say the least. The rooms were a mix of black, crimson and gold. It's dark chaotic richness suited Lancel, if not Sansa. She waited stiffly for Lancel to pounce as he showed her the small living room, study, bedroom, personal bath and balcony.

Lancel showed Sansa her own personal walk in closet and how it's hangers and drawers were already filled. "I knew your size and colors. I bought things I prefer to see you wear. We have a reputation to uphold and must always look our best. I am sure you didn't forget that during your time at the school. And it will be very important for when we travel to Casterly Rock tomorrow so you can meet my girls. I must warn you that I have told some rather fanciful tales of you, my lovely princess being held by my evil father. They were rejoicing that you have been released. They will love you because I do. They will respect and worship you as I want them to. They have a rather sterling image of their princess and I expect you to fully live up to it. It would be very dangerous if they saw flaws in you, flaws that they feel would be upsetting to me." Sansa shivered at the warning and nodded quickly. "I understand. I want nothing more than to be your wife, to help our mission in any way you see fit. I want to meet the girls I have heard so much about and embrace them the way they wish to embrace me." Smiling approvingly, Lancel stroked the side of Sansa's face, the bruised side, causing her to whine slightly.

He pulled her closer and spun her gracefully so she was facing the full length mirror as he hugged her from behind. Lancel's voice was soft and loving. "Sweet Sansa, my lovely bride, you are a mess. What did my father to do you, poor gentle thing? Your hair, your face, these clothes, it's all wrong, isn't it? I bet your pale, perfect body is covered in ugly bruises from my father's cane. It's all wrong. This girl in the mirror, this isn't my perfect wife, or my shining star, this isn't a superhero, a partner to my cause. This is the girl that is a silly teenager that got caught banging another student and paying a whore to eat her out. A bad girl who has been soundly beaten, expelled from a school, messy hair and dirty sweatsuit. I almost wondered if Bronn brought me the wrong girl, the wrong sister, perhaps?" Nothing could have hit harder and Sansa gasped, tears of hurt indignation spilling. "I am sorry, Lancel. So sorry, please forgive me. I had no idea Loras was following us or that Arya would rat me out." Lancel hugged her and nuzzled into her neck, kissing and nipping.

"Have you forgotten Petyr's teachings and mine so fast, love? Always suspect that you are watched, that someone is plotting against you. I would expect this kind of error from our impulsive Ramsay, but from you, Sansa? I forgive you, of course I do. But Punishment and Discipline are key, sweetness, you know that. Don't flinch like that, honey. Lovely wife, you have been brutalized enough by my evil father and that will only incense my girls in the right way. But I think my discipline of my wife should be a very private affair between the two of us. We don't want my girls getting the wrong ideas about my beloved wife." Lancel swept up Sansa into his arms like the groom carrying his lovely bride and he brought her into the luxurious bathroom. With a soft dreamy smile, Lancel placed Sansa into the deep oversized tub and handcuffed her wrists to the faucet. He removed her sweat suit with a sharp pair of scissors, reducing them to rags to be thrown out. "We simply must fix you up, dear. I need you to be at your best and this clearly isn't it. I am going to help you, you will be perfect when I am done."

Sansa has stood discomfort and pain in learning to be a lady, thanks to her mother. She learned beauty is pain, thanks to Petyr and Cersei. Sansa has learned that gaining power is pain, thanks to Olenna. Through travels with Petyr as a girl, Sansa learned many lessons of the pain involved in climbing ladders. This was a whole new level and the punishment indeed sunk in deeply. Lancel used his fingers to first trace up Sansa's long legs then he pulled them far apart, one leg leaning against he tiles, the other hanging over the edge of the tub. Anytime Sansa moved her legs, even slightly, Lancel slapped her stomach hard with his palm. With an easy smile at his adorable wife, Lancel began to pluck out every one of Sansa's pubic hair. One by one, with his fingers, which went from discomfort to excruciating as he continued this until there wasn't a single hair left to yank out.

Lancel licked the tears from his wife's face as he pulled out a large tube with no label on it. "This is a rather interesting and banned hair removal product. It is supposed to remove all excess hairs as well as exfoliate and invigorate the skin. However, due to the intense burning sensations, it was discontinued. It looked terrible to have women screaming in an expensive spa. But I think it will help restore your skin and good sense." Sansa did scream and writhe when Lancel coated her whole body in the cream. It burned and made her wail, begging for Lancel to remove it, to forgive her. He cooed at her with warm, loving sympathy as he watched her body burn in the tub. Lancel turned the shower on cold when Sansa's skin started to glow pink and rinsed it off of her. Using a harsh body wash full of tiny rocks to slough off dead skin, Lancel washed his wife's body forcefully enough for her to cry out. Lancel used a shampoo and conditioner on Sansa's hair next but it was matted in several places. Lancel produced a steel comb and set to work as Sansa tried hard to stay still, wincing in pain.

An hour later, a very shaken Sansa stood naked before her husband. Her skin glowed except where it was bruised and where it was sore, red and tender. Sansa's clean bright red hair flowed down her back neatly. "There. Now later I will show you how I want you to dress, how you should do your make up and hair." Lancel's hands and tongue explored every inch of Sansa's irritated and aching body. He took her from behind when he was ready so that he could reach forward and clench hard upon Sansa's sore, puffed up pubic area.

The next day, Sansa felt like a broken doll that was being fixed. Lancel made her over and she looked like a dainty but towering princess, indeed. They ignored Bronn, who followed them during the long journey to Casterly Rock. Sansa was instantly overwhelmed by the Craster girls. Tiny ones all the way to ones the ages of staff at the school. All of them were similar in looks to Gilly, all were polite and seemed almost in awe of her. What worried Sansa was the look in all their eyes, the same look Loras had except these girls looked like they would jump to homicide rather than suicide if pressed.

Sansa was careful to shake each girl's hand, smile and allow Lancel to weave a story and invisible bars around her. She had cake and tea with all of them while the youngest ones kept telling her about adventurous toads. "Guess what? Sansa, guess what? The toads, they need quiet. I founds a HORSE and COWBOY HATS! Guess what? Last Tuesday, we had pizza and guess what? I founds WHITE PIZZA GUY HATS AND COATS! PLUS, THERE WAS FLIPPER PRINTS IN SOME FLOUR!" The smallest girls reminded Sansa of Arya and she knew they were going to be the cutest danger she might ever face.   


	132. Ducklings Declaration

Polliver heard the voices before he got to the screen door. Turning fast to put a finger to his lips, gesturing for Raff, who was bringing night medications. Since Unella was on part time until she delivers her spawn and recovers, Raff was struggling with a larger work load. So he was coming a little earlier than usual with the night medications so he can finish up his damned reports. It was visitor weekend and that meant all reports must be in.

The staff was having a late night meeting in the cafeteria so they can all collaborate on the reports while drinking and eating. So Polliver and Raff were rushing to get the ducklings in order and ready for bed. Since there can be no staff to watch over the ducklings, Raff is dosing all of them.

The two of them heard the raised voices and tried to understand what they were hearing. Joff and Ramsay's voices were present in the mix, that was a potential concern. Joff had spent four nights in the solitary room before he was allowed to return to the dorms. Ramsay was sent back to the dorms after one night in the clinic, but he didn't stop twitching for five days. The staff was relieved that the twitching and the strange gasping sound that randomly hit him, ended before Roose's visit.

Raff raised an eyebrow as he leaned closer to the screen door, trying to comprehend the meaning of the excited voices. Damon's voice boomed. "You got this! We practiced it, you got this! Do it!" Myranda's voice wasn't shouted, but it's dry sarcasm cuts right through any male voice. "It's stupid. And if she gets hurt, Raff will go ballistic on her and then Polliver plays duck, duck, baton on everyone who was betting." Arya's voice was war, clashing against Myranda's logic with pure stubborn, fierce anarchist joy of a teenager.

"Oh, gods sake! You should be the LAST one to act prim and proper suddenly! Let the girl do a simple fucking fun wild thing, why don't you? You can't tell her to act like a Person, without letting her act like a teenager. Go on, Feral! You got this and I've got two dollars on you! If you win, you get my two dollars, Princess's three dollars and Death Row's five dollars! Ready, Set, Go!"

As soon as it registered that Jeyne was doing some feat for a bet, Polliver and Raff crashed inside but it was too late. The students were all crowded around the steep staircase to the second floor bedrooms where Myranda and Jeyne slept. The two staff members were just behind the students when Jeyne started to fly. Jeyne had stood at the top of the staircase and used her crutches to catapult herself.

Raff's heart tried to leave his body on a permanent basis while Polliver aged ten years as the slight girl flew over their heads and landed hard upon the couch. Arya and Damon cheered while Ramsay and Joff groaned about losing their money. Myranda and Theon were the only two to remain silent, they had seen Raff and Polliver. Without a sound, they went over to the wall and pressed against it. A crash startled everyone when the screen door exploded open and Gregor filled the hallway, nearly squashing Myranda and Theon.

"NANNY GREGOR WAS HAVING A NICE WALK AROUND AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT I SAW, CHILDREN? I SAW A MOON, I SAW STARS, I SAW THE TRACK WHERE YOU ALL HAD A NICE JOG EARLIER. THEN I LOOKED OVER TO THE DORM HOUSE WINDOW AND I SAW A CIRCUS ACT! NO ONE TOLD NANNY GREGOR THERE WAS A SHOW TONIGHT!" Gregor glared at Raff and Polliver, who were still relearning to breathe. "We came in to see the flying Feral! We heard them betting and tried to get here in time to stop it!" Polliver's words were rasped out as he leaned against the wall to catch his composure. "Oh gods, once I catch my breath, I'm going to play Whack A Duckling, oh yes."

Forcing his heart back in place, Raff snarled out, "We don't have time for this! I have to get this report done, I need to head back to the clinic after that and who the fuck knows when I get to sleep!" Raff squawked in shock when Gregor suddenly grabbed his collar and slammed him into the screen door, propelling him onto the porch. Gregor tightened his grip when Raff tried to protest. Polliver barked at the ducklings to all find a piece of wall and then he went to follow the other staff to the porch, slamming the door behind him.

Gregor had his large finger in Raff's indignant face as he softly growled so the students couldn't hear. "What the fuck is your problem? Your favorite pet project just launched herself into the air, for money. That girl is taking bets and dares to try and pay off that fucking stolen balloon. For you. You told her to do something and never told her how. You are just watching and letting her get into trouble? When you asked the staff not to lend her the money or offer her a job for it, I thought it was because you had a fucking SOLUTION for her. Not because you are just that sadistic or petty."

Raff tried to wrench himself free with no luck but Gregor loosened his grip enough to let the man speak. "I wanted her to learn from her peers! I wanted her to find a solution of her own, to have an independent project, to figure it out like any other kid does! I don't have any fucking time to babysit every kid, that is Polliver's job, not mine! I asked her earlier about her search for money and she never told me about any betting!"

Gregor growled back while shaking the handsome idiot. "Course not! Jeyne kept it a fun secret from the adults, JUST LIKE ANY TEEN! Just like YOU told her to! I swore you were at the staff meeting a few days ago when Bob and Polliver reported about what she asked them. Asked the KIDS. You think it won't take certain boys in there very long to figure out how to exploit the hell out of that girl? For money. But you don't have fucking time. Great. Go give that line of students their medications and get the fuck out. Hurry up, you have so much more to do now."

"That isn't fair! It's your own fucking wife that I am covering for! I could go to Kevan and ask for another doctor until Unella is back on her feet if you want? No, because that would bring Qyburn and that scares the SHIT out of you, her and me! So don't bitch at me! I'm doing the best I can! I thought it was a social project for Jeyne, it wasn't a great idea. I will take more time tomorrow with her in therapy to explain things. Right now isn't the time. I just got her to forgive me for that accidental spanking and if I punish her in front of the group, I might lose her favor again. She needs to know someone is on her side."

Gregor shoved Raff hard enough to knock him into Polliver. "Heathers, I appreciate all you do for my wife. I am grateful that you do not request for that quack doctor. But these children are what you are really here for. Not for the paperwork, for the kids. I don't care if the fucking school is on FIRE, the STUDENTS come first. You make time, asshole." Raff straightened up and glared at Gregor, fuming as he fixed his collar.

"Fuck you, Gregor. You weren't my mentor, you aren't my boss, just a coworker. Don't tell me how to do my job, I don't tell you how to do yours. I don't try and give you advice on your twisted fucked up marriage or how it's inhumane and dangerous to BURY living children." Gregor took a step towards Raff, who rushed past into the house to give out medications.

Raff was shoving pills into mouths and he only spoke to Jeyne briefly as she took her medications from him. "You are in trouble, young lady. I will be speaking with you about it tomorrow. I am changing your schedule for morning, I expect you in my office directly after breakfast. Professor Tyrion will have to mark you as late because we need to discuss-" Gregor shoved the therapist over slightly and held the crutches before Jeyne's face then broke them into three pieces, causing Raff to shriek about cost of equipment.

"If you are well enough for circus performances, you are well enough not to need these anymore. Tomorrow after classes you come see me and I am going to give you a job to earn money. That is the RIGHT WAY FOR A PERSON TO MAKE MONEY. Do you hear me, girl? Good." Ignoring the fuming Raff, Gregor headed out, saying over his shoulder, "You are all very lucky it's Uncle Polly and his beating stick. If Nanny Gregor was counseling all of you on this matter, there would be more bodies flying than just Feral's."

Raff finished giving medications out and spoke stiffly to Polliver. "I'm too pissed. If I try and discipline Jeyne now, I'll go too far. I'll talk to her tomorrow. See you at the staff meeting. Fucking Gregor, can't fucking believe his fucking-" Raff left still muttering. Polliver turned to the line of ducklings and gave them all a nasty grin. "I want every duckling to face the wall, bare asses out and palms against the wall. Every. Duckling. Now!" Myranda and Theon gave an incredulous look to Polliver before grudgingly obeying.

Ramsay, Joff and Arya each received seven whacks with the baton for betting. Theon and Myranda got three hard strikes for watching and not telling a staff member. Damon received ten harsh blows for supporting and practicing, encouraging the dangerous stunt. Jeyne was already tense and in tears by the time Polliver got to her. Hearing large strong Damon scream out loud at the last few blows, he was still sobbing, it ebbed any courage she had away. "I hope your trick was fun for you. I'm going to even let you collect the money since you earned it. But you also earned a good, sound beating for doing something so dangerous and stupid."

Polliver was angry and embarrassed over Gregor's scathing disapproval, he was worried about Raff. Polliver he had still not forgiven Jeyne and Myranda for the death of Sandor but he has been stuffing it down, or trying to, until now. "Twenty." The entire group of students looked up from their own pains at that with surprise. Jeyne made a small wailing sound. She has never suffered that much under the baton before.

Myranda gasped and opened her mouth. Polliver looked at her, praying she dared to protest so he could add to her misery. To his annoyance, Polliver changed focus as Arya spoke. "You've never hit someone that many times with that baton. Sidebitch's ass already looks shredded. Feral can't take twenty strikes with a baton. I BET she can't." The others, including Myranda all smiled, catching on. Even Ramsay and Joff were going to join in, both giving a hostile look to Polliver.

Ramsay smiled and announced, "If Feral takes all twenty strikes, I will give her the last of my money. Ten dollars. Princess, have anything to bet?" Joff sneered. "I do have three more dollars. I have three dollars that says Jeyne can't take all twenty strikes." Jeyne took a deep breath and steadied herself against the wall. "I can take it. I BET I can take it." Polliver swore and gave in to his frustration. "I BET that I'm going to beat your ass like a bongo."

Strike seven was when Jeyne started to cry out with the horrible pain and the others started to cheer her on. They each started to beat their palms against the wall with each strike. The cheering and pounding infuriated Polliver who now can see that whether Jeyne takes the beating or not, he has lost. The students have united against him and this just added to his ire. The cheering was as loud as the hits and Jeyne's cries.

Polliver swung hard, it was too hard, they all saw it coming, even he saw it but he couldn't stop his arc or his temper in time. The room went silent at the deafening crack. Jeyne screamed. It wasn't a normal scream of kid being paddled harshly. The scream was deafening and she slid down the wall, going limp. Polliver held the end of baton that was broken in two, staring blankly as if not certain what happened.

Fuck the rules, the kids were crowding around Jeyne, who was pale, writhing on the floor, unable to respond to Myranda's desperate voice. Ramsay felt that click in his mind that let him know when an opportunity strikes and here it was. Slowly, he took his time standing up and over Jeyne.

"She needs the clinic, I think you went too far. We students may have our issues with each other but I for one am DONE with abusive counselors! First you nearly kill me in a fucking electric cage and now you broke Jeyne's back! Enough is enough. I say all students are uniting against the cruelty we are subjugated to! We want a meeting with Kevan! We demand fair treatment! And right now WE DEMAND MEDICAL TREATMENT FOR THE STUDENT YOU BEAT HALF TO DEATH! AND WE WANT ANOTHER COUNSELOR HERE, NOT YOU!"

Every student but Myranda stood up to face Polliver, joining Ramsay. Myranda was stroking Jeyne's hair but she looked up and glared at Polliver. "This is war, Uncle Polly. We aren't taking it anymore. I am with you, Ramsay. We all are. Arya smiled hard at Polliver and her voice was even harder. "The Ducklings declare war." 


	133. First Rule Of Duck Club

It took him a minute. It took Polliver a full minute to register three important things. First, his baton was broken in two pieces, his first baton given to him by Gregor when he graduated was broken. Second, there was the smallest student, the most impaired student, lying on the ground, far too still and silent, needing possible medical attention. Third, every duckling was glaring at him, standing against him and declaring war. Polliver wondered which of these things to deal with first and he wondered which of these things might cause Gregor to just outright murder him. The last thing Polliver wished to do was have to call for assistance.

Collecting himself, Polliver was determined to end the mutiny before it really got started. "That's enough. Let me check Feral." He stepped forward, tall and big as he can make himself, his eyes mean and full of warning. Polliver couldn't believe that they would dare to stand in his way, not more than maybe one or two, which he would then proceed to knock them on their asses. So it was a surprise when every duckling, including that cunt Myranda, all stood there, blocking his way to Jeyne. Ramsay and Arya were shoulder to shoulder, directly in front of Polliver. "I think you've touched Feral enough. She needs medical staff, not an abusive counselor." Ramsay's voice was steel. Arya's voice was full of challenge and scathing. "We aren't joking. We want to see Kevan. We want another counselor in here and we want the actual DOCTOR for Feral."

Polliver smirked and shook his head, crossing his arms. "Naw. We are going to keep this right between us ducks and ducklings. You fucking morons. You have all taken sleeping meds. In about twenty minutes, all of you will be struggling to stay awake. In forty minutes, you'll all just hit the floor, snoring." Theon rasped out, "But we'll wake up in the morning. When we do, we'll continue the mutiny. It will be easier then because everyone will see and hear us clearly then." Polliver looked at Myranda, who stared back, pissed and scared for her injured friend. "Is this what you really want to do, Whore? Instead of letting me help Jeyne out, you want to join this fuckfest and pay for it? Huh? I was letting shit go with you, right? You want it to start right up again?"

Myranda spoke with a biting snarl. "What I want is Unella to examine Jeyne. What I want is to have the right to tell you I don't want to give you a quick blow job or handy without being harassed and punished for it. What I want is not to see students fried in a box. What I want is to never see my friend beaten like this ever again. How's that? Is that clear enough, counselor?" His voice was tight with fury and outrage, his hands curled into fists and Polliver's smile was ugly. "Okay then. That's fine, Whore. We can have that discussion in private sometime. If you all wish to sleep with more bruises tonight, that is fine by me. I'm getting to examine Feral one way or another. If I have to beat my way through all of you, that isn't really a problem."

Ramsay took an unbelievable step forward, Arya next to him and Damon thumped forward next to her, Theon, Joff and Myranda surrounded Jeyne behind them. "Are you sure? Because we are going to fight back if you do." Polliver stared hard at Ramsay. "You really think you can take me with your bare hands, Death Row?" Ramsay shook his head slightly, smirking at the counselor. "No, of course not. Only maybe Damon has a chance at that, I am not stupid. But all of us at once? Yeah, we can all take you. At least we are willing to give it a damned good shot if you come at us." Polliver readied himself to beat the living hell out of the kids, the students all braced themselves to attack.

That's when Jeyne, who had been wide awake, just in paralyzing pain, finally caught her breath. It whooped into her throat with a high pitched whining sound then a scream so loud it pierced the ears, came tearing out of her. Fingers scrabbled at the wood as Jeyne kept howling in her agony, writhing on the floor. The screams kept coming and Jeyne's fingernails were cracking as she dug into the wood. Myranda and Theon bent down to try and soothe her, Polliver ran forward to try and reach the girl. Damon, Arya and Ramsay fell upon him.

The staff in the cafeteria were all arguing with each other over various reasons. Gregor and Unella were nose to nose in a snarling domestic battle that no one dared involve themselves in. "I told you to stay home! I told you to stay in the damned bed or on the couch! You aren't needed, you already gave your reports! Do I have to get the ankle restraint again?" Unella growled back. "And I told you to go fuck yourself, remember? I have a RIGHT to be here, it's only a damned staff meeting! I'll be sitting the whole time! And if you try to restrain me again, I'll get you for it! See if I don't! You KNOW I will." Gregor glared at her with disgusted rage and his voice was so low and threatening, that Unella felt alien rolling in her stomach. "And I told you that if you ever do something as vile as deliberately piss on my side of the bed just because you don't like the restraint, wife or not, babies or not, we will have our first domestic abuse situation on our hands. If you have an urge to prove that feral right, go ahead and try it." 

Stannis and Tyrion were in their own argument, one drunk and the other dour. "It's cruel of you, Sir. Consider what the students have gone through!" Tyrion shook his head at Stannis. "No! These kids will always be going through some crisis here and in life, if they ever leave here. Stannis, I can't give pity grades, I just hate doing it. It doesn't help serve those kids to do that." With a harrumph, Stannis slammed his coffee mug down onto the table and gave Tyrion a good censuring look. "Theon had his throat nearly ripped out. Ramsay was tortured and twitched for a week! Joff experienced a nervous breakdown and Jeyne was shot! You see no need to perhaps, give a little compassion and time to make up the work? How about poor Damon who lost his best friend and his roommate all in the same damned week? You marked him as being inattentive? Do you THINK there might be a REASON he is inattentive? Good gods, man! Have a bit of heart."

Tyrion slammed down his own mug, to refill it from his flask. "Joff made no attempt whatsoever to do his make up work. Arya has done better work but her antics haven't changed any. That is balanced and fair. Theon is attempting to turn in his make up work and keep up in class, but he is struggling. That is fair. Ramsay has tried to complete his work but his twitching kept him from it. I made sure to add that. That is also fair. Damon has been only doing the bare minimum of work during class and his attitude has changed. He is sullen, more interested in encouraging Jeyne to join him in pranks then in schoolwork. However, he turns in all his homework and still participates in answering questions if pushed to. That is also fair. Myranda does her work but offers no further boost to improve her grades any, she seems to drift rather than concentrate on her studies. That is also fair. Jeyne is having some attitude issues and minor behavioral problems during class. She always turns in her homework, she finished her make up work. But her class work isn't as good as it should be, as it was. That is fair."  

Raff and Hot Pie were across the counter from each other, hissing, eyes glittering in irritation. "All I'm saying is that I sympathize, empathize with the students! I know exactly what it's like to be under your thumb and Polliver's boot. You LET Jeyne figure it out on her own, how can you be mad at her for doing just that? And the only reason that Polliver is pissed at Myranda is because she doesn't want to blow him anymore. Are you going to be an asshole to her if she decides not to fuck you anymore for favors? I mean, it's not like you and Polliver can't visit the brothels." Raff looked over to make sure the creepster twins didn't hear the cook. "Shut your fucking mouth about that, you hear me, you little shit? That's none of your damned business!" Hot Pie didn't back down, instead he leaned further over the counter. This time his voice was much lower but no less persistent.

"You heard Kevan that day! Right after Myranda didn't give your names to Kevan, he told her he was going to make sure she had more clients? Well, he kept his fucking word and you know it since you have to examine her when she returns instead of Unella! Because if SHE had any fucking IDEA that Myranda has been out servicing old men almost every night since then, if the professors KNEW that is the reason why she isn't concentrating in class-" Raff laughed and snapped out, "They know, stupid. Everyone knows. Who is going to tell Kevan no? Even the twins don't approve of whoring her out that much but they can't say anything either." Hot Pie glared at Raff. "I'm glad you think that's funny. That you find it amusing that we all allow any and every fucking form of abuse because no one dares to have a voice. It's sick that this is going to be my new normal. I really hope you have the decency not to ask Myranda for any services." 

Gilly stared at Harold and Bob, her smile was at a full wattage, her eyes were a closed wall. "What did you say again? Please, Harold, repeat what you just said to me. I must have misheard you." With a quick official sounding tone, Harold spoke, glad for his sunglasses, even though Gilly always seems to stare right through them. "I discussed your suggestions with Bob. We think that even though your heart is certainly in the right place, the ideas you have come up with might be a bit too much. The students are not ready for such things. We are not sure how we'd handle some of these ideas in a safe manner. Maybe we can go through the ideas, try out one then see how things go." Nodding, Gilly folded her hands calmly upon her stomach and responded.

"I see. So, you chose to tell Bob the ideas I had, that I showed you during our private walk. The ideas that I TOLD you that I would present during the staff meeting. You told Bob of my ideas and the two of you just DECIDED that I wasn't going to speak of my ideas or do them. And, did you get this order to say no from Kevan?" Harold said nothing but Bob used a pleasant tone as he stepped closer to Gilly, causing his partner to bristle slightly. "No, we didn't speak to Kevan. We chose to speak to you. If you present your ideas to the staff, they will not only protest, they will probably laugh at you. I was trying to save your dignity." Gilly took a step so she was nearly touching Bob, causing Harold to go from bristling to nearly exploding. "Thank you for trying to save my dignity, Bob. But you see, I haven't had enough dignified experiences in my life to value it that much. I don't care who laughs or heckles me. I will get my say. I DID go to Kevan and get his approval first. He likes my ideas and feels they might help the students. Which is similar to what Harold had said until he spoke to you, Bob. How about that."

Unella suddenly yelled, "Everyone, shut up and listen!" In a bit of irritated shock, all of them went silent, turning to look at Unella. That's when they heard it. Coming in from the open doors and windows, an unending scream, other roaring of voices under it. Stannis moved closer to the window and confirmed, "It's coming from the dorms." Gregor cursed and ran for the door, followed by the rest of the staff. Gregor was in the lead, Harold and Bob almost flanking him, Raff directly behind the twins, Hot Pie and Stannis behind the therapist, Tyrion jogging after them. Unella waddled as fast as she could, her stomach halfway there already. Gilly kept pace with Unella, letting the men all run ahead. "I live in a gentlemen's club. It didn't bother me until I went from just their housekeeper to a staff member." Unella snorted and gave a pained smile, her voice dry. "Try living, working, resting and breathing everyday in the boy's club down here in the slums."

 

 


	134. The Game Over Zone

Polliver had seconds only to think things through. It was a possibility that Ramsay or Arya could try to kill him during a scuffle. It was a certainty that Damon would at least break some bones and immobilize him. So Polliver guarded himself best he could against Ramsay and Arya's fists and kicks, readying for Damon, who was landing on him like a human avalanche. Before Damon could do more than start to bear hug him, Polliver slipped his hand right up Damon's nightgown and gave his dangling jewels a rather healthy, enthusiastic twist and pull. This caused Damon to fall to his knees, his head thrown back, mouth wide open. With the dirty blond hair falling about his paling face and neck, the mouth opening and his bulging eyes staring upwards, a single tear rolling, white nightshirt fluttering about him, Damon looked like the lead for Jesus Christ Superstar earning himself the Tony Awards.

 Once Damon was down, the other two renewed their efforts, Joff started to sneak in kicks and Myranda and Theon made up the cheering squad. Jeyne continued to scream even as her voice got hoarse from it. No words, just screaming. Polliver could hear it mingling with the collective cheering that he couldn't really make out. Didn't matter anyhow, Polliver was in the zone, baby, he was cool, he was chilled out and ready to pluck the feathers out of every duckling in the room. This was the zone that got him thrown here in the first place. A zone that took quite some time for Gregor to beat and manipulate out of him. It was a zone born of trauma, stress and violence, it was a defense mechanism that could be managed but never truly lost. Here it was, giving Polliver a disturbingly cheerful smile and wild eyes. He drove himself forward like a missile and his hard round head slammed into Arya's stomach. The girl made a gagging, barking sound as she was driven backwards, unable to stop herself, unable to breathe. Joff had darted behind Arya when Damon fell to his knees, now he was smashed against the wall hard, his head making a thonk, causing his eyes to go blurry for a moment.

Polliver came up hard and fast, letting his bullet hard head clip Arya's chin, before pulling away to face Ramsay. Arya and Joff collapsed behind him as Ramsay caught Polliver on the cheek with a hard fist before Polliver laughed in a high pitched sound that scared Myranda and Theon. It gave Ramsay pause to see how out of control Polliver seemed but it was too late to stop now. Besides, Ramsay knew the worse the counselor hurt them, the more control he lost, the better their strike in the morning will go. The better advantage they have in getting Kevan's attention. Ramsay knew his father and step-hog will be here in two days. Whatever damages Polliver does to him, Jeyne and Damon now will surely be noticed and Kevan won't like that one bit. On the other hand, Ramsay didn't want to die for this particular cause, just inflame it. Ramsay tried to dodge as Polliver came at him but the man was faster. Any punches that Ramsay landed didn't seem to have any noticeable effect upon Polliver, who seems to have checked out.  

Theon watched, wincing, as Polliver broke Ramsay's nose, beat the boy to the ground. "Oh fuck. He's gonna kill us all. Should I try and run for a window or the back door to get help?" Myranda shook her head and grabbed Theon's hand hard in her fear. "No, he's like an animal right now. If you run, it will just make him attack you, stay still, its our best bet for now." Theon eyes darted towards the girl holding his hand but stayed frozen. "Do you think if we stay still, he will listen to reason, that he won't hurt us?" Myranda let out a small shaky giggle. "Oh no, Polliver's probably going to hurt us whether we fight, run or stay still. It's the level of beating I'm concerned with. Only good thing out of this will be if he bruises me enough, maybe I won't have to work for a few nights." Polliver gave a last kick to make sure the boy was staying down and he turned to stomp over to the last standing students in front of the screaming one. Reaching out, Polliver grabbed Theon and tossed him hard into the air. Without looking to see where the student would land, the counselor used a bloody fist to send Myranda crashing onto the floor, out cold. 

Gregor ran inside the dorm house just in time to see Theon tossed through the air and without thinking, he caught the flying kid. The first thing Bob and Harold saw when they could see past Gregor's bulk, was Polliver smashing his fist into Myranda's pretty face, knocking her to the floor. Raff could only see bodies everywhere, kids bleeding and dazed, he barely could see Jeyne past the others, but he could hear her. Gregor roared as he tossed Theon onto the couch. "WHAT THE LIVING FUCK?" He saw Polliver standing over Jeyne, all students down around him, Gregor saw the man's eyes and stormed forward. "Game Over is in the zone again, gentlemen." Harold and Bob didn't care what reasons he had for the carnage, they didn't care why Polliver just damaged their sweet girl's face, they were going to kill him. Bob smiled and spoke calmly, reasonably as they came forward. "Do you prefer to be bed sheets or a new chair covering, counselor?" Gregor jumped ahead of the twins and reached Polliver first.

He slapped Polliver hard after blocking the wild fists, slapped him again then drove him into the wall. He yelled into the man's face, trying to get Polliver to clear up. "The fuck are you doing, asshole? Huh? The kids are INJURED! You have a girl uncontrollably SCREAMING and you are kung fu fighting? What the FUCK, boy? Look at me, boy, you look at Nanny Gregor right now because I am trying to save your fucking worthless life." Polliver glared at Gregor and panted, trying to climb his way back into reality. "They had a fucking mutiny! They attacked me as a fucking group! They fucking ganged up and attacked me, the fucking punks deserve it!" Gregor pulled Polliver closer then slammed him hard back against the wall. "They had a mutiny, fuckhead? Then you ALERT us, you do not engage! I taught you that, didn't I? Why would they all do that, asshole? What did you do to drive them to do it? What the fuck have you done? You stupid dumb pimple! How did you let shit get so far? Did you just have a death wish? Do you have an urge to be skinned alive by the twins? Want to see a staff version of Kevan's circle, was that it?"

Raff ran past the other students once Gregor got Polliver out of the way and knelt beside Jeyne. "Oh fuck me. I need a stretcher, I need Unella's assistance at the clinic!" There was a bloody smear on Jeyne's nightgown and the girl couldn't stop screaming to answer any questions. "Okay, Jeyne, I'm here, Raff is going to help you, honey. I need to see it, I'm going to lift your nightgown to look." Raff kept his voice soft and soothing as he carefully lifted the nightgown. The brutal strikes of the baton have turned her buttocks and thighs into swollen purple thick lines, a bit bloody in spots. That wasn't what made the nurse pale. He's seen worse beatings on students before. What concerned Raff was the largest bruise that broke hard through the flesh and the angle that Jeyne seemed to have to hold herself in. The injury was too high, it wasn't a strike on padded flesh, this had struck bone. "I need that stretcher right this second. I need to get Jeyne to the x-ray fast."

Bob ran to grab the emergency first aid kit in the dorms and brought it to Raff. The nurse did what he could to immobilize Jeyne and spoke fast to Bob. "I can't do anything for her until I get her to the clinic. Take the kit and help the others." Bob nodded and looked at the others, trying to figure out who looked worst. He went over to Damon, who was just laying on his side, grey and silent, his eyes half asleep, but glazed in pain. Bob flinched when he discovered the cause of Damon's agony. "Poor fella. I'm sorry but the best I can do for you is an ice pack." Bob put an ice pack between Damon's legs. He put another on Myranda's poor face. Bob noticed that the purple hair was brighter than ever, no sign of it ever going away. Harold and Bob have deliberately said nothing about it. The least thing they could do was allow the girl to sneak her hair coloring considering the harsh punishment Kevan had dealt her. Contrary to what Hot Pie had said, Harold and Bob did actually try to make Kevan reconsider. It was useless. Once Kevan has decided upon something, even if he regrets doing so, he follows through.

"I will not go back on my orders, no matter how harsh they are. There is a very important meeting in Kings Landing this week, thanks to the mess Jaime's killer and forger caused. A group of men that are highly wary of the strange changes in the highest, most powerful families. They are very stressed and angry shareholders and partners, that I would like to see calmed down enough to hear out Lancel. I am sure that Sansa's smile and pretty social graces will help ease the bite of the bulldogs, but they will still be growling as soon as she leaves the board rooms and bar room. You will offer your girl to ease their tensions." The twins tried again to protest but Kevan was resolute in his decision. There was a small cloud on the man's face and he added, "Do not offer Myranda's services to any Pycelle types, please. Nothing more rough than what Walder Frey will deal out. I don't want her being hurt or scared in any way. Also, age is not a matter here, anyone that wants to have some time with our girl that you deem safe is fine. She can have permission to use school nights to work as well as the weekends until this week long convention is over. Make sure she brings back every detail she sees or hears as well."     

Harold gently moved Myranda onto the couch next to the limp Theon, adjusting the ice pack on her face. As Polliver predicted, the strong sleep medication was kicking in. Even injured, the students couldn't fully stay awake, Theon was already snoring. Harold went to help the professors deal with the other students while Hot Pie flew out the door to retrieve the stretcher and speak to Gilly and Unella, who just made it to the porch. "Ducklings had a mutiny! Polliver beat the shit out of all of them and I think he might have broken Jeyne's back!" Unella went nuts at the cook's words as he ran past her to get the stretcher. Gilly sighed and texted Kevan before trying to calm Unella down. Tyrion was trying to rouse Joff, who kept rolling his eyes back then snoring. He pried his nephew's eyes open to check the pupils. "He might have a concussion, in fact, I am positive he does. What should I do? How much sleep medication was given, for gods sakes?" Stannis shrugged as he continued to try and assist Arya. Blood sluggishly poured down her chin and neck as her head lolled.

Stannis put her on her side so the girl wouldn't choke on the blood and kept tapping her face lightly, calling to her. Arya blinked up at Stannis, her eyes didn't seem to really register him before shutting again. Harold was over Ramsay now, determining the boy's nose was broken at the very least. He sat the boy up carefully, but Ramsay was boneless, snoring in a clogged way. Cursing, Harold put the boy on his side so the blood wouldn't run down his throat. "These students will either have to be treated here or we are going to be spending half the night running stretchers back and forth." Unella entered and just stared at the sight of bloody sedated teenagers and declared, "Only extreme injuries, broken bones and bleeding that won't stop, possible internal ruptures are coming to the clinic. Anything else has to be assessed and treated here." Hot Pie and Gilly used the stretcher to bring Jeyne to the clinic with Unella rushing behind them. She had ordered Raff to stay and deal with the other students. Raff was pissed, considering his concern over Jeyne but grudgingly did as he was told to do. He was equally worried for Polliver, who was being kept from the deadly twins by Gregor.

 Kevan was in his favorite pair of antique pajamas, dressing gown and his delicate imported leather slippers. It didn't matter, he strode down the hill, his face fixed in stern concern. As soon as he read the text from Gilly, Kevan headed out of the house. The text was simple but complete. "Sir, there is an emergency. All students are injured." Kevan's first stop was the clinic that seemed to be wide open for business. He heard Unella's voice barking orders and Gilly's voice offering calm replies as well as a soothing tone to a student. A scream tore through the clinic and it was full of so much pain that Kevan winced. Striding forth, he hesitated with frustration, seeing the sign about x-ray in use. The door opened and he saw Gilly fly out, almost running through him. "Oh, excuse me, Sir! I am assisting Unella with Jeyne. I must hurry and get the morphine and syringe that Unella asked me to get. Poor Jeyne is in extreme pain." Another hoarse scream and Unella's firm voice, "I know, Jeyne. I need you to try and breathe through it. Good girl, there you go. I am going to make the pain better in just a second then I can check your x-rays. Gilly, please hurry!"  

Gilly grabbed the items behind the medication counter and Kevan strode into the examination room. Jeyne was pale, tears pouring, screaming out and pounding her fists against the bed, laying on her stomach. Unella saw Kevan and tried to come forward, to caution him. "Sir, you might not wish to get too close. She is in a great deal of pain and may lash out." Kevan gave Unella a censuring look and walked directly up to the bed. "What has happened to her?" Unella sighed and rushed to administer the needle as soon as Gilly handed her the pain medication. "Polliver was disciplining with his baton and went too far. I suspect that he has broken Jeyne's tailbone, Sir. A very painful injury and one that will cost Jeyne two weeks of missed school. For at least a week, she won't be able to sit even with padding. The other students attacked him in response and Polliver reacted. Every student at the dorm is injured. I left Raff to deal with the injuries and to bring here anyone that needed the clinic."

Kevan caressed Jeyne's sweaty hair as she started to go limp, between the earlier sleeping pill swimming up and the morphine crashing down over her agony. The relief of the horrific pain caused Jeyne to float away and fall into an uneasy slumber. Standing tall, imposing and regal even in his night clothing, Kevan left the ladies to deal with Jeyne as he headed towards the dorms. Stannis and Bob were carrying an unconscious Ramsay on a stretcher towards the clinic. Bob looked at Kevan and didn't attempt a welcoming smile, he just kept his frown. "Raff sent us to have Ramsay's nose reset. The boy is out cold from the sleep medication Raff gave him earlier. In fact, all the students are out cold with the sleeping medications, in spite of their injuries. The nurse is still there checking out the others."  Kevan's ire was towering and his words felt like scalding water poured upon the men. "And where is Polliver who caused all of this trouble? Who broke my little Jeyne's tailbone and beat all my students?" Stannis swallowed hard. "He is still at the dorm house with the others. Gregor was calming him down." Bob added, "Gregor is shielding Polliver from myself and Harold."

 


	135. Nanny Of All

Kevan went into the dorm house to see Harold, Raff and Tyrion all patching up snoring, bleeding students. Gregor had Polliver in the small pantry alcove where the students keep drinks and snacks. He could hear Gregor's patient but gruff voice talking Polliver down from his zone. Shaking his head briskly, Kevan wondered how disappointed Gregor felt that Polliver had reverted into the zone. Gregor spent years yanking the boy from that mental state and had assured the staff it was gone before Kevan let Polliver become a counselor. Kevan clicked his tongue in frustration at the sight of all the students piled on the couch or floor just before it.

Raff peeked up at the director from where he was kneeling, examining Arya's jaw. "Report, please." Kevan snapped out and Raff spoke fast. "Joff has a concussion, I don't think Arya's jaw is fractured, just bruised, two teeth are knocked out. Ramsay has been sent to have his nose reset. Damon has a groin injury, Theon is just asleep and Myranda has a bruised face, but I don't think her cheek bone is fractured. However, since all the kids are sleeping on medications, I really won't be able to tell if there are further injuries until tomorrow. I had given them the usual dosage we give when no one will be available to watch them." With an irritated gesture, Kevan ordered sharply, "Treat them as best you can, put them into their beds and let them sleep it off. If they have need of it, they may see you or Unella at the clinic tomorrow." Raff nodded and gave a quick, "Yes, Sir."

While Raff and Harold started to try and move sleeping, patched or iced students into bedrooms, Kevan approached Tyrion. "Does anyone have a good accounting yet of what happened? What made Polliver do something so drastic?" Tyrion spread his arms out. "We were all in the cafeteria getting ready to have our staff meeting about the reports. Screaming was heard from the dorm so we all ran over. When I got here all I saw were beaten students littering the floor. Polliver was standing over Jeyne, who was screaming and writhing around. Polliver had the same look on his face he wore when he used to toss desks across my classroom as a student. The look that used to bring Gregor and the restraints." Kevan gave a sharp nod and asked Tyrion to help the others restore order. With a frown, Kevan looked at the two halves of the baton on the floor.

 His face carved in stern lines, Kevan headed over to Gregor and Polliver. "I would like to hear what occurred here. Gregor, is the man capable of telling me what happened or have you at least received a basic understanding of what went on?" Polliver had been bent over, head between his legs, trying to control his breathing, Gregor pinning him there by his neck with one large hand. In that hand was an ice pack pressing down on the man's sweaty neck. Now Polliver sat up as Gregor moved his hand and the pack away, grumbling, "You feel ready to explain yourself, boy?" Nodding, Polliver stared at the floor, he looked bruised and in shock. "I, I was disciplining them for betting, for encouraging Jeyne's behavior. Then I told the girl since she was the one performing for the bet, she would get twenty." Gregor scowled along with Kevan, who snapped, "Twenty strikes with your baton? That seems excessive. Judging by Gregor's face, I am not wrong in that assumption. Why that many strikes?"

Polliver rubbed his sweaty head, the scruff on it needing to be shaved and he shrugged. "The kids were all heckling, they were egging her on, defying me, insulting me. They started to bet on whether or not Jeyne could take the strikes. So Jeyne took each better on and I just got angry, they were chanting, all the kids chanting so Jeyne saw it as a challenge not a punishment. I never meant to strike her so hard, I never meant to do that. The kids wouldn't let me see her, they blocked me and threatened a mutiny. They threatened to attack me if I tried to go near Jeyne. When the girl started to scream, I tried to reach her and they attacked me. And I lost control. I just meant to defend myself and check on Jeyne, that's all. They attacked me and I, just, went into the zone. I am so sorry. I never meant to, Sir."

Polliver kept blinking rapidly and trying to hide tears. "Never thought I'd do that to my ducklings, never had ducklings get so hurt, never had ducklings die on me, never had ducklings cause a staff member's death. I just don't understand how I could do that. I'm sorry." Gregor shoved Polliver's head back down as the man started to shake and put the ice pack back on his neck. "Shut up and breathe, asshole." As the younger man shuddered and tried to regain control of himself, Gregor looked up at Kevan to rumble with a defensive tone. "He's never dealt with a student dying on his watch. The deaths of Loras and Sandor hit Polliver harder than I thought it would. I should have made sure he had a check in with Unella and Raff. Should have seen it might trigger him. You know he's good with students, he cares about them, he just lost control over a mutiny, must have just been the last bit of stress he could take and snapped."

Kevan sighed and observed Gregor, remembering this is why he was referred to as a nanny. The man considered students, present and former as under his protection. "Very well. Up until this very night, I would agree with you that Polliver was an excellent counselor for our students. I personally saw how Loras's death had seemed to affect our counselor. I also am aware that Polliver seems to blame Sandor's death on Myranda and Jeyne. Perhaps I share the blame along with you, Gregor. For not forcing Polliver into therapy before it got to this point. I am taking into account his distress over the deaths, I assure you. But this cannot stand, I cannot simply brush this aside, you know that. Two weeks suspension without pay. During that time, Polliver will see you, Unella and Raff for any and all therapeutic measures. I want to see sterling, firm assurances from all of you before I allow him near the students." Gregor nodded and Polliver thanked Kevan with true tearful gratitude for the chance to keep his job.

Kevan cut right through that relieved and grateful voice with a harder tone. "I can show mercy for your state of mind and allow you rest, therapy and a return to your job. However, I do not have any mercy when it comes to the safety, care and functionality of my students. Jeyne is a small girl, a feral, not even a student of full mind and body. Breaking a thick wooden baton over her, trying to give twenty strikes with such a weapon, it isn't reasonable or acceptable. Unella told me that the girl may have a broken tailbone. She will miss the same amount of school that you will due to the injury. Striking Myranda caused damage to her face, enough that I cannot let her continue working to complete her own punishment. That costs me money, I had clients that prepaid for her time. Arya's jaw might be injured, we won't know until tomorrow but she will wake with less teeth. I shall have to pay for a dentist to fix her mouth. Ramsay has a broken nose and looks beaten in a way I cannot hide from his father. Damon's injury isn't noticeable but Jeyne's and Ramsay's are. That will cause me quite the headache. So for these offenses, you will spend the night in one of Bob and Harold's rooms."

Gregor looked up with alarm but Kevan stared at him. "Do not dare. If you don't want those children to have a real mutiny, if you don't want the staff to suddenly have their own riot, then this must be what happens when a staff member goes too far. Be silent and grateful that I am not allowing the twins to make new furniture covers, that I am not letting the Tickler have a good meal. Be grateful it's not a circle discipline. I will make sure that the twins understand exactly how they far they may go and that the healing from their discipline must allow Polliver to return to work in two weeks." Gregor grunted and kept silent as Polliver panted over the thought of Harold and Bob's disciplinary room for staff.

It was legendary and full horrific tales, as terrifying and mysterious to staff as the Tickler is to students. Any staff from Kevan's home or the school that landed in that room tended to never been seen again, at least not in their original breathing form. Very few staff members have gone into the twins domain and come back alive. Pollliver found it very cold comfort that he will be one of the rare few that come out alive.

If it was hard for Gregor to allow Harold and Bob to take Polliver away a few minutes later, it was harder for Raff and Hot Pie to watch. First Gregor ended up having to pull Raff into a hard hug and put a hand over his mouth. "Moron, don't ever try and do that again. You don't challenge the twins, they'll kill you and taxidermy you as a warning to other morons that think to do such a thing. It's okay, they won't kill him. They only get him for the night and Kevan was careful to give them limits. Polliver is back to work in two weeks so they can't go too far. Calm down. Walk your own fucking talk, therapist. Breathe through your nose and try to pull yourself together. I need you to get to the clinic, make sure Ramsay and Jeyne are good for tonight. I told Gilly to send Unella to bed. Gilly is staying at the clinic until you get there." Raff calmed enough for Gregor to let him go and he stormed off.

Sighing, Gregor went out the door to see the two professors awkwardly trying to comfort poor sobbing Hot Pie on the porch. "Stannis and Tyrion, take shifts in here tonight. Sleep on the couch in the common room. I want the students to be checked on once an hour, make sure they aren't awake or in need of the clinic. Send me a text every hour. Don't even think to bitch at me about lack of sleep tonight or the fucking reports. Just do as I ask! Just this fucking once, instead of drinking while whining how badly we all suck, why don't you lend an actual fucking hand?" The professors stormed into the dorm house, insulted. Gregor spent the next ten minutes trying to convince Hot Pie that Polliver wasn't going to die and Jeyne's back wasn't broken. He convinced the cook to go to bed and get up a little early instead to clean the cafeteria up from the aborted meeting. Gregor wearily made sure that the professors were doing as he ordered then he headed towards the clinic.

He nearly went into a zone himself when he saw Unella still there. "Why the FUCK are you still in the clinic? I told you to go to bed." Unella lifted her chin and gave him a good frown. The drawn tired look on her face ruined any validity she might have had and Gregor was done. "I'm going to give you until the count of ten to get your ass up to the house." With a huff, Unella was about to argue but she noticed his eyes had a glint to them that she didn't like at all. She started to walk without another word, but made sure to give him a dirty look as she passed him. "One." Gregor was right behind her until she made it outside and headed up the pathway towards their house.

Gregor went back into the clinic and looked for Raff. Gilly was sitting on Raff's desk while the man laid on his own couch, sipping restorative tea and lamenting about his best friend. Deciding that things were in hand enough for it, Gregor headed for his house, hoping to sleep for a few hours. If he could stop worrying about seeing Polliver led away by the twins when he shut his eyes.

Seeing Bob and Harold more often around the school has bred enough familiarity among the staff that they saw them more as other humans rather than a creepster twin show. Polliver was thrown back into the terror of two insane creepy twins as he was led by them towards the big house. Except this time when he entered Kevan's house it was through a back door and he was taken down a grey concrete hallway into a small room. Generator lights allowed Polliver to dimly see in the room the twins were pushing him into. Clean, clear plastic sheeting covered the black painted walls, ceiling and floor. A black peg board held instruments that Polliver recognized and many that he didn't. Two different metal tables held instruments covered by clean linen and Polliver shivered, trying not to fight or bolt. It would be useless but panic has no logic and Polliver was beginning to do just that.

The twins flicked the light switch and the room was no longer just a dim room of horror. An awful violet light illuminated all the terrible things that Bob began to uncover. The twins donned black leather aprons, black latex gloves. Comfortable enough in the violet light, the men took off their sunglasses and Polliver tried to run. He pulled at the locked door while the twins laughed at him. Harold had a loathsome high pitched giggle and Bob had a chuckle that seemed fuzzy and sharp all at once. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard to Polliver. He wished to go into his zone and be able to attack, that way he won't notice what they do to him that much. However, mental snaps cannot be pulled forth so easily and Polliver had nothing but fear now.

The twins took their time stalking the man until they were able to circle around him, closer and closer until Polliver was standing, shuddering, nowhere to go. "You can try and punch us if you'd like?" Bob offered politely. Harold had a simmering voice full of an awful invitation. "Please, fight us. I am begging you, counselor, to try and hit me. I can say I was only defending myself as I break some of your bones." Bob was suddenly behind Polliver, whispering in his ear. "Be careful, Uncle Polly. Harold doesn't like you very much. He doesn't like how you act towards Gilly." Polliver didn't dare to fight either of them. He did however manage to take in a shaky breath before turning to look at Harold and spit out, "Fuck you and fuck your tank of a girlfriend." Harold tilted his head, smiling, those terrible pale eyes burning into Polliver's. Sudden blinding pain happened and Polliver held his eye, crying out. Harold held out the man's eyelashes then let them flutter the ground, stepping on them.

A moment later when Harold started to hold up his prized flaying kit, explaining it to Polliver, the man had no further courage to swear with. Bob helped the shaken man to stand as he smoothly attached restraints to him. Polliver stood with his arms splayed wide, his legs wide as straps held him tightly and the men cut his clothing off him. Feeling the latex gloves touch every part of his body was terrible. Harold spoke pleasantly. "Nice tough flesh. Scars, but not too many. Lots of tattoos. I remember some of them, you had Raff do them for you when you were still students. You were brought to Kevan's office over it. Do you remember what Kevan said about you having these tattoos? Do you recall that he said if you got anymore before you graduated that he would let us cut them off you? Today is that lucky day! Pick two of them to lose, Polliver or I will choose for you."

Polliver thought frantically about which of the homemade tattoos were the smallest. The tiny devil on his left arm and the skull and crossbones on his ankle were his choices. They were indeed small tattoos but they might as well have been a dragon the size of his back. Polliver screamed as loud as Jeyne had and felt as much as pain as the feral and all the injured students combined.


	136. Simmering To A Boil

Hot Pie was sluggish as he moved about the kitchen in the morning. He looked up, surprised to see Myranda and Damon enter. "Gods, why are you here? Myranda, you look like you took a sledgehammer to your face!" The girl shrugged and sullenly replied, "That's what it felt like too." Hot Pie looked with pity at the large boy walking like he was wearing a diaper with a grey complexion. "Damon, dude, you should really go see the clinic before trying to work today. You look like shit. Why don't you go see Unella or Raff?" Stubbornly, the boy shook his head. Hot Pie looked at the boy, sighing before making his voice firm. "Okay, let me change it to an order. Damon, go to the clinic, please. Do not return without a note from the nurse or doctor." Giving the cook a good frown, Damon hobbled his way out of the cafeteria.

Myranda did not speak at all as she worked but Hot Pie was used to chattering with her as they worked. Even when their power shifted, the two had continued to enjoy easy chatter in the mornings together. Today only the cook was talking but he was too worried over Jeyne and Polliver to notice how upset Myranda was. "I mean, I understand the two week suspension with no pay but to give him to the twins! You don't understand, it's as bad or worse than the Ticker!" Myranda snorted and finally, turned to glare and snap out, "I hope they turn him into a damned couch for me to sit on when I visit them! Giving Polliver to the Tickler isn't good enough! Don't you understand the shit he gets away with? I mean, you were a student, remember? You know how bad he can get when he wants to be a sadistic prick. This was way past that, he has lost it and I'm sick of taking it! We are all sick of it. This isn't over by a long shot, Sir. Please excuse me while I finish my work. I'd like to get back and join the other students before the Nanny shows up."

Stunned at the way she spoke to him, Hot Pie went silent for a bit, dropping it. After he finished chopping potatoes for home fries and Myranda was setting up the tables, Hot Pie spoke again. "Jeyne will be alright. It was a minor fracture, Unella checked the x-rays carefully. Polliver lost control, he was having trauma, he was triggered over Loras and Sandor. He won't be allowed back to work until he does a shitload of therapy." Myranda gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, really? That's nice, I'm glad Polliver will get so much treatment. Do you know how much pain Jeyne will be in? Do you know she won't be able to move around for a week or two at least? She is a feral, Jeyne tries like hell but if she can't leave her room, if she becomes isolated again, does the Person stick around? Anyone give a flying fuck about that? No. Let's all hope that Polliver doesn't get a bad boo boo from the fucking twins, let's pray that he receives all the nurturing that early balding fuck can get from all of you!"

Gregor raised an eyebrow as he entered the cafeteria, heading for the brewing coffee. "Uh oh. Sounds like someone woke up on the cunt side of the bed this morning. Anything you want to talk about, Myranda?" "No, Sir." Myranda went silent and finished her work as fast as she could and Hot Pie did the same. Gregor was just as tired as the rest of them. When he woke after only a few hours of worried slumber, he got to fight with Unella before heading to the dorms. "Nope. There is no reason to go to the clinic yet. The two kids are going to be snoring still, Raff stayed the night in the clinic and Gilly had an eye on him. The professors texted me every hour and not a single student has needed the clinic or an assessment. Only Myranda and Damon will get up this early, the professors will probably just send them back to bed. No reason for you to get up and start harassing the early risers. Go to sleep for another hour. Shut up and go to sleep or I swear I'll give you a different reason for an early morning clinic run! Stop provoking me before my coffee, woman!"

He had watched with a dreadful fascination as the woman actually fell asleep, half sitting up, mid curse. Gregor escaped the house and before he even got his coffee, he could hear Myranda's strident angry voice. Great, nice to know that Myranda was ready to join with the other students if they decided to continue this useless mutiny. It wouldn't be the first one here and won't be the last but it doesn't mean Gregor wants to hear about it before his coffee. Gregor was as relieved as Hot Pie when Myranda left to head back to the dorms to get ready for school classes and the line up attendance. Hot Pie looked at the mountain and asked, "Do you think the kids are going to organize or back down? She was really pissed and she told me that they all weren't letting it go. Myranda had a good point about Jeyne though. If she is unable to get up and is isolated, will that revert her?" Gregor rolled his eyes towards the cook in a rather menacing way as he sipped his coffee. "That is far too many questions and problems to chatter at me before I finish my first cup of coffee, boy. Go away or I am going to make a new kind of breakfast out of you."

Raff was propelled by anger and worry into the cafeteria and towards the coffee. "I hate sleeping on the clinic beds. Didn't sleep much anyway, how could I? I keep hoping that Polliver will come in so I can make sure he's okay. How much longer can the twins keep torturing him? It's morning and Kevan said morning, right?" Gregor growled and grabbed Raff by his throat to shut him up. He held the squirming man as he finished his first cup of coffee. As Gregor swallowed the last drop, he released Raff to fall back and grab at his throat, cursing at Gregor. Ignoring the angry therapist, Gregor refilled his coffee and strolled out the door. Raff swore and shook his fist at the giant as he left then got his own coffee. Hot Pie and Raff were united in their concerns and lamented together. They worried over Polliver and spoke about how to keep a feral from regression during a traumatic recovery.

It was the only time that the cook's words ever mattered to Raff and the first time that the therapist ever said anything that Hot Pie cared about. Hot Pie cooked and Raff brought him a cup of coffee. "Thank you. Raff, do you think the kids might actually attempt a mutiny? I mean, Myranda was really pissed and sounds like the others were too. This went way beyond anything that happened while I was a student." Raff shrugged and sneered, "It would be a real bad idea for them if they did. Kevan doesn't take well to shit like that and the staff will unite against those kids in a second." Hot Pie nodded and sipped at his coffee. "I hope it doesn't come to that. Got my trusty taser that Polliver gave me if it does go sour, though." Raff raised his coffee to Hot Pie before he headed out back to the clinic. "That's the spirit, Hot Pie! See you at breakfast. I'll give you an update on Jeyne, she'll be awake by then. I left Damon icing his nuts and gave him some medication for inflammation. He's off duty for the rest of the day, only academic classes until tomorrow at least. Poor asshole, I'm going to have Unella give him a more thorough check whenever Gregor decides she can wander the fuck on by."

Gregor entered the dorm house to see two things he did not wish to see. The first was two snoring, drunken professors on the couch, out cold with two empty bottles of Kevan's finest wine on the coffee table. The second was every student already dressed and standing against the wall, staring at him with flat eyes all of them with crossed arms. This was the normal time that Polliver would make sure the students were waking up. Gregor wondered if Myranda woke them up or if they were already awake, ready for this moment. A hard whack to the professors heads roused them and he growled, "Every student already lined up, ready to rumble and you are both fucking sleeping off a good drunk? Did you even know that Damon is at the clinic now? Did either of you even know that Myranda and Damon left the house? Get the hell to the cafeteria and get some coffee into you. If I see you two like this at breakfast, I'll waterboard the both of you with your last bottles of wine. Go."

Tyrion snorted and glared at Gregor, mumbling, "Who put you in charge, mutant mountain man?" Gregor leaned over Tyrion and growled out, "I put myself in charge, Half Man-Full Drunk." Stannis gave a censuring tap upon the large arm so the giant would stop menacing Tyrion. "This won't stand, Sir. You are misjudging us. I woke every hour to have one of us check the students and texted you each time. It was only once I deemed that you would be awake soon that we stopped the checks and slept for a bit. Also, I would mention that I know Myranda and Damon had kitchen duty, so why would be concerned to see them leave?" Gregor put his hand on Stannis's shoulder and propelled him with far too much ease towards the door. "Because if you can recall through your foggy head, the students were all INJURED last night. The boy got his nuts squeezed hard enough to nearly burst them and Myranda might have had a broken face. Luckily, the cook was wide awake and doing his fucking job. He sent Damon to the clinic where he needed to go. And I am having Myranda checked by Unella later on. See, that is what real staff does, professor. Now get out and think on that while you sober up."

 Gregor went to stand before the line of students and he put his best, cheeriest smile on for the kids. His voice boomed forth and he kept his hands open, his movements easy. "Good Morning, Ducklings! How happy Nanny Gregor is to see everyone up, bright and early! What motivated this wonderful surprise for your Nanny?" Arya spoke for the group, her voice calm and even. "Polliver has us on a morning jog, no matter how impaired we might be or not. I'm surprised that Jeyne, Ramsay and Damon are late. The counselor must be busy dragging them forth so they can crawl behind the joggers if needed." Gregor gave a warm chuckle and reached over to pinch Arya's cheek as if she were a child who said something cute. "I can't wait for the twins to get around to mentoring you on your smart ass mouth, Target. I don't think they will use duct tape and spankings like my brother did."

Gregor walked past each child, his hands behind his back, his sharp, hard gimlet eyes taking in each student. Each one of them stared back, chin up, ready for battle if need be.

"Target is lucky that her jaw isn't shattered. Princess is lucky he can remember how to spell the word cat. Whore is lucky that her cheekbone isn't broken, Theon is lucky he just took a flight, Ramsay is lucky that it's only a broken nose and Damon is lucky he has balls that aren't lodged in his throat. Jeyne is very lucky that her back isn't broken, that it's just a fractured tailbone. You are all very lucky students, I want you to know that. What Polliver did was wrong, the staff sees that, Kevan has already seen to Polliver and there has been disciplinary action. The counselor has been with the twins all night long. Polliver is suspended without pay for two weeks and will undergo treatment for his mental breakdown. I can promise you that Polliver will not return to you all until he has been cleared by myself, the doctor and the therapist. It was a terrible slip, it was a tense situation and now it's over. I will take over Polliver's place with you until he is able to come back to work. Since everyone has been injured, we will forgo the morning and night jogs for a few days. Instead, we shall all take an early morning and evening walk together until children are feeling better. Lucky for all of you, today you will not do a walk anywhere this morning but the clinic."

Gregor stopped walking in front of Arya and stared down at her. "Whatever issues you are having can be dealt with. You may speak with Raff during therapy of your pesky emotional disturbances. Rant and cry to Unella, who can give you a relaxant. During detention with Gilly, get up your ganders up and get some art therapy, maybe some soothing tea. But it's over. It happened and it's been handled. Now I want an orderly line of calm ducklings waddling towards the clinic for your medications. If anyone has injuries that they feel need tending to, you can tell Raff while you get your happy pills. Let's go!" For one tense space of a second, Arya and the others stood still, Gregor staring them all down, daring them to disobey. Cracking her gum, Arya sauntered towards the screen door and the others followed after Myranda said sweetly, "Yes, Nanny Gregor." Watching Myranda and Arya with narrowed eyes as they led the others towards the clinic, Gregor mentally swore. Fuck, they weren't going to let shit go and he knew it. Following behind the line, Gregor continued to boom so the kids couldn't speak with one another.

"After we all get our nice pills, get a good check out by our favorite pretty nurse, we shall all head for our breakfast! Then I want everyone to follow their schedules. I want to see students in classes, noses in books, busy bees learning! I want to see ducklings going to their therapies and workshops, ready with eager hearts and happy hands!"

The disgruntled students lined up at the medication counter where a hostile pretty nurse was ready and waiting for them. Raff gave a sharp eye to Arya and  spoke in a flat professional tone. "Describe how it feels when you move your jaw. Any clicking? No? Good. Tell me your pain level from one to ten. Six? Here you go, ice packs and some chewable toddler ibuprofen for the pain. Unella will call you in for a brief examination later today." Raff icily looked at Myranda's face next and smirked. "Looks like hell. Bet that hurts. Two ice packs and here is some baby aspirin. Dismissed. Next!" Theon received his usual medication with a terse reminder that he must see Unella later on to check his healing throat. Raff gave Joff a more thorough check in an examination room. "Unella will call you for an examination later on. How bad is your headache, Princess? Rate it from one to ten. Seven? That sucks. Two baby aspirin should clear that right up! Dismissed."

Raff walked over to Damon and shook the boy awake, removing the ice pack and giving Damon's testicles a good check over. "Okay, the swelling has gone down some. Here are your usual medications and out of sheer empathy of being a male, I am adding regular adult dosage ibuprofen for your pain and swelling. Here are some ice packs, too. Unella will call you for a check in later. Dismissed." The large boy said nothing, just took the medications and carefully got up to follow the line of students to breakfast. Gregor glared at Raff. "Did you have to be an asshole? Today of all days?" Raff slammed his fist on the medication counter. "Those assholes DROVE my best friend crazy! They forced him into a mental breakdown!" Gregor yelled into Raff's face. "THEY ARE KIDS! TEENAGERS JUST LIKE YOU WERE, HEATHERS! THAT IS WHAT KIDS DO, THEY ACT LIKE ASSHOLES, THEY CHALLENGE US, TRY TO DRIVE US CRAZY! THAT IS WHAT WE ARE HERE TO DO, TEACH THEM TO NOT ACT THAT WAY! GET YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS AND STOP BLAMING ADULT PROBLEMS ON CHILDREN!"

Unella walked in, straight past the shouting men to put on her white coat and head in to see Jeyne and Ramsay. Both students were awake, listening to the shouting. Briskly checking Ramsay, Unella declared his broken nose was straightened and stable. He was pale and sweating though, speaking only through gritted teeth. "Ramsay, what is your pain level and did Raff give you any of your medications today?" Ramsay had a nasal voice, tight with pain and quite indignant. "My pain level is at eight, he only gave me my usual mood stabilizers and a half of a baby aspirin." Unella cursed and gave Ramsay a painkiller. "That will kick in fairly soon. You are dismissed from any physical classes but all academics and therapeutic courses must be attended. I will call for you to have a follow up with me later. Dismissed." Ramsay left, grumbling to himself, clutching his nightgown around himself as he headed to the dorms to change into clothing.

Unella walked over to Jeyne who was frowning up at the doctor. The girl was laying on her stomach, her head trying to peer up from an unnatural angle. "Don't hurt your neck, Jeyne. Put your head down, please. Better. Now, I want to examine you, so just relax the best you can. What is your pain level, young lady?" Jeyne laid her head on her arms but tensed as Unella pulled the blanket gently off her buttocks and thighs. "Six. Maybe six?" Unella gently went to put some ointment on the areas where skin was broken and the girl cried out. When she started to check on the broken skin around the fracture, Jeyne whined and sobbed. Unella added medication to Jeyne's I.V. and gave her a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry, Jeyne. The healing is going to hurt and be very bothersome for you. You won't be able to move around much for two weeks. No classes until then. Good news is once you feel a little better today, I will have you moved back to your room at the dorm house."

In a strange moment for both of them, Unella suddenly put her hand on Jeyne's upper back and gave a small pat to it. "You'll be fine, Jeyne. You can get through this." Jeyne's eyes fluttered a little as the medicine relaxed her body and mind. "Thank you for being nice when I hurt so much. Is my back broken? Will I be able to run and climb trees? Be a walking Person?" Unella gave a small smile and took her hand away. "Its a small crack in your tailbone. It will heal over time. Yes, you will be able to do all those things again, I promise. Rest and Hot Pie will bring you some breakfast." Unella left the girl to drowse and headed out of the room silently.

Just to run into a massive white cloth covered chest and Unella's stomach met the unmovable wall and it tossed Unella backwards. Large hands grabbed her arms to steady her and she snarled at the rumbling orders from above her. "You are coming to eat breakfast. You will eat or I will force feed you. Then you do your rounds, have the kids come in, check them, treat them. And then you head back to the house to lay down. I want you in that bed after lunchtime today." Unella yanked away and headed towards the door, rubbing her stomach. "You aren't my Nanny, stop giving me your damned orders." Gregor followed Unella out the door and immediately helped her down the steps, since she almost tripped, unable to see over her stomach. "No, I'm your husband and that is way less fulfilling than being a nanny! But I am responsible for your health and for the tiny devils you are harboring in that planet you call a stomach. Until those aliens burst out of you, I'm making sure you do whatever is needed to stay healthy. So move it and let's go get you some nice toast, eggs, juice and an ankle restraint later if you don't follow my orders."


	137. Upsetting Words

It was the quietest, most orderly breakfast line of staff and students. No one spoke or looked at one another as they all received their trays and food. Hot Pie served on his own, Myranda never returned to help serve and he let it go. He looked at her when she brought her tray and waited for him to scoop eggs onto a plate. She refused to do more than stare at the eggs and Hot Pie saw how divided they truly were now. Theon received his smoothie and none of the kids made their usual jokes about stealing it. Staff and students all went to their tables without comments to each other, not a single person made a sound. Once the tables were full of staff and students, the conversations did start, in low tones.

Ramsay sat down to hear the kids grumbling about how a mutiny would probably fail anyway. Myranda was talking to Arya and all were listening intently. "I never saw a mutiny but I heard about one or two happening here with other classes. It never went well and it was always ended fast, usually involving the creepster twins and a nice big circle for the leaders of the mutiny. Like your own mom was in one of those mutinies, Target. You know how that ended, right? Really turned her life around, I bet. Do you feel willing to take that kind of a chance? Maybe we can just plan a revenge instead. The price to pay for a little revenge on a counselor is way less than mutiny if we get caught."

Arya had a considering look on her face and gave a small smirk. "I do love a good revenge. A good trap. We could just handle Polliver ourselves, make it a quiet thing." Damon sat down with some difficulty and they all gave him a pitying glance. "If you are talking about revenge on Polliver, I'm in." Ramsay rolled his eyes at Damon's enthusiastic mumbling. "Okay. So let's say this idea is going to happen. Let's say it works and you get some revenge upon Polliver. He will just come back with his own revenge and what happened last night will just happen again and again. We need to break this damned cycle. I mean, guys, this goes way beyond just him, this goes beyond general child abuse. And here is the worst part, no one will help us. No family, no friends, it's just us against them. So we have to do this carefully and correctly. Are you willing to just hear me out?" The girls nodded, Ramsay smiled, opened his mouth and Lancel came out.

 Gregor glared at Unella and shoved her fork into her hand. "One piece of toast, one small scoop of egg, a little fruit. Eat it. Fight with whoever you want but eat." Unella called him a slur that was so bad that Stannis flustered and took a sip of Tyrion's well spiked juice to steady himself. "Must we hear language like that while we are eating?" Gregor wasn't bothered in the least and grumbled, "I don't care if she curses enough to bring up a demonic spirit to kill us all, as long as she eats."

Tyrion and Stannis were still insulted and irritated with what the large giant had said to them the night before. "Well, whatever names of affection you wish to use with your spouse isn't anyone's business. But we shouldn't have to suffer your marital issues nor should we have to share your wife's pregnancy issues. First we must suffer her stealing our food, now we cannot eat without cringe inducing words or some form of battle. Never mind that we must suffer your own bad temper and words because you are stuck in a marriage and situations you don't like." Tyrion's words were said very casually but the look in his eye was stormy and he stared at Gregor.

Unella looked between Gregor and Tyrion, determining it would be bad form for her husband to stomp the dwarf to death. "Tyrion, you should be grateful that Gregor has paid as much attention as he has to things going on around here. Or Polliver wouldn't be returning at all. And he has a point, one that I have pointed out long before I was married, a point that Gregor has been pointing out for years. Whenever things go bad around here, where are the professors? Oh, they are drinking, gaming and judging out the damned window. As if we cannot hear you. You just check out and leave the rest of the staff to deal with the shit detail. Well, I think it's refreshing that Gregor and Gilly are making everyone become involved in the school."

Raff dropped his napkin and felt Unella's forehead then took her pulse while the others stared at her aghast. Gregor turned pale and asked Raff, "Is she ill?" The handsome man shook his head, releasing Unella's wrist and backing away as if she was Jeyne in a feral rage. "I don't know what this is. She isn't ill, but she just, defended you. I saw it with my own eyes. Unella, are you feeling okay?" Unella turned to purse her lips at Raff and throw her fruit at him. Gregor slammed his fist on the table. "Damn it, woman! I said to eat the food, not throw it at Heathers. Eat the eggs and toast. Keep your mouth shut until you can stop saying upsetting things!"

Stannis cleared his throat and spoke. "Enough of all this foolishness! We have reports overdue, very overdue and someone must put together whatever Polliver had for reports as well." Raff began to eat again and nodded. "I have all of his stuff and can put it together for the reports. When the hell are we supposed to have time for a meeting today?" Gregor growled out, "What did I tell you last night? We make the time. Everyone must have a dead point or we'll have to use our lunch to do it. We need to include the twins, Gilly and Hot Pie." Raff sneered. "Tank only comes down for detention time. Ask her when she and the creepster twins have the time."

Gregor was forcing Unella's hand on the fork then making her eat the eggs as he responded. "That Tank has a better handle on the students then Therapeutic Nurse does. Maybe instead of being so jealous, pretty boy, maybe you'll just accept the challenge of it and learn to be a better therapist of the children. I doubt it, but miracles do happen." Raff called Gregor a slur that was almost as bad as Uenlla's was and Stannis pushed his plate away. "Do I need to start eating with the students so I can hear better language?" Gregor was forcing Unella's jaw into chewing as she attempted to stab him with the fork.

"I want everyone to remember the students are angry right now. We need to present a calm united front because they are still at the edge of calling a battle on us all. Let's not be like Polliver and let it happen. Can everyone do their fucking job today and maybe, oh, I don't know, keep your eyes open and on the students?" He released Unella and she gulped down her juice, hissing at him, jabbing him with her fork. "Get away from me, maniac. I'll eat, just leave me alone. Don't you dare do that again!" Gregor looked at the plate and then at his wife. She shut up and started eating as he made a move towards her. Satisfied, Gregor looked at the rest of them. "I mean it. What you do or say could matter for these kids. How do you think Kevan will take it if these kids try a mutiny?"

No one spoke but Ramsay and all eyes were upon him. His hands gestured, his face was animated and Ramsay's show was on.

"If we look at this coldly and carefully, see how truly fucked up they are making us. Myranda, the twins took you from a life of poverty and prostitution, to a fancier version of prostitution. They have allowed old men to do anything they wished to a teenage girl. You are being trafficked to the highest bidder any time that Kevan wishes it. What happens next for you? What happens when your body and face no longer appeal to the clients? Do you think Kevan will sell you to a brothel or sell you to a man who wants a certain kind of mistress? Can you ever imagine a future beyond that? No, because they have made sure it's your only option, they told you what you were and that is that. Hell, they send you to be a whore then allow Polliver to use it as a slur against you. Polliver and Raff are adults that have no problem using you like a whore. But when you fight back? When you decide you no longer want to blow a counselor? When you decide to kill a pedophile? They destroy you, they hurt anyone that you care about just to hurt you a little more. It's how they work here." 

Ramsay's eye landed on Arya and Joff next. "How about what has been done to you two? Do you really understand what Kevan has done to you two, what he's going to do? He has you both married and under his thumb, trapped here while he drains both of you of every cent left to both of you by your parents. Kevan will keep you both here until he has you both so trained and penniless, you'll have no choice but to dance to his tune. You don't get to leave until your both ready to be puppets in shiny clothes, ready to do as Lancel and Kevan tell you. They will control your money, your movements and while your here they will learn to control your heads." Arya looked mulish and opened her mouth but Ramsay spoke fast, pinning her with his intense eyes. "Sandor's training mostly consisted of teaching you how to shut your mouth and control your movements. Harold and Bob will teach you more of that. In between the traps and lessons on killing or spying, what do you think they will really be teaching you? How to be silent, how to do as your told. How to become another person. Think on that for a second, Arya."

Softly, Ramsay spoke, including all of them in his glance. "They are mind fucking us. One way or another, they beat us down and build us into what they want. And we are letting them do it." Arya and Myranda both looked at him, at each other and at their plates, silent, considering his words. Ramsay let his gaze linger on Theon and he kept his voice low and neutral but persuasive. "Theon, let's look at what they've done to you. They ripped away your one relief, replaced it with their own version of it. They pimped you out, they will pimp you out forever, just like they do to Myranda. And you'll have the same fate. But let's look at what happened to you. How did it happen, who's fault its all of that? Not yours. You are a sixteen year old kid with no experience in whoring yet. The twins chose your client, they knew how dangerous he was, they knew what could happen. But they wanted the money enough to risk your life. But hey, at least they solved that nasty cutting issue. They know what you are into and what kind of clients will that draw in the future for you, Theon?"

Damon looked down when Ramsay looked at him. "First they tore us apart, Damon. They isolated you from your family, they started to change you, a mentor to help you think better. They drove Loras crazy enough, they made him such a puppet that he took his own life over it. That took away one of your only friends. So then you got too close to Sansa and she also broke under the puppet makers. They ripped away your only real friend and influences, then you had Jeyne, a sister and a friend, now they are going to rip her away too. Just like they ripped Joff's mother from him and both my lover and my brother from me. Polliver is a big problem, but he isn't the only one and in fact, he might even be the least problem when we really look at it."

Breakfast concluded and the staff left, still bickering with each other but the students were silent, all moving as a group, an aching resentful bruised group.


	138. Round One

Myranda, Ramsay and Theon sat in Tyrion's classroom with their hands folded, calmly staring at the professor. They answered no questions, they did no work, they sat, folded their hands on their desks and stared. In Stannis's classroom Arya and Joff did the same exact thing which was most unnerving considering their usual rude or disruptive behavior. Raff sat with an eyebrow up as Damon sat on his therapy couch with his hands folded on his lap, staring at Raff flatly, silent. Every class, each therapy session was the same for all of them. Sitting, silent, folded hands and staring. Unella was the only one they spoke with. Ramsay insisted that in order to be healthy enough for a battle, they must allow physical treatments which they all saw the logic in.

Gregor had turned the gardening class over to Hot Pie since he was taking over Polliver's work. The cook watched as the kids all sat and folded hands, staring at him. Hot Pie decided to ignore it and did the gardening himself since it had to be done. No physical classes were being run by the Nanny since students were all injured one way or another. Instead he chose to have the students all have an extra study period with the professors in the library since Gregor heard reports that most of the kids were behind in their work. So he was unaware of the sit-in the kids were staging since no one thought to text him about it. Even during the library time the kids just sat, staring and the professors simply ignored it.

Gregor had spent a good amount of his morning running between his usual duties and caring for Jeyne. He had gone into the clinic to get her personally after the students were in classes, booming out, "Ah ha! So this is where you have been hiding out, young lady! I thought you gave us up for good and went off to live in the woods! Maybe chased the Tickler out and stole his home!" Jeyne had giggled while Unella removed her tubes and cautioned her about moving very slowly, letting others help her for a day or two. "Remember what I said, Jeyne, if you can't manage the bathroom on your own, ask to come back. You can spend another night or two here if you need to."

Gregor made a face along with Jeyne. "Nah, you got this, right, girl? Show this foolish planet growing doctor how wrong she is and carry me to the dorm house, Jeyne!" Gregor kept up a steady stream of booming humor to keep the girl giggling through the pain of movement. Tears rolled down her eyes as she carefully inched up and let Gregor help her walk a little. "Jeyne, I want you to see if you can walk just around the room with Gregor for a minute. So I can judge whether to let you leave or not." Unella watched with sharp care as Gregor kept the girl moving and laughing as she inched about the room. Unella gave a quick nod. "I would let you stay another night or two if you'd like, Jeyne. But if you feel ready to leave, I'm going to let you head back to the dorms."

Jeyne nodded eagerly even Gregor was nearly holding her up. Unella looked at Gregor. "Raff will bring her medications to her room. Jeyne cannot walk further than the bathroom and her room for a few days. Anywhere else she will need help getting to and from. Try to make sure she isn't totally isolated as much as you can. Raff will bring the medications and will visit for her normal therapy but that is all he'll have time for. I'll visit Jeyne tomorrow in her room for a check up. For now, she can't walk the distance to the dorm. She can't sit in a wheelchair, I could put her on a stretcher, call Raff to help carry her with you?"

Jeyne looked up at Gregor and he grinned back. "Oh, we'll manage it, I think. One way or another, right, Jeyne? No stretchers." Sighing, Unella readied a Novocaine shot. "I bet you'll manage it. But this will ease the way for it. One last needle, young lady. Ha, you can't run away from me this time, can you?" Jeyne and Gregor stared at Unella in horror and confusion. Then they stared at each other. "Nanny Gregor, did Doctor Unella just try a joke? Like a Person Joke?" Gregor glared at Unella as he grabbed the girl in a mock gesture of fright and pretended to hide behind the slight girl who giggled. "I warned her not to say upsetting things, but now she is trying to be funny? Oh gods, JEYNE, WHAT IF SHE TRIES TO GIVE US A RIDDLE? OR DECIDES TO BREAK OUT IN JOYOUS SONG? OR SMILES?"

Unella frowned at them as they laughed at her. "Now I wish I could give you both this painful injection. And that isn't a joke, merely a wish."

 The twins were leading Polliver towards the clinic as they saw the most interesting sight. Gregor came out of the clinic wearing Jeyne and the twins moved back a little to allow the man by. They had a very pale Polliver between them, tightly held up by their grip, who was pulled from his misery by the strange scene before him. The girl had her arms wrapped tightly around Gregor's neck as she draped his upper back. He had a grip on one of legs in each of his hands, allowing her to lay there, giggling. Gregor moved fast so Jeyne didn't notice Polliver, as he continued to joke all the way to the dorm. Jeyne was settled in her bed and Gregor spent some time making sure she had things to occupy her.

"Well, let's see what we have here for you to do when my lovely presence is needed elsewhere! Aha! Look at this, I see that Gilly kept her word and lent you some musical soundtracks! That was nice of her and you should make sure to take good care of these. And what is this? A book! Good gods! Jeyne, are you getting smarter on me? Look at the grade level of this book! I don't believe you can really read this. Nope, I think you are having one over your Nanny! Prove it, read me the first paragraph." Jeyne proudly read the paragraph and Gregor slapped his knee. "Well! I think you can NEVER get a bad grade in Professor Tyrion's class again without me coming down on you! Ha, you fooled your own self, made your own trap for me, little girl! Now you can't lie to me, I know just how smart you really are and will expect it to stay that way! I will make sure to get your work from the professors and we can spend a block of time each day working on it until you are well enough for class."

Gregor laughed at Jeyne's scowling. He laughed harder when she fell asleep mid-scowl. "Looks like your musicals and reading will have to wait. Have a good nap, kid." 

The second the twins came in with Polliver, Raff came flying out of his office. He had been about to text the staff about the students odd behavior, the unified actions of it until the worry for his friend wiped it from his mind. Unella got sick of shoving Raff out of her way. "Dammit, I cannot treat Polliver's wounds nor his pain until you get the hell out of my way, Raff! Stop bouncing around him like a worried mother hen and help or leave! Immediately! That is an order!" The twins were lingering in the hallway, waiting to hear that Polliver wasn't further injured somehow. They must report to Kevan, after all. At least that is what they had told each other with sadistic smirks.

Bob leaned into the doorway and said in a polite and helpful tone, "I can assure you the shock is due to pain and not blood loss. We were extremely careful about the minimum blood loss possible. Also, we gave strict attention to preventing any possible infections and there are no other injuries beyond the two small flayed areas." Raff growled at Bob "Fuck you! I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. Why don't you fuck off instead of standing there gloating?" Unella snapped at them both. "Gentleman! Unless someone plans to assist me in treating this man, leave! And I promise you, if you two decide to fight, I'm not treating either of you!" Harold gave a very unhelpful laugh and commented, "I think we all know who would win that fight. I fear Mr. Handsome will end up needing a whole new face."

Raff sneered as Bob smiled and Unella had a look of anger but also, agreement. "The only reason that Bob would win is because he doesn't fight fair. He uses weapons, it's not a fair fight." Flushing, Raff heard how he sounded so petulant, as if he was fending off a middle school bully. Bob took a step towards Raff and spoke in a happy voice, too happy. "I can fight fair, without weapons. We can do that if you want, Heathers. Is that what you'd like, to fight me? Fists and feet, flesh to flesh? I can do that with you. Name a time and a place off campus. I beg of you, ask me to fight you." The doctor was full of hormones, estrogen swam through her body, flooding, motherhood impending and nature was taking it's course and toll.

Unella was suddenly done, entirely utterly unable to cope with the amount of testosterone filling the room. She swelled into a form of Ursula, true mother bear, she transformed into a volcano, molten lava ready to explode forth, she turned into mother earth and brought forth the wrath of them all. Unella turned fast, faster than her stomach seemed to normally go. The rock hard boulder sized stomach whacked hard into the pale, shaking and silent Polliver. He cried out and fell hard onto the bed he was sitting on. The stomach kept going and Harold tried to holler a warning but it was too late. With identical looks of terror and revulsion, Bob and Raff screamed like little girls as the stomach came forth.

There was no time for an escape and no way for a defense as the white linen covered stomach slammed them both hard into the wall. Unella's face was glowing in a sick alien way they have NEVER seen before and her eyes brimmed with murder. It was confusing and it made both men squirm. Bob found himself holding Raff's hand tightly and they knew they would never speak of this, ever, not even to their best friends. Raff whispered, "Oh my gods, this is her version of that motherly glow some pregnant women get, I think. She's going to smother us with her stomach." Unella's voice was the sound of an angry Goddess.

"I am done with this BULLSHIT! If you two want to whip your dicks out and have a manly fight, take it the FUCK out of MY clinic! I have an injured man to tend to! And this ball swinging is getting in my way and on my nerves! If the THREE of you don't drag your hairy knuckles and swinging penises out of here now then I'm going to practice my castration skills!" The second Unella moved back, the two men slid carefully past her and followed Harold in rushing out of the clinic. Raff fled towards the cafeteria towards relative safety and lunch while Bob and Harold headed towards Kevan's house for their own meal. Harold was walking fast, pale and he asked Bob if he was alright.

Bob was still shaking a bit and he muttered, "Just think, Harold. Gilly might decide to marry you and have a litter. You can already know what to look forward to during pregnancy. If Unella is that terrifying and deadly pregnant, what would Gilly the Tank be like?" Harold said nothing but he frowned and moved faster.

While Bob ran to freshen up, Harold went to the kitchen, careful to stay out of Gilly's path. He knew she likes to fly back and forth when she is about to serve food that she has been careful to prep, heat or chill to perfection. Gilly wasn't facing Harold and he came in quietly yet she greeted him. "Hello, Harold. How is Polliver?" Harold shrugged. "He is in a good amount of pain but Unella will fix him up. I almost died a few minutes ago, I was sure that Bob and Raff were going to die first." Gilly listened to the story of the clinic and laughed. "Well, a pregnant woman is full of hormones, they tend to get upset if fighting or threatening happens next to them."

Harold shivered. "She was terrifying and that stomach, the ways she keeps changing. It's scary and strange. Are all women like this during pregnancy?" Gilly smiled at Harold, clearly amused at his discomfort and Harold felt chastened somehow. "No, every woman is a bit different. Like some never stop eating, others can't eat and that can switch around. Some get sick and others get acne or drool or mood swings and hot flashes. For some women, pregnancy is easy, others its harder. My sisters were all different when they were pregnant. I will say that I think Unella might be unique because of how her attitude has always been so stoic. It's hard to see such a personality switch for all of you but it's going to change again." Harold gulped. "That's not relieving me at all."

Gilly took a step closer to Harold and spoke in almost a whisper. "I can promise you, Harold. I can promise you that dating isn't what causes pregnancy. We are safe." Harold frowned at her eyes, brimming with humor and he turned, walking away.

He heard her voice, full of laughter, calling after him. "We are going to speak tonight over tea, if you don't mind, instead of a walk. Perhaps you should bring a notebook and pencil so you can take accurate notes for Bob?" Harold knew better than to respond to that and kept going. As he went to wash his hands and prepare for lunch, a thought struck him. Gilly had mentioned her sisters being pregnant, but knowing Craster, it was dubious that she hadn't been impregnated by him herself at least once. Wouldn't she have asked to keep her daughter or daughters with her? Gilly might be a Tank but she was one with a huge metal heart. She wouldn't abandon her daughters. Which could only mean one thing, she must have given birth to a boy. Harold frowned and wondered if he dared to ever ask her about that.

Gregor saw the students all head quietly in a line into the cafeteria. They were perfect in their behavior and he was immediately suspicious. He was heading into the cafeteria when Raff came running, calling to him. "Your wife is a damned lunatic! Threatened my life and nearly crushed me into a wall! Unella wouldn't let me near Polliver and she not only threatened and tried to kill me, but the TWINS! She tried to murder BOB along with ME! And she threatened all of our lives, mine, Bob and Harold's! I just had to run for my life and I had to leave my best friend in your crazy wife's hands! She won't be at lunch, too busy probably ripping Polliver's penis off!" Gregor stared hard at Raff and then spoke calmly, carefully.

 "So what I am hearing is this. You, Bob and Harold did something to upset my pregnant wife into the need to threaten you. Care to keep running your mouth at me? Or would you like to go eat lunch with all those pretty teeth still in your mouth? How much did Kevan pay to fix your teeth when you decided to run your mouth when you were just a wee Heathers at your dear Nanny's knee?" Raff shut his mouth but his eyes were fire as he went around Gregor into the cafeteria. With a frustrated whistle of hot breath through his clenched teeth, Gregor headed for the clinic. He entered to find Polliver doped up as Unella carefully stitched the ruined skin as much as she could.

Gregor couldn't boom his voice without rousing Polliver, who looked like he needed to be out of reality right now. Wincing at the sight of how thorough the twins work was, Gregor used his best indoor voice. "How is he doing?" Unella shrugged and looked up at Gregor, irritated. "If you are here to bother me about lunch, forget it. I have a bit more stitching to do then I want to put him tucked in a proper bed, make sure I flush him with antibiotics." Gregor sighed loudly. "It's not always about you, woman. I was this boy's mentor, remember that? I care about my students and I care about those that follow in my footsteps. How is Game Over? How is the boy? How is Polliver? That's what I meant."

Unella slumped her shoulders for a second and then horrified Gregor. "I am sorry. I was so upset over the other idiots early that I transferred it to you." Gregor was standing his ground but he had the same look he gets when Jeyne used to leap at him from trees, teeth at the ready. "Don't need to be sorry, just tell me about Polliver." Unella finished her stitches and covered them in ointment as well as thick bandaging. "He is going to be in some bad pain for a week or two. I will keep him here for a night or two while the pain and risk of infection or fever is at it's worst. He can stay on I.V. and observation. Then I will let him go to the cabin with orders for medications, therapy and a full physical with me as well as testing. And of course daily checks on his wounds for two weeks."

"Okay, now I just need to move him and change him into a nightshirt. Then I'll come to lunch so you can force feed me." Unella was pouting and Gregor rolled his eyes. "I'll help you get Polliver transferred and all tucked in like a good boy. Then we can go eat." Sniffing, as if trying not to cry, Unella nodded then rushed from the room. Hearing the bathroom door slam shut, Gregor shivered. He prayed that whatever this new phase of hers it was that it would end fast. Tenderly as if he were a babe, Gregor lifted Polliver to bring him into the small room and carried him to the bed. Sitting the man down, Gregor removed the man's socks. He pushed the mostly asleep man onto the bed and worked his pants off him.

Polliver looked up at him with a foolish grin on his face. His words were slow and slurred by pain medication. "Gonna rape me, Nanny? Did Unella scare you into wanting men? I saw you wearing Jeyne on your back. Did I break hers?" Gregor grunted. "Yeah, she's my new accessory, better than a scarf. Just cracked her tailbone, Jeyne will be fine. Not going to molest you, Polliver, you aren't my type. Too stupid for me. It's a real turn off." Polliver laughed softly and seemed to bliss out again. Gregor wrestled the man into a nightshirt and tucked him in the bed tightly. Unella came out of the bathroom and Gregor made no comment at all about her red eyes. "Oh, all done? Fine. Thank you. I guess we should go to lunch then." Gregor grunted in response, sensing it might be safest.

Once they started walking down the path, Gregor gruffly spoke, but didn't sound challenging, following instinct. "I saw Raff before I came here. He said you were upset with him and the twins." Unella stiffened and the glow brightened and her nose twitched as if sniffing phantom blood. "Yes. They wanted to have a dick swinging contest in my clinic, while I was trying to examine a patient. So I got angry and kicked them all out." Gregor was careful. "Scaring Bob and Harold is something everyone longs to do. I'm glad you managed that feat. I'd be equally glad if you never did that again. They are dangerous, Unella." The woman moved and her stomach slammed into Gregor.

He didn't move but he felt tiny feet, so many of them, four of them, all poking through skin to kick at him as Unella stared up at him. "I am dangerous too, Gregor. Now do you wish to have lunch or do you want to discuss whether I am dangerous enough to take on the twins whom I've already sent running." Gregor couldn't take the feeling of those feet any longer. He turned Unella around by her shoulders and headed towards the cafeteria. "Let's go to lunch. And I don't care how dangerous you are, woman, if you don't eat, I will force feed you." Unella's mouth opened poured forth a litany of curses that would make a hardened gangster blush as she let Gregor lead her to the cafeteria.

Gregor propelled Unella over to the food counter and carefully watched to make sure she got enough food. He filled his own tray while Hot Pie leaned over to whisper at him. "During the gardening class, the kids did nothing but sit and stare at me, all of them had their hands folded, it was kind of creepy. They never spoke once, not even to answer a question." Frustrated, Gregor leaned over towards Hot Pie and whispered back, "Next time, don't wait to whisper it to me at a meal. Text me right away if the students are acting in a abnormal way. Didn't Polliver teach you anything at all?" Frowning, Gregor followed Unella towards the staff area but he did look over at the students.

All of them were eating, drinking but there was no talking, no tossing food or insults. Gregor slammed his tray onto the staff table and sat down to glare at the others, who all glared back. "Anything strange happen this morning during classes or therapy? Anyone happen to have silent, sitting, staring students or just the cook?" The professors fidgeted and Raff looked away before they all reluctantly nodded. Stannis cleared his throat. "Every class they sat with their hands folded, looking at us but not speaking, not even to give an answer to my questions. I persuaded them to speak with us, I even lectured them on how the house staff will react badly to a protest."

Gregor couldn't believe the amount of stupidity. "Are you all dumb or just that spiteful with me right now? Not one of you thought to text me when the kids did this? Do you want a student mutiny on your hands?" Tyrion looked up at Gregor. "They have a right to an organized peaceful protest if they wish one." Leaning forward, itching to strangle the dwarf, Gregor snarled out, "If this was a regular school, sure, great, let them have at it. This is not that kind of a school and you know it. How long will they stay peaceful, Tyrion? Gilly and the twins will be down soon and what then? Will the twins handle it in their own special way? Or will Gilly tell Kevan before I finish trying to keep the twins from skinning the students? Idiots."

 


	139. Round Two

Kevan took a sip of tomato soup and dabbed his lips with a napkin while his eyes looked up to make sure Gilly was out of earshot. "I contacted Varys myself and he has sent two young ladies to cover and appease the prepaid appointments for our girl. I know you both already called on your half brother but I wanted to make sure he understood it was for me, a favor for me, not you two. Varys has spent his life since he left our school hoping for the day I would owe HIM a favor." The twins said nothing to that but gave small smiles. Kevan snorted at the two of them and waved his finger at them both. "Rascals, both of you are rascals. He must have tittered in delight to you two over it. Be prepared, whatever the favor is he asks in exchange, you'll both be sent to pay that favor for me!"

Bob tilted his head and quickly found great interest in his soup and grilled cheese sandwich. Harold was unable to help himself and smiled at his boss and father figure. "Sir, you know Varys loves and admires you as much as we do. But unlike us, he serves you elsewhere and rarely sees or hears from you for any feedback. It weighs heavily on him that you won't allow him to pay you back for the specialized hotel." Kevan tossed his napkin into Harold's face in a mix of playfulness and uncomfortable irritation. "Oh posh! That scoundrel just wants to own the place outright and get out from under my shadow. Think I don't know that, young man? It's alright, it's amusing to me. What isn't amusing to me is owing favors, I like collecting favors, not giving them out. Ah, well, it cannot be helped."

They all ate in silence for another few minutes then Kevan asked softly, "How is Polliver, gentlemen?" Bob replied this time. "We flayed two of his smallest tattoos off. We were very careful and he should have no lingering issues. The worst of his pain, the worst of tenderness from the wounds will be over within two weeks. In time for his return to school, if he is well enough mentally to return." Kevan sighed and finished his coffee. "I hope that Polliver doesn't need longer than that to get himself under control. I have faith in our staff that they will be able to help him the way I am sure they are helping our students."

Ramsay smiled at the other kids who were all looking a tad nervous. "I know, it's going to be time to face Gregor. Then it's going to be Gilly. Then the twins and then finally, Kevan. That's what we want. No matter what threats they offer, we have to stand firm. They believe all they need are scare tactics and we need to show them it won't work." Myranda toyed with her salad and then spoke quietly. "Gregor and Gilly might only use threats and scare tactics. You only experienced a very small portion of what Harold and Bob can do to us." Theon nodded and Arya seemed to consider that herself but Ramsay shook his head.

"What they did hurt like hell and nearly killed me. I know they have hurt you and Theon too. But listen, they are always going to find ways and reasons to hurt you. Haven't they always? This is what I mean by scare tactics. They know you fear the pain they put you through and just to delay the pain, you'll cave. After all, its what you and countless others have always done. Caved to them." Arya looked up and nodded. "He's right. Myranda, how often do the twins pimp you out? How often do they hurt you or even give you rewards that are really just more humiliation and hurt? Theon, they fixed your skin and it wasn't to help you, it was to sell you off to the highest bidder. And in the end that hurt you plenty. I say we stick to our plans."

The kids all agreed and filed out quietly, ahead of the staff, hoping to be unnoticed. Gregor was behind them in a move that seemed far too fast for the large man. "Children! My innocent ever so well behaved children! What is the rush, heading off to pray virtuously for the wayward souls of our school?" The kids said nothing, they continued to march in an orderly line over to the usual spot in front of the dorm house where they had their mid day check in with Polliver. Gregor sauntered behind them and once they stood in front of the white painted porch that Loras committed suicide on, they stood silent, staring at the counselor. Gregor smiled and put his hands behind his back as he walked along the line, his beady eyes fixing on each student.

"Well, at least I get the standing version of this little protest. Lucky me. Polliver calls you ducklings, I called my students chickens when I had his job and Olenna called her students roses. We always had a name for our students, we always had nicknames for them too. We always had all forms of corporal punishment. I can tell you that in Olenna's day, what Polliver did to you all that night would have been called Tuesday. During my time as chicken herder, I will admit to being smart about knowing when to break bones and when not to. Not right away, no, it came with time and learning patience. Polliver is of a different generation and what he did was something he has never done before. He tries to be nicer than I was, I tried to be nicer than Olenna was, do you understand that, boys and girls? The man had a bad moment and he took it out on a student. He is being punished by Bob and Harold. He will spend the two weeks in pain while his mind will be peeled and peered into. That is all you are going to get, kiddies. Get over it."

Ramsay smirked and ignored the provoking man. He had warned the others that Gregor would try and get them to start with him. To at least engage in angry words, so he can begin to get them to back down. The large man didn't seem too upset that no one took his first bait and planted himself in front of Ramsay. "Let me guess who the ringleader is? Alright, let's get it over with. I assume this silent protest continues until your demands are heard? What are they? Nanny Gregor is all ears." He stood back and stared at Ramsay who replied, "We want to speak with Kevan about our demands." Gregor stared at Ramsay as if the boy had asked for a blowjob. He started to laugh and then shoved Ramsay's shoulder as if the boy told a great joke. "Oh sweet summer boy, it doesn't work that way here. No, oh goodness, no. Here is what you can do. If all of you have the exact same demands then you make a petition. You give it to me or Gilly. We give it to Kevan. He makes a decision and it's passed back down. Or if he is in a gracious mood about whatever it is, Kevan loves to deliver good news himself. Now, you can tell me what you want, you can tell Gilly during detention or I can give you pen and paper? Your choice." Gregor was met with silence and Ramsay sat down, all the others sitting with him.

"Fucking idiots, the lot of you. The chances of you getting any demands met are lessening by the second and you are too dumb to see it. Stupid poultry. I'm trying to help you. It's only going to get way worse then Nanny Gregor if you keep trying to go up the food chain." Sighing, Gregor tossed the kids a notebook and pencil then strolled away for a moment. The kids saw that he was heading for Gilly, trying to head the woman off. Myranda frowned. "She's way early. Must be heading to visit Jeyne before setting stuff up for detention. Which means she is going to see us and she will text Harold. That brings the twins." Ramsay had to wrestle internally with his temper as he watched the whore, SuperD and Target all pale a bit. He smiled with as much charm as he could summon and spoke smooth as Sansa, as soft as Roose. "So it brings the twins. We are not being violent, we are not loud, we are simply sitting or standing in silence. That doesn't invite violence against us." When the whore glared at him and grabbed the pencil and paper, he wanted badly to strike her. "Just in case. I want to win this battle with all of you but not at the cost of becoming furniture or sold off to Walder Frey, thank you very much." Ramsay used his voice instead, sounding like Lancel when he was displeased. "Myranda, we just all agreed to stick this out. Don't write anything down, don't agree to any concessions."

Myranda kept writing and Joff tried to stop her just to find himself blocked by Arya and Theon. Damon was giving Ramsay a warning look, waiting to see what he would do. Ramsay didn't hesitate to lean over and pull Joff towards him. "No violence against each other. We are united. If you all feel that strongly about writing the demands down then do so. Joff sit down and hush." Damon was appeased and Ramsay wanted to snarl at the traitor brother. Arya leaned over the paper along with Myranda, Ramsay began to list exactly what demands they wanted. Ramsay nearly howled when it took only moments for negotiations to begin anew. Myranda refused to write anything that sounded too bold and Joff kept adding worse ideas to the mix.

Gilly watched Gregor steamroll towards her like a speeding mountain. She stopped to politely wait, hoping he wouldn't run her down and flatten her. Gregor stopped just as he reached her and gave her a grin. "Gilly, why are you down here so early? You don't start to set up for another forty minutes or so." Gilly raised her arms full of small crafts and spoke. "I was going to visit with Jeyne and give some therapeutic art to her since she cannot make it to detention." Gregor smiled. "That is nice of you, Jeyne will really appreciate it." But the man still was standing there and Gilly had a feeling he was keeping her there. Raising her eyebrows, smiling at full brilliance, Gilly spoke. "Well, it was wonderful to chat with you, Gregor. I am sure you must get back to the students and I would like to see Jeyne."

Gilly briskly tried to step past him and Gregor moved in her way. Not before she saw all the students sitting down, Myranda writing while they all quietly argued. "Are you trying to keep me from seeing or speaking to the students sitting on the lawn?" Gregor sighed and spoke with an entreating tone. "I am going to ask you for a favor, Gilly. I am going to ask you to PROMISE not to text Harold or Bob no matter what I answer. I need a chance to handle this before your call in the big guns. Please." Gilly pursed her lips but gave a sharp nod. "Just because I date Harold doesn't mean I spy for him. I am staff, same as you. So I promise not to text either twin or Kevan over your reply. Besides, all I see are students sitting, writing and arguing." Gilly wondered why that made Gregor seem relieved then he spoke. "Ramsay talked the kids into a mutiny. They have been staging a silent protest all day. I tried to talk them out of it but at least I have them writing their demands down." Gilly raised her eyebrow. "Why didn't they just tell you their demands?" Gregor smirked. "They refuse to speak until Kevan hears their demands."

Gilly paled a bit and stammered out, "Oh, that would be very bad. I don't think Kevan would take well to such tactics." Gregor nodded. "So give me a chance to handle this before we involve anyone higher than ourselves."

 It was nothing more than pure bad luck that Harold entered the clinic to check on Polliver. Well, it might have been to torment the man a little as well, but mainly it was to assure Kevan that the asshole would be fine. Bob followed him for a chance to poke a sharp verbal stick at Raff some more, provided the terrifying doctor wasn't there. He swore that if he had not already finished knitting the baby blankets and booties, he wouldn't bother. The woman was probably going to give birth and eat her young the moment they cried. So Bob was cautious, poking his head into the long hallway, trying to crane his neck to see into the doctor's office. Harold stopped and turned to say calmly, "You look ridiculous. Stand like a real man, would you? She is a pregnant woman not a wild beast." Bob snorted as he stood tall, seeing that Unella wasn't in her office. "So you say." The men started to walk towards the room they heard voices coming from.

Polliver's words gave them slight pause, they hesitated to listen, unseen. "I just hope Gregor talks sense into those stupid fucking ducklings. Why doesn't he just drag Ramsay off? Take out the ringleader, the rest will fall." Raff's voice made the twins look at each other. "Because they are staging a silent peaceful protest so far. It hasn't developed as far as a mutiny. But they won't state their demands. Idiots want to stay silent until Kevan will hear their demands." Instantly, the twins turned and headed down the hill to the dorm house. The first thing that Harold noticed was Gregor seeming to loom over Gilly, who was staring up at the giant. They were too close and Harold thought hatefully of Polliver.

Bob sighed at Harold's growl. "For the love of-are you serious right now? I am sure the Tank can handle Nanny Gregor. I don't know what they might be discussing but let's concentrate on the students. If Kevan hears of this, he will go through the fucking roof. I don't want another single damned incident. My nerves can't take it. So calm yourself and let's just go right past them." Harold turned as if to go after Gilly and Bob grabbed his arm. "No. He isn't threatening her, look at their faces, they are talking. Most likely about the students protest, so let's bypass them and see the kids for ourselves. Nip this issue before it grows into a real problem." The twins were almost to the children, who saw them coming and struggled to appear serene. That's when they heard Gregor curse as he and Gilly saw them. They approached the sitting students as the counselor and Gilly tried to hurry over.

Gregor's voice boomed as Bob opened his mouth to speak to the sitting students. "AH GOOD! I SEE YOU ARE HARD AT WORK ON THAT LIST I ASKED YOU FOR!" Bob stared down at Myranda and asked, "A list of what, sweet girl? What have you written down, I'd love to hear it." Arya snatched the list from Myranda, who was pale but looking at her hands, silent. Ramsay took the list from her and he replied for them. "We are having a silent protest until Kevan hears our demands and-" The twins both started to laugh so hard that they leaned on each other. Gregor shrugged, grinning at Gilly. "That's what I did the first time I heard them say that too." Gilly didn't seem to find the humor and simply turned to Ramsay.

"You cannot make demands of the director, it won't work. Kevan might hear requests or even complaints but he won't listen to demands. Perhaps, reword that. I would be happy to help you with your petition if you'd like? I am quite neutral since I just joined the staff and I still spend most of my time up at the house." Ramsay stared at Gilly and then just stammered, "You can't help us with a protest against staff. It doesn't work that way. You are still staff." Myranda and Arya both shared a glance then Myranda spoke softly looking at Ramsay, who seemed pissed that she dared to talk. "It might be an idea to have one adult on our side. One that sympathizes with our cause and is close to Kevan's ear." Gregor lifted his arms to the heavens and boomed, "Praise be to the gods of ducklings, that is the first good idea I have heard come out of your mouths! The girl has a good practical idea, Ramsay and you might want to use it."

Ramsay wanted to slap that stupid whore in her mouth. He wanted to strangle Gilly and hunt the whore, teach her to keep her fucking opinions to herself. He breathed deeply and looked hard at her and Arya. "She is staff. Myranda, Gilly is Harold's girlfriend. She is Kevan's housekeeper. Did Gilly stop you from getting fucked by old men so much that you can barely sit without an ice pack? Right now, other girl's your age are preparing for their first real true dates, you are banging old men and being tortured by the twins and she knows it, cleans the mess left behind in Harold's suite after. Arya, do you see my point? Do you see why we can't get her help? She is biased, she is staff." Arya nodded and turned to Myranda, squeezing her hand. "Stay the course. Gilly is staff. Ramsay's right." Myranda didn't look like she agreed with that but went silent. Ramsay looked back up at the adults and handed the paper over. "We maintain our silent protest until Kevan responds."

Even though Gilly seemed disappointed she was hardly hurt by Ramsay's words. Harold was insulted for her and Bob was mildly offended at how Ramsay made them sound. What bothered the twins the most was to see all three of the children they mentor following the killer. Gregor and Gilly looked at the hastily written demands, both of them wincing and shaking their heads at some of it. Bob stood over Myranda, looking down at her bent head, his shoes nearly touching her sneakers. He slowly bent from the waist, casually keeping his hands in his pockets, his words very clear but gentle, yet there was an undercurrent to his tone that made all the students flinch, most of all Myranda. "Sweet girl, you don't really want to do this, do you? If you have problems, you can always come to us, sweetheart. How many times must I remind you that you can and should come to us with problems?"

Theon whipped his head up and replied hotly, surprising even himself. "She can't come to you with her problems! You are half her problem!" Ramsay shushed Theon but gave him an approving pat on the shoulder while smirking up at Bob. Harold felt the tensing of his twin and he heard Gregor give a heartfelt sigh as he readied himself to launch before the students to try and keep Bob from them. Harold turned to Gilly. "Thank you for your help, Gilly. If you were going to visit Jeyne, you may go do so now. We have things here." Gilly smiled at Harold. "Thank you, Harold. But I really would rather help out here." Harold saw how Gregor was already angling his large body so that Bob couldn't easily reach the smirking Ramsay and he snapped at Gilly, afraid of her getting caught in a melee. "That was an order, Gilly. Please go visit with Jeyne. Now." Gilly's smile froze and her eyes flashed but she nodded. "Yes, Sir." She turned to walk away without speaking, but her stride was angry.

 Ramsay let out a small chuckle and drawled to his fellow students, "See that? My point exactly. Harold gives an order and she hops to it. That is no real ally." Gilly turned briefly at that to give Harold the dirtiest look as if he has caused her reputation damage. Harold had no time to worry about an irate Gilly slamming the porch door on her way inside to visit Jeyne. Gregor snorted at Ramsay. "Stupid boy. Don't you understand the hierarchy here yet? Let me explain it. At the tippity top is Kevan, right under him are the twins. They are above the rest of the staff and can give orders. I am next, Unella is equal to me in that. That means as the doctor and the head counselor we can give orders to the rest of the staff. So Gilly didn't obey Harold because they kiss and have tea fueled romances, she obeyed him because it's the correct pecking order. Most times we are all way more relaxed with our pyramid of who is over who and don't give high handed commands but you have decided to make a problem. If you are going to get all organized and be a professional protest group then we have no choice but to organize into our staff order."

Harold heard the veiled insult tucked in there as did Bob and they smiled fiercely at Gregor before giving their attention back to the students. Bob was still standing over Myranda, watching her, Theon and Arya, hoping one of them will look up at him. None of them did, staring at their hands or at Ramsay, trying to ignore the threatening man looming just over their heads. Harold spoke, making sure to stare hard at Ramsay. "Your list of demands has been received. We shall bring it to the house and return to you with answers when Kevan is ready. While you all wait for his response, you will end this. You will go to classes, therapies and your chores with regular full participation." The only response was the students all staring blankly into space as they sat silently. Gregor held up the paper and addressed the idiot flock of ducklings. "Some of these things are flat out not going to happen. But I can tell you the same thing Gilly did and it's true. Some of these demands are actually reasonable and some of the staff would be on your side of things. Not just Gilly. But not if you go about it this way. This way earns you all nothing but trouble and this list gets destroyed. Let the staff take this list and look at it. We can all have a chat and work some of this out."

Bob was now leaning over Myranda in the same manner he had leaned over Arya during her interview. He was as menacing as can be, he was so close over the pretty thin girl that she cringed and silent tears of fear were flowing now. A wide, too wide smile was growing on his face and even though Myranda wasn't looking up at Bob, she seemed to feel the smile, trembling. Arya and Theon had looked up at Bob with an air of stony defiance. Ramsay was ready to howl, he could see they were losing the damned whore. He needed to make sure that she didn't take her whore in training or Target with her when she defected. He spoke in a calm understanding voice. "It's alright to be scared, Myranda. He is trying to terrify you, like always. If the sweet words don't work, they scare you, if that doesn't work they hurt you. It's always been that way and if you don't stay strong with us, it will keep happening." Theon grabbed one of Myranda's hands and Arya slid a bit so her shoulder was against the trembling girl's shoulder. Gregor and Harold both closed their eyes briefly as they saw Bob's smile grow ever wider by Ramsay's words.

Ramsay wasn't done and he continued, causing the anger of the twins and the concern in Gregor to grow. "One of our demands is that you destroy that damned cage. Another of our demands is that each of us gets more than your monkeying version of a talent. We want to learn talents that allow us to leave here someday and live independently. That means the poorest whores to the richest student has a real valid skill to bring into the world. Fucking old men, pedophiles and dangerous gangsters isn't a talent. It's called human trafficking. Teaching Arya to trap things and spy aren't talents that she can use well in the real world. We are all commodities and free labor in between receiving shit classes and fake therapy. So I don't see how any of you can help us. So we shall continue our protest until Kevan has time to read and respond to our demands."

Bob has already been feeling that he is losing a piece of his twin. He feels that he is losing at least some of Harold to Gilly and that was hard enough for Bob to deal with. He had even found himself angry and jealous when Harold announced he had decided on mentoring Arya without asking Bob first. He was most furious at Polliver not only for having injured Myranda's face but mostly that the man dared to lose control in the first place. If anyone deserved to lose their shit, it's Bob. Ramsay is challenging him, them. He is gloating that he has managed to wrest Theon, Arya and Myranda to his side. Bob is the one who first found Myranda. He and Harold spent a great deal of time and effort on their sweet girl and Bob will be damned if he will lose her to this rich privileged shithead. Bob has always considered Myranda to be his property, his possession, his loving pretty girl. Sharing that with Harold has never bothered him. The idea that Ramsay would sever that ownership Bob has, either by his words or by making this go too far was intolerable.

His smile couldn't get any wider and he was bent over Myranda's quiet little head, his lips nearly touching her ponytail. "Sweet girl, these children are still too new. They haven't been here as long as you. They don't understand what they are bringing down upon themselves. You know better, don't you? I know you do." A hand came down to gently stroke along the bent neck, to play in the ponytail. Bob's fist wrapped around the hair and yanked Myranda's head back hard and her eyes met his finally. The smile was terrible upon his face, his eyes were merciless and his voice was the voice Myranda never wants to hear. These were those limits that she tried to warn the others about. "Look at how scared you are and I've told you before how pretty you are when you cry. That's good. Because you are my good girl, I am going to think you just made a terrible error in judgement. If that's what happened, I will let you get up and leave for the dorms. Is that what happened, honey? Did you just make a small mistake? Would you like to get up and correct it, sweet girl? This is your one and only chance at whatever small mercy I might have left, Myranda."

Myranda avoided Joff and Ramsay's angry faces and the disappointment on the faces of the others. She wanted to be a part of this but she can't, not the way they were going about it, she simply couldn't take the risk. That voice, the smile and the posture on Bob was far too dangerous. Myranda was used to Harold being the one to lose his temper but if Bob lost his cool, that terrified her. The last time Bob was truly angered this much was a time that a bunch of the teens including Myranda had a little prank they pulled at the brothel. They all ditched their clients and took off for a club a block away to just dance and drink. All the handlers were angry, Varys and the clients were quite miffed too. A good amount of the handlers gave their girls and boys a punishment as soon as they reentered the brothel. Mainly to appease the irritated clients and the handlers tempers and egos. Not Bob, no, in fact, he kept Harold from hitting her. He drove them all home in silence after Myranda kept her date with the client. It wasn't until Mryanda was brought back and led into the suite that Bob let his temper fly.

Bob had that same smile, the same tone and movements that night. It was Harold that ended up being the one to caution Bob to stop before he damaged her too much. Myranda spent three nights in the clinic after that night. With his sickening smile and a manic glee, Bob had removed her toenails slowly, using nothing more than his teeth, caned her thighs until they were purple, branded her lower stomach with the letters "B" and "H" in tiny high-lit relief upon her pale skin forever. Bob pulled out a whip and Harold had to stop him when the girl was getting far too bloody for his liking. Bob then did something unusual. Instead of their usual painful, humiliating way of sexual tormenting her, Bob threw her to the ground and raped her. His hands on her throat, squeezing until she would nearly pass out. When Bob had his orgasm, he bit hard into Myranda's breast, marking it, he also spilled himself inside her. Harold had been angry that Bob did such a thing. Unella had to give Myranda the morning after pill along with the treatment of her injuries. Three days in the clinic, stitches and later on, the twins used their painful methods to remove the scars from the brutal whipping. But the scars in her memory sunk deep with sharp teeth. Like the ones in Bob's ever growing smile.

Taking a shaky breath, Myranda spoke in a very small respectful tone. "I made a terrible mistake, Sir. May I please go inside the dorms and visit with Jeyne?" Harold visibly seemed to relax and Gregor didn't seem surprised by her defection in the least. He knew that Myranda was the practical one, that her instinct and fear keeps her survival going. Bob felt a little better as soon as Myranda spoke, as soon as his ownership over his sweet girl wasn't challenged. He stopped yanking on her hair and extended a hand to her. Myranda cried silently but took the hand and let Bob pull her upright. Once she was on her feet, Bob let one finger tenderly go across the sore bruising on her face. Myranda whimpered at the pain but stayed still, eyes down. "Good girl." Bob kissed her forehead while staring hard at Ramsay, who scowled back. "You may go visit with Jeyne now, sweetheart. We can talk about your little mistake later on." Myranda paled more at that but nodded. The smile and tone were still there and his movements were gentle but screamed violence. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Bob released her and his chin nodded towards the dorms and Myranda ran inside the house.

Harold walked over to stand over Theon and Arya. "This is a very bad start to what is a good mentorship for each of you. In fact, if this protest continues with your assistance, we shall drop your mentorships. I hope you both have other ideas, other talents. I will give you both a moment to think that over. Please consider this as well. Ask yourselves what does Myranda know about the dangers you face that made her obey and leave this protest." Theon and Arya exchanged glances but then looked to Ramsay. "What made Myranda leave us is how badly abused and mind-fucked she is by the twins, nothing more. Don't fall for his scare tactics." Arya's gaze hardened and Theon looked down, silent and staying put. Bob came closer and crouched down to put his face in Arya's. "No more traps, no more spying, no learning to kill, no learning to be the greatest thing you could be. Maybe you can learn to cook or carpentry? Or maybe you can resign yourself to a shitty marriage and allowing money and rich relatives pull yours strings. Is that what you really want?" 

Arya let out a soft curse but shrugged at Ramsay, her voice full of bitter resignation. "I can't lose the mentorship, Ramsay. Until I know that Kevan will let us have more, it's all I've got." The creepy wide smile and the threat of losing the one thing she cares about were too much. Her face flushed but when Bob held a hand to her, she took it and stood up. "You may go inside until it's time for detention. We can discuss why you were upset enough for this later on. Go on, young lady." It nearly choked Arya to reply evenly but with respect. "Thank you, Sir." Arya ran up the stairs into the dorm and Ramsay knew this was over, at least this silent protest idea was over. Theon gave Ramsay some hope when he stared at the scary smile of Bob's and shook his head. "No. I am staying with Ramsay, Joff and Damon. You might have scared the girls away but not me. I am changing my mind on my talent. I see what you've done to Myranda, I won't let you turn me into a hopeless whore that has no future but to be sold off someday. I stand with the protest."

 


	140. I Can Hear The Bells

Jeyne had been happy for the visit and the crafts even if she could see how distracted Gilly was. She had managed to inch over to the window to look down with Gilly at the others. "Not fair. I never got to be a Protest or a Mutiny like Pirates!" Gilly smiled at the girl and laughed at the frown Jeyne wore as she shook a small fist at the window.

"Don't worry, Jeyne. I'm sure you will have plenty of time to find other trouble. You don't want to be a part of this battle, trust me. The way they are doing this is dangerous and not likely to work. Look, see that? Myranda is on her way inside and I bet Arya will follow her. Do you know why? Because women make sense, those males all just want to growl and mark their territory. They won't care about the actual problems or the real fixing of them, at least not those boys and not the twins. So it looks like cooler heads must prevail in here while the males all grunt and pound their chests outside. The only one standing down there with any sense is Gregor but negotiations have broken down. He is way past mediation and trying to think of how to keep the twins from stuffing all the boys into that electric cage."

Gilly gathered all the girls in Jeyne's room and they sat chatting. Myranda sat on Jeyne's bed, the tiny feral was curled on her side, working on a project with intensity. Arya sat in the wooden desk chair, tilted back with her sneakers resting upon Jeyne's desk and Gilly deliberately stood against the window, blocking it from view. Whatever happened outside was no longer their concern and Gilly didn't want the girls concentrating on the wrong things. "Interestingly enough, ladies, I have a similar issue." Myranda and Arya looked at Gilly with patronizing smiles. Gilly smiled back, seeing they didn't believe she could have anything in common with them.

"Its true. I made some ideas, a proposal of sorts to implement here at the school. Kevan thought my ideas had merit and suggested I bring them up during a staff meeting. Now soon after I spoke to Kevan of it, the twins decided to approach me. I had told Harold of my ideas the night before during a walk. He brought it to his twin, of course. Harold and Bob dismissed my ideas right then and there, told me not to bother bringing it to the meeting. So do I follow Kevan's suggestion and bring it to a meeting? Or do I just bow down to what the twins said?"

Arya cracked her gum. "You'll bring your ideas to the staff meeting. You won't just allow Harold and Bob to toss away your ideas because they aren't comfortable with them." Gilly winked. "Right. Damned right, in fact. And my suggestion is that you ladies follow both my example and the words that Kevan said. Kevan didn't say, sure, try out your ideas. He said to bring it before the staff for a proper vote and discussion upon the ideas." Gilly leaned on the window sill and looked hard at Myranda and Arya.

"You see that protests and force won't work here. Demands aren't taken well from those who take orders. But there is ALWAYS another way around. You cannot give anything a good surrender until you've given it a good try first. Some of those ideas you had were valid good ones. What if there was a better way to get your point across, get your voices heard? My offer of help is still open and I bet before the end of the day, I'll have more rallying to your cause." Myranda and Arya looked at each other then at Gilly. "Sure, what the hell. I'm not ready to give up, just not ready to wrestle the twins and my future over it." Arya grinned.

Jeyne looked up as the girls and Gilly were talking and writing, interrupting them. "Target? Can you help with a bomb?" That got all three heads turning towards her and Jeyne smiled. "A Person forgives. A Person sends nice things when someone is hurt. I have this for Polliver. I just need to make it explode, please." 

 Bob's smile was still wide but no wider than Harold's now. He held up the piece of paper full of demands and tore it into small pieces which he tossed upon the sitting boys. It fell softly upon them like snow and they snarled, brushing it off of them. "This is over. There will be no demanding anything of Kevan. Your protest is nothing more than bad behavior. Perhaps of an organized nature, maybe like a gang. This school doesn't tolerate gang behavior. That is certainly cause for disciplinary intervention." The boys bristled over Bob's words. Gregor staring at them like something to be pitied only made it worse.

Harold spoke next and his words were no less condescending and authoritarian. "This will end one of two ways for you. The easiest way is for the group of you to stand up and end it on your own. We will let Gregor handle your discipline on this matter and that is that. Or, you can continue to sit there and we will take the problem straight out of your tender Nanny's hands. If you wish to deal with myself and Bob, you will regret it. Deeply." Ramsay took a deep breath as Theon, Damon and Joff looked at him nervously. He slowly stood up and the boys followed him. Smirking, Ramsay raised his chin and stared at the twins. "Fine. We are up and ready to be good ducklings. But this isn't over. We will just find a whole new way to get what we want."

Gregor saw Unella out of the corner of his eye and he growled. She was on strict orders to work only until lunch then rest in bed until suppertime and here she was sauntering the grounds instead. Of course she was doing it while he can't go after her for it. He was shocked as were the twins when both Unella and Hot Pie went past them into the dorm house. The boys stared at the cook and doctor as they went inside. A moment later, the professors showed up and headed towards the porch door. Harold threw up his arms and yelled, "Where are you going? What the hell is going on in there that everyone is just piling in?" Tyrion blinked at the confused men and boys. "Guess you didn't get the text. Which means you weren't invited. Sorry, private party only." 

The twins looked at each other then Harold said to Gregor, "We will leave you to deal with your gang of thugs. We shall see what is so interesting inside." Except as they got to the door, they were stunned to discover the door was locked. Bob sighed and turned to Gregor. "Do you have a key for this door on you? They locked themselves inside." Gregor tossed the twins the keys from his belt before he forced his concentration onto the boys. His mouth opened anyway. "Hey, before you two go in there like a two man swat team! Remember that my wife is pregnant, do not touch her or stress her out. I won't be responsible for what happens if that woman decides to go after you. And keep in mind the girls did exactly what you wanted. They stood down and went inside. So you have no reason to hurt them, hear me? I'll be pissed if I spend my afternoon in the clinic with further injured students!"

Unlocking the door and ignoring Gregor, the twins let themselves inside the dorm house. They found the commons room quite full. Hot Pie had brought iced tea and lemonade, not a bit of it spiked except for the tall glass already in Tyrion's hand. The professors, Unella and Hot Pie all were sitting in the commons room with Gilly, Myranda and Arya. Jeyne had been carried downstairs to lay on the couch so she could join in. As soon as the twins entered, the room went silent, papers were folded over. Gilly smiled and stood up. "Can I help you, Sirs?" Harold tilted his head. "We were simply curious. The door was locked. Extra staff members in here chatting, a private project? We are intrigued." Gilly nodded. "It is a private project which is why the door was locked. If the problem outside is cleared up, then I will move this outdoors to our usual detention area."

Bob walked over to Gilly and spoke in a pleasant tone that made Myranda shiver from her spot on the couch next to Jeyne. "You didn't just start up their protest again, did you?" Gilly smiled at Bob. "No, of course not. If it was a protest there wouldn't be staff involved. This is a project both educational and a social therapy all at once. Nothing more, nothing less." Harold shoved Bob out of his way and he spoke in almost a whisper to Gilly. "Don't encourage the girls to fight against the rules here and involve staff members. Whatever revenge ploy you are all engaging in is-" Gilly smiled and Harold gave up. "Don't worry, Harold. This isn't revenge and it's not any form of protest. This is all about the girls and students in general finding a way to have their voices heard. And maybe it's about the staff being heard as well. Now, can we head over to the detention area or shall we stay here a bit longer?"

Jeyne sat up awkwardly and waved something towards the twins as they went by the couch towards the door. "Excuse me? Can you take this to Polliver, please?" She waved a bright pink homemade envelope at them until Harold took it. "What is this?" Jeyne smiled, her eyes clear of any deceptions. "A Person gives a Card or a Kind Word when someone is hurt or sick. A Person forgives when someone makes a mistake. It is a card with a kind word." The twins gave her a condescending smile and Harold even gave Jeyne a nod of approval. "That is a very nice and proper thing to do, Jeyne. I will see that he gets this letter."

Raff and Polliver groaned when the twins entered the clinic. Polliver was laying in the clinic bed, tubes still snaking out of his arm, his face still too pale. He was helpless as the two circled the small room like sharks looking for that trace of blood to follow. Raff gritted his teeth at the intrusion into what he considered his domain.  Harold smiled down at Polliver and started to fiddle with the tubes to make the man nervous. "We came to see that you are on a good healing path. Kevan is concerned, he wants you to be in good form at the end of your two weeks. Also, even though you are the last person on the staff to deserve it, Jeyne asked us to give this to you."

Polliver took the thick pink envelope from Harold and studied it. "What the hell is this?" Harold smirked. "Apparently, Jeyne decided to make you a get well soon card. She told us that A Person must forgive mistakes and must send a kind word to someone not feeling well." Raff looked proud over this and Bob scoffed at him. "Oh, are you taking credit for Jeyne's excellent response to what happened?" Raff sniffed and gave a snobbish look to Bob. "I am the one who taught her the Person concept and how one would act. So yes, I take credit for her response."

Polliver felt ashamed as he started to carefully open the envelope. He really did feel awful that he hit Jeyne so hard. This only intensified the feeling of terrible guilt. Polliver never received letters or gifts from students before. Unless he counted Hot Pie's meals and treats, of course. But Polliver didn't count that because even the food came with a price. Jeyne just gave this card freely, with no prompting and expecting nothing back. He pulled a piece of paper out and unfolded it. In bold letters of someone who struggles to hold a pencil steady, the words were uneven sloping but clear.

SORRY YOU ARE HURT. GET BETTER SOON. I FORGIVE YOU. HA! I WILL BE FAMOUS. INSTEAD OF GIRL THAT WAS FERAL I CAN BE GIRL WHO BROKE POLLIVER'S BATON!

He burst out laughing as the others leaned closer to see the note. That is when the tiny packet inside the enveloped exploded. A cloud of colored glitter covered all four men and most of the room.

Damon, Theon, Joff and Ramsay all were on their hands and knees in the thick grass lawn. Gregor smiled at them and spoke in a kindly tone. "I think we have had enough of painful punishments. So your punishment is going to be to trim the entire lawn. You may break for supper. I'll let you skip the evening walk so you can work until it's too dark to see. Oh, silly me! Nanny must have forgot the lawn mower and trimmers. Wait!" His face grew into a dramatic parody of someone with a great solution. "I do have something! These should work nicely." He reached into his pocket and pulled out four small silver items and tossed them in front of the boys. A pair of infant size scissors, a nail clipper, tweezers and a pair of nose clippers. "Get started, boys!"

Gregor had brought a lawn chair with him and he planted himself, pulling out his cell phone. He kept one eye on the boys as he texted Unella. "Get your ass back to bed. Or it's going to be all about bondage and sadism tonight without the pleasure." A moment later his wife sent him a GIF of a middle finger. "I am busy with student project. I will lay down after supper." Scowling, Gregor muttered, "You are so lucky I have to stay with these idiots. Going to shackle you to the damned basement is what I'm going to do." Gregor looked up and boomed out, "Super Douche! Have you never in your life used a pair of scissors? Death Row, I said to clip the grass, not your damned nails. Want your Nanny Gregor to cut your nails for you, little boy? I will cut them so far down you won't have to worry about cutting your nails for a long time."

 


	141. Glittering Sharp Things

Gregor texted the staff continually. He figured if he drove them all crazy enough someone would kick Unella out of their group. Finally, Tyrion sent him a picture of Unella out cold on the couch in the dorm house. The other side of the couch was occupied by a sleeping Jeyne, both covered in blankets, one half of the blanket looking like a plaid planet. Tyrion sent a text saying that none of them are willing to wake the doctor. He also said there was no way they could carry her to hellhouse. Sighing, Gregor sent a text back to leave Unella there and he will wake her at suppertime. Gilly was the next to send a terse text. "We left Unella and Jeyne sleeping on the couch. Detention is in session."

Gregor checked the time and texted Hot Pie to leave whatever tea party they were having to prep dinner. Peeking up at the boys to make sure they were still at their task of clipping grass, he heard the buzz. Looking down he saw that the cook sent him a the same middle finger GIF that Unella had sent him earlier. Difference was, Unella was his equal in work and his wife. Gregor have a hard grin and texted Gilly with a joyful glint in his eye. "Please send someone to watch the boys for me for a few minutes. On the lawn. Thank you." He leaned back and looked over to see the boys still at it, Joff was grumbling to himself, moving slower. "Want me to kick your ass into gear for you, Princess?" Swearing soundlessly, Joff shook his head and moved faster.

Stannis appeared like a dour wraith and stood before Gregor. "Gilly asked me to relieve you of your post? I do hope it's not over your unhealthy obsession with keeping your wife in the house?" Gregor snorted and stood up, stretching. "No. It's not an obsession with Unella. It's an obsession with keeping her at least partially on bed rest. Because if I have to inform Kevan that Unella needs another doctor or she might lose the babes, who do you think Kevan will bring here?" Stannis turned a slight shade more grey and his lips squirmed together in mild revulsion. "My apologies, Sir. I did not understand the situation. I assure you that Unella fell asleep on the couch only after about thirty minutes and hasn't moved since."

Gregor nodded. "Good. She can stay there. I just want you to keep an eye on the boys, make sure they stay hard at work. They can stop to piss against a tree or take a gulp of water. There is no resting until suppertime. I'll be back long before then. Just want to do my rounds real quick, make sure everyone is being productive." Giving a sharp nod, Stannis sat down in the chair and put his stern eye upon the boys. "Very well. We shall be fine." Gregor walked closer to the hunched over, grass stained boys and boomed, "Nanny Gregor will be back very soon! To keep you company, I have left you in the tender and capable hands of Professor Stannis." Joff made a comment about slave labor and Gregor stomped closer, looking over Joff's head.

Joff cried out and huddled low as a huge boot came down, hovering just inches over his head. Gregor almost stomped on the boy before he stopped and looked down with an exaggerated blinking shock. One large hand fluttered over his massive chest. "My goodness, Princess! I almost crushed your tiny useless golden head! I thought I heard the irritating chattering of some insect cluttering up my lawn! I was going to smash it with my boot. Did you happen to see this repulsive little insect, boy? No? Huh. I expect to come back to silent hard working students, young men! Less talking, more trimming!" Gregor walked away after muttering to Stannis.

"Keep your eye on that. Don't let them talk to each other too much. I want them working and stewing in their own personal poisons, not sharing them. I want them tired, sweaty and hungry at supper, then I'm going to work them until they are begging to fall into their beds. Give them no chance to rekindle their rebellion, hear me?"

 Gregor started to walk towards the path to head down the hill and he noticed the clinic first. He arched his eyebrow as he could hear commotion inside. He headed in to hear four different voices all cursing at each other. Opening the door to Polliver's sick room, Gregor stared in horror. "What the fuck is wrong with you fucking cock sucking morons? And I don't just mean Heathers and Game Over. Unella will fucking MURDER the four of you over this! You better clean every single tiny piece of glitter or Unella will be giving all of you live autopsies. If you four want to have some sort of My Little Love Nuggets Boys Of Love celebration, that's your business but take it out of the school, yeah?"

 Polliver had merely laughed when they had been attacked by a cloud of glitter but the other three were not amused in the least. All three had been leaning close and were covered. Raff leaped in surprise as did the twins. Except when Raff leaped, he put his hand down hard accidentally on the small morphine pump he had kindly and sneakily provided Polliver. The twins prided themselves on their neat appearances and this was mortifying. They were covered in glittering rainbow colors from their hair to their shoes. Even their sunglasses had become very spectacular. Polliver had looked up at Harold and Bob then burst out laughing harder. Pointing at them he managed to sputter out, "Elton John wants his glasses back!" That's when another explosion of glitter happened as Harold lunged to strangle the glittering laughing man. Raff enjoys his looks and at almost all times tries hard to keep his handsome appearance, he has more styling products for his long blond hair than any female in the school.

The blond glorious mane of hair was now a waterfall of color and so was his entire face. Raff was trying desperately to try and clean glitter out of his face when Harold launched at Polliver. Raff tried to get Harold off of Polliver when Bob launched at him. Bob and Raff struggling ended up badly of course. Bob punched Raff hard enough to knock him into Harold, who was pushed off of the laughing Polliver. From that point it was a shoving, slapping race for wet rags, for trying to figure out how to clean themselves and the room. Raff had already declared that Unella would murder anyone that was in here. "Polliver can't do much but clean himself and move into a different room. But you two, if you don't help me, before the doctor eats me, I'll tell her you were both in here, that you didn't bother to help me fix the problem. Then she'll come for you and do you think Kevan will attempt to save you from that stomach?"

Gregor had walked in while the group of them were still arguing more than cleaning. Polliver had only managed to move over to a chair, still attached to his I.V. machine. Listening to Gregor yelling at them didn't help matters or tempers in the least. Only Polliver wasn't responding with angry cursing and threats. Gregor stared at the cackling lunatic with the bald head covered in a million twinkling colors. "Game Over, I can't decide if you look like a lollipop or a gay parade life size dildo. What the fuck are you laughing like that for? How much morphine did Raff give you?" Polliver sounded like a mule being raped, unable to stop wheezing, bent over, multicolored tears streamed as he was dying of mirth. With some actual concern, Gregor shoved the others out of his way as he crouched before the hysterical man, slapping his head lightly, causing small clouds of glitter.

"Hey? You going to be the Mayor of Crazy Town? You retarded gay twinkling dildo, you got to pull yourself back to reality. Come on, stop the mirth, take a breath. There ya go. Okay, another breath." It took a moment for Polliver to finally calm enough to speak. "I am giving Jeyne her name back. That was an excellent Person prank. She couldn't have known the timing! Look at those three! Two dignified color blind suits with their creepy ass glasses just turned into Elton John cosplay! And Raff, oh gods, his hair all shimmering and it's all over his face like, like-" Polliver was set off again and here came Bob with his fists at the ready for the man. Gregor stood up and faced Bob, with a huge smile.

"He's hysterical. He's drugged up, fucked up and beating him won't stop him from laughing. Why don't you help clean this fucking mess like a big boy, yeah? Don't be jealous, sweetheart, you are just as pretty as the other delicate fairies in here. Leave Polliver the fuck alone. You did your job, you got your jollies off hurting him. Now leave him alone." Bob was breathing heavily, this was all entirely too much and too far. His words were heavy and angry. "This is NOT acceptable. His attitude and yours are the ones that need adjusting. No wonder why those brats are able to get away with organizing protests, dancing on fucking roofs, causing Kevan to explode! This is all on your lackadaisical fucking staff that laughs at all the wrong things! I would tell you that the girl should be disciplined for this and whomever helped her as well! This was clearly the assistance of Arya. So I will punish both for you since this staff seems incapable of it!"

Gregor towered over Bob and Polliver's laughter dried up as he stared at Bob with hatred and warning. "Don't you dare touch my ducklings! You want to talk to Target during your mentoring about it, that's your right. But you don't discipline the other students! Jeyne played a harmless prank. She knew I would get it and like it, she didn't know others would be in here! The girl already is in enough pain, dammit! Leave her be! It was a funny little joke and you punishing her for it would regress her." Bob snarled at Polliver then turned to leave anyway. Gregor moved fast, gripping Bob's collar and twisting the cloth to cut off his airway. "You are not touching Jeyne. You are cleaning this room and then yourself. I don't give a flying fuck about pack orders or how our lovely dance pyramid goes, I'll never let you have free reign over my students."

Gregor threw Bob, letting him fall into Harold's arms. Gregor growled at them as he headed out of the room, already trying to get a shitload of glitter off his uniform. "I mean it, gentlemen. All three of you better get this place back in order before Unella sees it. Leave Polliver and Jeyne alone." Bob pushed away from Harold and shook his fist at Gregor. "You don't want to fuck with us, with me, mountain. Don't assume your strength makes you safe or offers you any authority over us." Gregor took a deliberate step backwards and turned only his head to stare at Bob with a mirthless grin. "Olenna told me all about her students while she trained me to take over her job. I loved her name for you, Bob. Fresh Meat. Yummy. Kind of gross to sit on her furniture knowing what you did on it when you were just a naughty cute little student."

Bob roared and lunged as Polliver and Raff started to laugh. Harold grabbed Bob just as the man went for his gun. "Get out, you asshole before he shoots you! Don't ever call him that!" Gregor turned and walked away slowly, as Bob screamed and wrestled his brother for the gun. "Bye, Game Over. Heathers, Fresh Meat and Collector. Get this place cleaned up. You should all be ashamed of yourselves, fighting, acting like the fucking kids. You want to act like students, I'll treat you like them." Gregor slammed the door on the yelling voices and left the clinic, still wiping glitter off himself. He headed down the pathway towards the student areas.

Gilly, Tyrion, Arya and Myranda were still at the outside detention area talking. Gregor peeked in at the dorm house to make sure that Unella was still asleep. He caught up with Hot Pie in the kitchens. The cook discovered Nanny Gregor was no less painful to be disciplined by as staff than when he was a student. Though Hot Pie will admit, that though when Gregor was his counselor he got strapped and buried by him a good amount, up until now, Hot Pie was never beaten with one of his own plastic food trays before. It was a painful and humiliating experience.

Stannis checked his phone, he watched the boys, he looked at his shoes. He cleared his throat and slowly his eyes fluttered shut. Ramsay grinned with malice at the napping professor then began speaking quietly to the others as they stopped clipping. They rubbed their hands and wrists, collapsing and stretching out in the grass. "We have to keep a look out for Gregor, he won't be too long, I bet. And speak real softly so we don't wake Professor LongFrown." They complained of the unfair punishment, they bitched about how the staff acted. Ramsay allowed the boys to complain and whine, waiting for them to bitch about the right thing. Joff began to call the girls traitors and whores and Ramsay thought, bingo.

"Now, now, they can't help their nature, Joff. I mean, Damon knows this one. A whore is just that, a whore. They aren't worth being angry with, they can't help their ways. Myranda was trained from the time she first spread her chubby little girl thighs as a kid to obey her first pimp. We can never count on or trust a girl like her. It's pointless and girls like her are good for a very few things, right, Damon?" Almost unwillingly, Damon nodded but that glint was growing in his eye as he was remembering times with Ramsay. Damon was struggling to remember that Myranda hasn't been anything but indifferent or kind to him. Ramsay saw that and rejoiced in it, fucking reveled. He was getting his brother back and that was a joy he would never admit to. It wasn't worth losing Sansa for, but it was at least a consolation prize.

Theon looked nervous and he spoke up. "Myranda's not a bad person at all, Ramsay. She just is scared of Bob and Harold, she has really good reason to be. I saw what they did over her breaking a really minor rule and it scared the hell out of me. It's not just all physical torture with them, they use mental, sexual and verbal torture on her." Ramsay fought himself not to backhand Theon and instead gave him a pitying but kind look. "You always did have a big heart, Theon. They tortured and mindfucked you too. Right? But here you are still with us in spite of what they did to you. You have a point though. The girl is totally under the twins power in a way that can't be broken or reasoned with. I agree that it is out of a sense of fear rather than the greed motivating most whores. Myranda is the proverbial whore with a heart of gold. She is kind to my brother and is protective of my dog sister. But Myranda can never be trusted and never be allowed to know any of our secrets. We cannot trust her."

Damon and Joff were both nodding in agreement. Theon looked down, flushing. Damon leaned over to Theon and grinned. "Hey, it's okay. I still like Myranda, she is a nice girl even if she is a whore. I won't start being mean or bullying her and I know you won't either. But Ramsay is right, she can't be trusted and we have to be careful to make sure we say nothing in front of her. Doesn't mean we are going to hurt her though." Theon wasn't so sure about that, Damon's eyes seemed darker than normal but his voice sounded so earnest, as if Damon believed his own words. Joff's nasty grin and next words told Theon the real truth. "I can't wait to hunt down that dirty whore someday. I don't know when that chance will come, but I'm going to hunt her and we'll see who she fears most then." Ramsay hushed Joff and smiled at Theon. "Can't change natures, right? Don't worry, Theon. I am not going to talk anyone into hunting or disciplining Myranda. But if Joff or someone does do it, I won't snitch."

 Theon snarled at Joff and snapped. "You want to go after Myranda? You want to start disciplining the school whore when your own wife pussy whips you in public?" Ramsay mentally cheered in his head, watching Joff's eyes flash in anger and humiliation. If he tried to, Ramsay couldn't have scripted it better. Second introduction done, Ramsay intervened smoothly. "That isn't fair, Theon. It's not easy to hunt or discipline a wild dangerous fast whore like Myranda. And Arya is different. She is way more clever, dangerous and accomplished than a whore is. Arya is from a line of strong matriarchal lines and Joff's mother was also a loving but heavy handed control freak. Joff finds it easier to practice with more malleable prey like Myranda. It's not a shameful thing. Everyone must conquer their fears in their own way."

Ramsay had to fight from laughing as Joff's head seemed to explode. Damon and Theon did laugh, softly as to not rouse Stannis. "Arya cannot be trusted, she isn't loyal. I'm sorry, Joff. If you want, I can help you handle Arya. Or I can send Damon and Theon to do it. The problem is, I have to worry that Arya will try to get out of you anything we talk about. She is a spy in training and we can't have her overhearing us or forcing the secrets out of you. But I know you aren't ready to take on your wife yet and that's okay. Truly. Nothing to be upset over, Joff." The boy was about to respond, his eyes full of fire when Stannis roused. "Eh! Why are you all laying there?" Stannis stood up as the boys scrambled to resume their clipping. Ramsay was slightly frustrated that the conversation had to end now but there was plenty of time later on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every now and then I decide to share a few of the musical things I hear that inspire me. Rarely do they make sense to others, but so be it. I am heavily inspired by music to write and sometimes clues are embedded in the music. Sometimes a better understanding of the characters can be seen in the songs. There are too many main characters for me to list the songs they each have unless there is a request for it. But I would like to share a few songs of the groups and pairs. All of these songs are on Spotify and Youtube. I listen to them on Spotify while I write, each story I write has it's own deranged list. This list has a song for each character and mood shift of the story as well as specific chapters. These are a few highlights of the list.  
> Sun Sugar Students: Fuck Off-Bonus Track by The Lonely Island (Popstar), Leather Boots by Alice Cooper  
> Sun Sugar Staff: We Didn't Start The Fire by Billy Joel/YMCA by Village People (it always sounded like an organized march of kids eighteen and older being lured away and not by gay men. by tired parents, so there ya go. kids marched off and can't you see gregor leading them onto the bus the first time to this tune??? with tickler holding pom poms cheering them from the bushes?)  
> Everyone over forty in the story: Asshole by Dennis Leary  
> Harold and Bob: Everything Is Awesome by The Lonely Island (Lego soundtrack also)  
> Harold and Gilly: That's All by Genesis  
> CultKids:Threw It On The Ground by The Lonely Island/Faith cover by Limp Bizkit (really, it has to be this version, needs the angst.)  
> Stannis and Tyrion: Another F.U. Song by Reel Big Fish  
> Gregor and Unella: Hate Your Guts by McBusted  
> The Tickler: A Lap Dance Is So Much Better When The Stripper Is Crying by The Bloodhound Gang  
> Kevan: Penny Lane by The Beatles/U Can't Touch This by MC Hammer  
> Sleeper: You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon  
> Jeyne: I Wan'na be Like You by Louis Prima (Jungle Book Soundtrack)


	142. Kind Of Like BlueBeard

Gilly's face was in a polite chilly smile as she served food. She had apologized to Kevan for the rather meager fare as she had spent more time than she meant to at the detention area. Kevan assured her that he enjoyed a well made garlic and cracked pepper rubbed steak and spinach salad as much as anyone else. Gilly did not look or speak to Bob or Harold, only responding to Kevan. She did stare at the bits of glitter that kept appearing but just pursed her lips and left to return with a small electric hand held vacuum to clean it. Kevan observed that Harold had a tiny bit of glitter in his hair and shook his head. "That stuff sticks around no matter how many showers you take. I always knew deep down that Jeyne must have been related to me. What a clever little minx she is, that is the Lannister trying to roar out. Knowing how to give a punishment along with a compliment, gods, that is her mother. Except if Cersei sent a sympathy card it would have poisoned them or have an explosion that took out an eye. I have every confidence that girl is on her way to being a Lannister at our school that I can be proud of. Wouldn't that be something?"

The twins nodded and ate, drank mechanically. Kevan raised his eyebrow as he stared at the dour silent men. "What is it? You truly can't be this upset over a glitter bomb, can you?" Bob sipped at his water and then cursed sharply when he saw his napkin twinkle a little green speck. Kevan sighed. "I forgot, you would be this upset over such things, Bob. My apologies that you are upset over not being your best but it isn't a big deal. You need to relax and please remember she is just a little girl that doesn't know any better yet." Bob's face moved fast, too fast and Kevan could feel those pale eyes piercing though his skull. "Sir, the girl might be a feral but she is not a stupid one. She knows a prank is mischief, that it can go wrong. I understand that she will receive no trouble for her prank. I do not disobey orders even the ones I don't agree with. It would be nice if you would show the same concern you have for the feral for Myranda. If her face hadn't been too messed up, she'd be out there right now in Kings Landing. And by the end of her damned punishment, her vagina would look like her face does now." Kevan's face was shocked and thunderous, Harold was staring at Bob in disbelief. Gilly had walked in to bring more coffee and was frozen. Harold tried to touch Bob's arm but the man shook him off and stood up, palms on the table, an angry twitching smile on his face.

"So those are the reasons, the main ones at least. Harold is upset too but not over the glitter but a bit about Myranda. But the main reason Harold is upset is right there." Without turning from staring at Kevan, Bob's arm went straight out and his finger pointed at Gilly. "Harold is concerned that the maid is upset with him. Harold is worried that Gilly is planning something with the students that he won't like." Gilly's smile shattered and she stormed out of the room. Harold hissed and Kevan spoke in a very soft, calm voice. "Sit down immediately. You have overstepped your bounds. There was no reason to speak in such vulgar terms about a student for any reason. There was certainly no reason for you to embarrass Gilly in that manner. You will apologize to her once you've collected yourself, young man. I can see that you are having one of your bad times, Bob. It's been a long time and Harold must not have seen the signs in time. I didn't either and we should have. After supper you will go upstairs and employ the emergency methods that Qyburn gave you to keep hidden away. I want to know if you have been taking your medication every day? Have you, boy?" Bob seemed to deflate and slump slightly in his chair. "I, no, Sir. Most days I have. But I did miss a few this week." Kevan gave a very fatherly and stern look to the shaken man. "As I thought. I want you to start taking them everyday in front of Harold or myself. Three times a day, in fact, bring your pill to the meal so I can see you take it. At least for a month or we are going together to a visit with Qyburn." Bob gave a small nod. Harold felt guilty and patted Bob's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I was so caught up in other things I didn't see that you needed my help. Do you want me to help you out tonight? I can babysit if you need to take the heavy stuff?" Bob put his face in his hands and mumbled something. Harold caught it and when Kevan looked at him questioningly, Harold got brave.

"Sir, what Bob said about Myranda, it was wrong the way he said it. But it's true. We both hated doing that to her. You do not work or enjoy girls in that field, so you don't understand what she goes through. At sixteen, booking her for at least one man every night for a week plus every weekend before and afterwards? It's beyond cruel and I want you to understand that girls used that roughly will either commit suicide or turn to drugs just to stay alive. I do not want that for Myranda and Bob is already seeing those signs in her. Please Sir, that girl is special and sweet, she and Jeyne are the only true loyal students in this whole place. Myranda doesn't deserve to be treated this way. I mean, Sir, did you see the reports from Raff after that last examination? Myranda sits on ice packs in classes while she tries to study on three hours sleep while she aches. It's wrong, Sir." Bob gave Harold a look of gratitude as Kevan looked taken aback. "I will admit that I avoided the reports. I cannot go back on punishments, no matter how regretful. However, the bruises are enough for us to consider a reason for it to end. No more clients than you feel the girl can handle once she is healed. I shall remember in the future that I should leave that sort of punishment up to you two. That is fair enough and that is that. Bob, you didn't nod when Harold did. Are you going to respond to me?" Bob lifted his face out of hands and rasped out, "Thank you, Sir." Kevan tilted his head and observed how tightly Bob was holding himself.

"Bob? You are very uptight, are you still angry with me? Harold was just as upset as you were over the girl. So was Raff if you are saying that the reports were significant. Yet, only you dared to say something, Bob. Oh, I mean, yes, you both protested at the punishment, but you did as you were told. Now you stand over me at my table and yell about Myranda? Bob, would you like to chat with me in private? Is something going on?" Harold sucked in his breath, going pale. He silently begged Kevan not to say it. Then shut his eyes in horror when Kevan went ahead and pulled the pin off the grenade. As much as Harold loved Kevan as a father figure, he hated that Lannister trait of poking weakness with a sharp stick. "Is this like with Olenna, Bob?" Bob exploded out of his seat and he nearly frothed at the mouth. "No! Sir, I have never done such a thing and you should be aware of that! You of all should know that after that, I have NEVER! I have a right to be concerned about Myranda! And I have a right to an opinion even if it doesn't change the orders! I am excusing myself, Sir. I do not feel myself and will go to use my therapy." But Bob didn't leave he leaned over to deliver one last scathing remark. "I noticed, Sir, that you exhibit concern that I might seduce one of your students but you have no concern over the Collector dating your favorite servant!" Harold gasped, Kevan went back to thunderous and Gilly just had the timing of Loki.

She stood there and gave a bitter disbelieving laugh at Bob's words. Kevan turned to ask Gilly to leave the room but the girl was striding up to the table to slam a packet on it with all her strength. Kevan's coffee spilled and Gilly didn't even notice, none of them did. Gilly stared at Bob and Harold, her face set in grim, pained lines, her eyes empty holes of fury. "I am not upset over earlier. We had agreed to keep our work separate from our relationship. This is what I am very upset over, Sirs. This is a copy of the report you had requested from Qyburn. Barbery felt that since it was my body you were inquiring about, I should know you were receiving my personal information." Harold and Kevan stared in horror at the medical file. Bob sighed. "I have to consider our future and Harold's safety if he can't do it himself. I simply wanted to know if she had given birth, she wasn't interested in trying to take any of those younger sisters in. She didn't want to go live with them or visit them. I found it odd." Kevan shut his eyes, his lips pursed in distaste, his voice heavy. "Bob, how could you do such a thing? I thought we agreed long ago that you would stop your checking up on Gilly's record." Gilly gave a smile that Harold never wanted to see again. It was a smile that he somehow knew that she gave to Craster and any men he shared her with. A cutting smile that was a silent scream.

"Let me clear things up for you, Sirs. I gave birth at thirteen to a baby boy. Craster sold boys to Qyburn for experiments or to others to be sold to the highest bidders. So I broke the tiny neck as soon as he was put on my chest, still wet and shivering. Craster beat me until I needed surgery. I was pregnant again a year later and had a girl. This time I nursed the girl without a word and daddy thought I was good. I snapped her neck later that night. Daddy broke both my legs for it and gave me to some men that liked to make movies with broken things. I got pregnant one last time at fifteen. When I gave birth, my limbs were restrained and the baby was taken away. It was a girl and since my other sister just gave birth, she nursed it with her own. Father told me to stay away from the baby and this time I obeyed. For one week until he took his eye off me. Then I went upstairs and while my sister slept, I smothered my daughter and hers too. I murdered every baby, every child under the age of four, I killed. I would have worked my way up but I heard father stirring, getting up for water. I ran, I was caught after a year on the run. Father didn't want to see me, he left me to rot with his friends as a broken rental. I ran from them too and Kevan bought me. Saved me. My sisters must hate me for killing their babies, they won't understand I was saving them the only way I knew how. So there you are, Bob. All the dirty laundry is aired out now."

Gilly turned and left the room fast. Kevan was flushed, he was revolted, horrified and utterly irritated with Bob. Harold glared at Bob and asked in a soft voice, "How could you do that to me, to her? Bob, that was just, you need to put yourself together." Harold stood up and ran after Gilly and Kevan stared at the remaining man. "Go to your room and get your treatment. We shall forget this distasteful event, do you hear me? Do not ever repeat it again. Get out, go."

Bob showered again first, he added lotion, lots of it and then a mild sun-blocker to his pale body. His skin was mostly smooth with only a few faint scars and some tattoos. He walked naked and slick, muscles bulging in his legs and arms, his chest was still well defined. A towel rubbed in his hair and he hung it carefully, using his hands to push his hair back out of his eyes. Bob went past his closet to a small secret room. It was padded and soft, walls and floors, no furniture at all. There was one small steel square high up among the padding and it had a small number pad. A password was typed and Bob pulled a small wooden box out, shutting the safe door. He slid down the wall to the floor, opened the box to find small bottles and a pipe, a gold lighter. Bob knew each of the bottles of marijuana were dosed with less natural or legal things. He chose one at random and filled the pipe. The tiny paper the bottle had around it said that it would relax Bob, promote higher thinking, let him sleep tonight without nightmares. Will ease the fire in his body and the worms eating his mind. Good, fucking great. Bob inhaled deeply, suffered a two minute coughing fit then continued to smoke the pipe. Smoke filled the room and Bob saw his hand go limp, dropping the pipe to the padding. It was out, luckily since he had no strength to get out of a fire on his own. His eyes grew huge, huger and they were gone, just mirrors full of past. Bob sunk deep into his own memories and shrunk down, down and blinked away.

"Please? Da? Please, not me?" Bob was wearing his favorite Star Wars pajamas and Harold had the way less cool Star Blazers ones. Varys wore his Star Trek pajamas and he was already pulling his shirt off. He always tried to save his younger brothers, always. "Da, hey, please, I'll do anything you want. Come on, they aren't as taught as me. I'll make it good, I swear." Varys had a frozen look on his face and his bulging eyes told the truth. He would rather slit his neck than let his father touch him. But he wanted to save his little brothers at any cost. He was right, he was older and knew more about what Da wanted. Varys couldn't always protect them but he did try. Da made Harold hurt and cry and did the same to Bob. There was no one to tell. Only Varys was in school and he was teased, even the teachers didn't like him. Varys couldn't help having no hair, being an albino and they knew that school was no help. No relatives or friends of their Da ever came by, it was only them in a tired apartment. The twins took care of themselves while Varys was in school on days that Da went out. They don't know what he did for money but he always came home stinking drunk and raving. He would beat and rape the first one he would see. Varys taught his brothers how to read and write, Da never let them go to school. "Remember what I tell you. He isn't your real Da or mine. We have the same mother and he killed her. It's just us and him. I am going to save us, just be patient and learn, anything I can teach you, I will."

Father loved to play games that were no real games. Da had a special one that they hated most of all. "I want to hunt you, like a real hunter. I want a reason to hunt, hurt you. So hide, fight, anything goes, I am counting to ten." At first the boys lost, he would find them, drag them squealing from hiding spots, pin them down, bite, rend, tear. Bob felt that his father used his penis as a weapon. It was stabbing them to death from the inside. Seven years old isn't an easy age to learn complex skills but Bob and his brother knew they were going to die by their father's hand someday. Maybe sooner than later. Varys was nine but he was clever for his age and had very good ideas. Bob would fight his father and Da would laugh, delighted then beat, strap, burn and strangle his son while raping him. So Varys learned how to make small weapons, taught his brothers how to use them by bringing them to see other kids he has met on the street. Bob learned how to hurt his father in other ways during the game. Harold learned how to make traps, to trick his father or actually get him caught in a trap that he can't get out of easily. Varys was excellent at hiding and becoming invisible until his father needed distraction or luring.

"Bob! There isn't enough room in this kitchen for you, me, your brother and Twisted Sister. Someone has to go." Harold had turned off the boombox that was more duct tape than plastic and then nearly shrieked at the sight of Varys. "Wow! Who the fuck gave you the shiner?" Varys gestured tiredly for Harold to get him some ice while he staggered to a chair. "At least the cocksucker didn't bloody my nose. Unless you find a high end drunk to roll, this is the last good outfit I have left." Bob was frowning as he continued to concentrate on making the box of macaroni and cheese. He hated what Varys did to keep them fed and sheltered. A brothel wasn't a good place to live but it gave them shelter from their father at least. The madame was kind and she let the boys just stay in Varys's room. He was something considered exotic and an albino twelve year old male prostitute was something no other brothel could boast of. Varys was adamant that the twins did not do that kind of work. "You use your skills, I'll use mine." Bob and Harold used their tricks, traps, weapons and fighting skills. It was going to be enough. It was going to save them all. Except that's when Varys was introduced to cocaine and got sidetracked. Except that's when the madame also discovered what Harold was trapping. That is when her enforcers discovered how Bob protected his brothers. On the run again and went to a new city. They were homeless, penniless, on the run and that's when Bob tried to steal from that quack that hung out near the rich section. Varys was sick, so sick and on the streets now, he has switched from high clients and cocaine to corner pimps and heroin. Harold was unhinged, he was stalking, trapping and Bob knew it wasn't going to take the police too long to figure out which areas to probe in. All Bob needed was some cash, some pills or shit to keep Varys moving and he can get them to a new city. Bob had watched Qyburn's movements for two straight weeks and had no idea he was watched back.

One minute the three boys had been walking down the alleyway and the next they were in the back of a van. Bags on their heads, hands tied behind their backs. Bob had assumed it was a dealer that Varys didn't pay, a pimp he owed or Harold's collections or his own temper has come back to haunt them. All Bob knew is this was it, they were dead now. It was with true surprise that Bob found himself in the clinic, blinded by the lights as the doctor smiled down at him. "Young man, you are very lucky that I have high friends in excellent places. Boys, do you have any idea how badly you are wanted by the police? Varys, the detoxing alone will kill you before your court date would ever come up. But you two, oh, let's see. Robberies, kidnappings, murder? Serious trouble, gentlemen. So young, not even teenagers yet. Luckily for you three, I have extreme interest in studying three albino children." They found themselves going between the clinic for testing that ranged from mild to blinding agony, to a home for castaways. Within months, Varys was peddling his services to gangsters with the eager assistance of the assistant director of the orphanage. Harold started to trap and Bob has taken on every brutal group in the rickety house stuffed with mean and desperate predators. The doctor had tested the twins eyes in a way he hadn't on Varys and to their dismay, the sunglasses became needed at all times. Qyburn did things to Varys that he would never talk about. The boys never protested the doctor's services, he was too scary to defy but it did nothing to curb their behavior out of his eyesight. The staff at the home could not handle the boys. Most were scared of them and there was no couple in their right mind that would even consider any of them. Qyburn cautioned patience and then it was discovered as always. Harold's trapping has been found, Varys was both taking and dealing drugs for his gangster pimp, Bob was involved in a running a small prostitution ring at the home. The kids found themselves back in bags, in a van. That's when they met Kevan and to their horror, Qyburn was there too. 

They fought it, fought their classmates, fought the staff and lost. Harold had been tamed by Kevan himself, Varys to Qyburn and Bob had not only fallen before Olenna, but beyond into a pit. The woman was older, but she was beautiful, her grin was fierce, her eyes sparkled. Her hair was done in a bun that always was crafted to look like it might fall luxuriously any moment but it never did. During her off time the hair would flow down her back and Bob wanted to bury his face in it, breathe it in. He hated her, loved her, fought her, spit, kicked, swore and threw everything he could. She broke his face, broke his fingers, ripped out his toenails, laughed heartily at every blow he dealt back, tears and snarls. Olenna never got angry at the students no matter what they tried. That woman could crack jokes while whipping the skin off that made the students laugh while screaming. One night Bob got sick of listening to Seylse and her fucking prayers. He launched at her and they went down in a heap. That bitch was way crazier and tougher than she looked and Bob was thrilled to have a proper fight. Meryn was a fucking pussy, he only attacked from behind, fought dirty and escaped if he thought he might lose. Olenna came dropping from nowhere as she tended to do and a good hearty kick to each ended the battle. Selyse was given a good strapping all the way into her room and Bob stood tall. "Go on, strap me, it doesn't matter. Want to beat me with your stick instead? How about your fists and rings, go for it! Want me to strip down and you can really get all the flesh? DO YOU THINK THERE IS ANYTHING YOU CAN DO THAT HASN'T BEEN DONE TO ME? ALL THAT'S LEFT IS KILLING ME AND NO ONES BEEN LUCKY ENOUGH YET!" The bitch cruised right up to the shaking, enraged boy and did the one thing he didn't expect. One kiss and that's all it took. A hand, a soft one on his neck, gentle, kind and that hot mouth. This was a new world of sensation, emotion and it lit up every synapse in Bob's mind, it swallowed him whole. This wasn't Da, rough, hurting, stinking, uncaring of his victim. This wasn't the girls he manipulated at the orphanage, that was more fun in controlling and manipulation than sexual pleasure for him. No, this was seduction, this was a woman that gently brought him into pleasure. Who taught him to value himself and use his talents. Varys had teased, saying that Olenna was Bob's Karma Sutra. Harold had been jealous and angry, a bit betrayed. He flat out told Bob that Olenna was just a prettier and friendlier version of Da. Bob stopped talking to his brothers.

He was in love, it wasn't dirty like they made it sound. Selyse had gravely told him that she would pray for him since he was too young to know any better. "I won't tell anyone, of course. I have heard you talk in our therapy circles. It's not like you albino boys aren't used to being used at young ages and at least you enjoy it this time. If you launch at me, this prayer book is going upside your head."  Meryn kept asking for the details and Bob would hit him until the bitch ran off. Olenna didn't care about the gossip as long as it never reached Kevan. Bob was careful and the other kids weren't snitches, even if they were assholes. A new student came to the school, some rich snooty jerk that was handsome in a way that Bob's unique looks couldn't compete with. Olenna named him Dragon and what kind of insulting nickname was that? Bob was Fresh Meat because he was headed for prison if he didn't change, Harold was the Collector named after a book and move that he and Bob loved and for the trapping. Varys was JailBait for clear reasons. Meryn was BottomFeeder since he had been known for preying on little children before landing at the school. Selyse was called Holy Hell for her incessant praying and for killing her own mother. But this Targaryen so called Prince from wherever he fucking came from, he got Dragon? Because he sets fires was what Olenna had said. Bob knew her eyes were settled on this new student and he lost his mind. 

Bob watched the bastard and even though Olenna still had sex with him, she was also doing this Dragon. In fact, she began to encourage them to enjoy her at the same time. This caused a hatred between these two boys that ended only in front of the woman. Selyse used to enjoy making small bonfires and doing her strange prayers and rituals over them. Olenna had not minded as long as the girl was within bounds and curfew hours. Kevan had no problem with religious freedoms and allowed any student whatever religious needs they chose. Only Selyse was interested and the others never watched her antics over the fire for long. Frankly, it was boring and little desperate looking. Only Dragon seemed to linger close and stare at the fire. Selyse would shoo at him to no avail and even Olenna told Dragon the fire pit wasn't for him to go near. Bob started to form a plan, an idea and if only he had checked it out with his brothers it might have worked. Or they might have warned him off and helped with a better idea. But Bob was in love and terrified he would lose this woman to this Dragon. Selyse was just collateral damage, really. The fire raged out of control, Selyse wasn't knocked out by the blow to the head. She was groaning and staring at the fires heading for her, unable to move. Bob had dragged her out of the way of the flames in time but then he knelt on her neck. "This is what you'll say happened. Dragon did this, he caused this fire, he caused your injuries. Stay here until Olenna finds you and say that. If you don't, I'll break your neck."

How could Bob know that it would spread so fast? How could Bob know that Meryn would find Selyse long before Olenna would? No one could hear her screams over the chaos of crackling raging fire, clanging bells and Kevan screaming for hoses while they waited for fire engines to show. The other thing Bob couldn't have predicted was just how bugshit crazy the Dragon truly was. As the flames licked around the storage sheds, the barn and heading busily for the cabins, the students were directed to throw bucket of water. Dragon stared into the flames and then just calmly announced he was a dragon and they don't burn. To prove it to them all, the crazy asshole lifted up his arms and walked straight into the burning barn. Harold and Varys screamed, Olenna had tried to run inside the building but Kevan held her back. It was already too late, the building was collapsing. The dragon's screams were high and awful, so were Selyne's but they didn't notice for a bit longer. Bob watched them put out the fires. Bob watched as Selyse was found and taken on a stretcher into the clinic. Bob watched as Meryn was dragged away by Olenna. Harold and Varys knew and the fact that they hugged him anyway made it worse. Olenna knew and that was unbearable. She wanted nothing further to do with him but kept silent for the sake of her job. That is when Bob figured out that Olenna didn't love him at all. It was one sided, it was a way to control Bob's violent temper, it was a way to keep the Dragon's insanity down and for her to get her jollies off with young boys. His focus of revenge switched fast.

Bob started to pay attention to everything his horrid science and math teacher taught him. As much as he despised Professor and disgraced Doctor Pycelle, he learned and stopped tormenting the man. He joined Harold in mentoring under Kevan. Stories were concocted and told, the kids blindly and uncaring, agreed to them. Meryn was there somewhere but they didn't know where. Selyse had been given surgeries then taken away. Given to marriage, someone in need of a young bride, they guessed. The dragon's family were angry but were told a story of how the boy started the fire and then willingly went into it. Cameras installed picked up the footage of him walking into the fire and it had to suffice. Money was paid and Varys was offered up for services that appalled others but not the twins. Varys paid off several favors for Kevan and afterwards he assured the twins. "These clients live like royalty, they treated me wonderfully and no one hurt me more than I allowed them to. I told Kevan I don't mind doing that kind of thing as long as I don't have to be beaten or forced into orgies." Varys was on his way with a talent, the twins paid attention in class, they mentored with Kevan and Bob plotted to bring down Olenna. He watched, observed and stalked more thoroughly than even Harold during his trapping phases. Then he found it, saw it and there was Olenna without her mask on, he truly saw what she was. It was all he needed and all Bob had to do was calmly take some pictures with the camera he stole from Harold, who stole it from Qyburn.

Thank the gods that Harold had noticed the missing camera and he followed after Bob. He ran fast and brought Kevan just in time. Little Lancel was still naked and crying, sucking his thumb while Bob tried to murder Olenna, choking her with the camera's strap after having beaten her with the camera, screaming that the woman was a fucking perverted, molesting piece of shit. Of course, Olenna told Kevan she was stopping Bob from molesting the boy and Bob said the exact opposite. Lancel said nothing at all, he hadn't too many words yet anyway, but even those were gone now. That is when Varys and Harold came forth to tell Kevan everything. They told him about Olenna's time with Bob and the Dragon. Bob heard later on that the staff had some sort of circle, a private thing and the students all heard Olenna screaming for a while. Bob didn't see anyone for some time except Qyburn and Lancel. Both of them were confined to the clinic for a long time. Separate rooms but Bob could hear the boy cry sometimes. Sometimes he would play Old Maid or Go Fish with the little boy when they were allowed to have their doors unlocked. Bob came out of the clinic and went back to school life with some twitching from shock therapy and pills to take. He took the medication, studied hard and mentored harder. Bob and Olenna ignored each other. When he graduated to become Kevan's staff, Olenna gave him a small gift. Bob threw it away, never even opening it. He was relieved when she left and Gregor showed up instead.

"I want her. Why can't I just have her? You can trap her, I can keep her." Harold laughed at Bob and lit a cigarette as they watched the young thing flirt with Karl Tanner who smirked and poked her broken rib so she would wheeze. "Finding a pretty thing for us to keep for favors at the school allows Varys a little more control. He won't have to keep throwing his new best whores at all of Kevan's business ventures if we have one to offer as well." Bob shrugged and watched Karl with a look of hate and the girl with another kind of heated look. "So we get two of them. This one for me and another for the school." Harold had put his hand on Bob's shoulder, speaking softly. "You know what a bad idea that would be. Where would you keep her? How long would she live before you or I lost control again? We can't risk it. We discussed this so carefully, don't lose focus now." Bob was careful, he truly was and he kept focus. He only touched Myranda the same way Harold did, they used gloves, they used toys, they groomed her carefully but they kept their strict limits in place. Well, Harold did except for the few times he lost his temper and punched or kicked the poor girl. Bob never did that but he did rape her that once, he lost control, hurt her beyond their boundaries and touched her without gloves, without a condom. He burned her, hurt her and raped her while she sweetly begged, screamed and cried for him. It was amazing and Bob keeps it in his head, its a shameful thing but oh, it was wonderful. He has touched her a few more times without the gloves on but that was as far as Bob ever went. It was only the memories that kept him from making Myranda fully his one way or another. Memories of Olenna and Qyburn's treatments were enough to keep his urges at bay. 

Bob's heavy hand found it's way to his hard cock and he began to masturbate. Myranda shouldn't be given to all those old perverts, she was his, had been his, always will be. If Kevan ever did truly offer to give Myranda to some rich man for a mistress, if he ever sold her off, Bob will slit her throat. He wouldn't be like Olenna and he wouldn't have to really hurt Myranda, she is a good sweet girl and obeys him, loves him, he knows she does. She has said it, held him shaking, begging him so pretty and Bob moaned, jerking himself harder. He spilled into his hand thinking of how big her eyes get when she is scared, trembling and whispering that she loved Bob and would do anything for him. How the sweet girl takes pain so well, how she surrenders to pleasure and pain, surrenders to him.


	143. Crazy Babies

Lollys spun around, her golden bikini giving off sparkles in the light. Bronn grinned and she grinned back. He wasn't even jealous that nearly every girl in there was drooling over damned Podrick. "She teases me, look how my pretty lass teases me." Podrick peered past the flesh of too many girls and he watched Lollys dancing to Mambo #5 and he smiled. "She teases you so you'll offer Varys more money for her. Same as all the girls do." Bronn scowled. "Not all of us have your charms and get the girls to practically pay us for their time. But I do make them laugh and they always leave with a satisfied smile. Not like how they float out of your room but it isn't nothing to scoff at either."

A good amount of handlers won't allow their girls to spend time with Bronn or Podrick. Varys keeps house girls and boys for those clients like Bronn and Podrick, the middle men of the higher classes. Lollys was the latest acquisition of Varys's little collection and Bronn found her easily his favorite. She was sassy, loved telling and hearing jokes and truly enjoyed her work. All the house girls flocked when Podrick would show, driving Varys crazy. He would come and shoo them away then chastise Podrick not to play this game all night. For him to pick a girl or two and let the others get back to work. Tonight Varys glanced at Bronn and sighed, telling him when Lollys was dancing for some clients, she'd be over when they were done watching her. "And I mean it, Pod, pick someone or the girls will never concentrate on any of the other men here."

Bronn and Podrick drank while Varys was telling Lollys and Irri that they had secured clients for when they were done dancing. "I love your choices in meeting spots for us." Bronn drawled out and Podrick flushed. "It's not what you think. If we met at any office or even a regular eating spot, who might notice and become suspicious? It makes sense for men like us to meet and be friends in places like this. Now what do you have for me? How right was I?" Bronn grimaced and took a large gulp out of his mug before answering. "You were right on who ordered the death and who forged everything, I am positive of it. It's way worse than you thought though. The weapon Lancel used to kill Jaime is pretty unique." Podrick rubbed his forehead. "Was I right about those girls? Is he trafficking them, is that what Jaime maybe saw?" Bursting out with a sort of snorting horrified laughter, Bronn shook his head. "That is the part you got wrong. Really wrong. Those girls are the weapons Lancel uses to kill, I think."

Podrick paled and moaned into his hand with regret. "Damn it. Jaime kept telling me how he felt something was off with those girls. He liked them but he told me that there was something wrong with how Lancel spent time with them. I thought he meant something else, I thought maybe Lancel was using the girls sexually or renting them out. I gave you Lancel's files, his history, I mean, it made sense to me that maybe he might hurt the girls. It never occurred to me he was training them to kill. Even the little ones, why? He is rich as fuck, he can hire a thousand assassins if he wanted. With his name and power, hell, Lancel doesn't even need to hide that it was him behind any deed, not with his father. Kevan knows what his son can be like, he has always protected him, he would forgive even this."  Bronn nodded then peered over his mug at Podrick. "How much do you know about cults, Podrick?"

 Varys tapped Lollys on the shoulder as she winked at the men and started to walk towards Bronn and Podrick's table. "Darling girl, I want that hair dyed tonight, I can see your roots. It's not flattering. If you insist on that cranberry color than you must take better care of it, please. Now, I want you getting that man properly drunk, fucked and talking. Same for Irri. I will be displeased if Kevan knows his business before I know it." Lollys nodded and gave a pretty smile to Varys. "Yes, Sir. Bronn's a talker, I'll get something out of him. Irri won't get much out of Podrick. He gets them too excited and he has never been known to use that tongue for talking." Rolling his eyes and pursing his lips, unable to stop the flash of amusement in his eyes, Varys gave a dramatic sigh. "So I hear. I am relying on you then to bring me the best tidbits." Lollys giggled. "I always do, don't I, Varys?" The man pinched her cheek a tad too hard. "Yes and it best stay that way. Don't get too ambitious on me, darling."

Sansa was behind the locked bathroom door and staring wide eyed into the huge expensive mirror, staring closer, until her nose touched it. "I am turning into Loras. Oh gods, I am going crazy like he did and I almost thought I would see him. I really thought I would look and it would be him not me. Oh gods, am I talking out loud to myself?" Pulling back from the glass, Sansa tried to calm her breathing and forced her body to not shiver. She recalled Loras telling her about his thoughts, how he got through every day. Recently Sansa has found herself using those very same ways to take every step forward. Stepping into the shower, Sansa washed her hairless body, taking care to use only the products Lancel bought her in exactly the way he wanted them used. In spite of this, showering was Sansa's favorite time. She was alone then, no one bothered her and if she cried, she can pretend soap had gotten into her eyes.

When the adorable tiny ones would play tea party with Sansa, she would imagine drowning them like spitting kittens. Sarah would grab Sansa with a moist chubby hand and show her the latest in toad props and Sansa wanted to use the props to poke the little monster's eyes out of her adorable head. Sansa would watch the grade school girls come in and draw pictures with the little ones of graphic deaths they will cause. She wants to cram the papers down their throats until the pink necks bulged and they died slowly, scratching their faces. The older ones helped Sansa with her hair and make up and she imagines smashing their heads into the mirror. Beating them to death with a hairbrush. She wants to peels Clara's face off, she wants to bite through Bethany's fucking face. Sansa never understood jealousy before, not true honesty jealousy until now. She had found the emotion distasteful in Loras, she had understood Ramsay's jealousy at having to lose Damon to her out of necessity but it still meant nothing to her. 

Sansa did not love Lancel as she did Ramsay. And Sansa didn't love Ramsay half as much as she loved herself. Of course, Lancel was her leader and her husband, she was fond of him, she loved him as their leader of course she did. She loved him in the way one loved a deity, fearful, worshiping and blindly. Except what Sansa had loved about Ramsay was how they both could love a deity and yet hope to find a way to exploit it, to use that shining holy right as their own weapon for their own needs. And what Sansa most loved about herself was that even loving Ramsay wasn't going to be something that kept her from using him if need be. There was passion, there was love, sure, but never jealousy. Not for anyone ever, the closest Sansa came to jealousy was when she had to give up Arya. Even that wasn't enough, it was more bitter anger than any type of jealousy. Now Sansa was becoming well acquainted with the emotion that brought Loras's end. She isn't enjoying it one bit. It is impulsive, petty and dangerous and logic doesn't change it one bit.

Lancel had superstars everywhere and none were more his shining stars than the girls, all nine of them sickened Sansa unto death. Loras might have died for their cause, Ramsay was constantly putting himself in danger, now left to fend for himself at the school, never mind what Sansa has sacrificed. But none of that could compare to the fucking Craster girls. They might have seen Sansa as a princess for their prince, a royal wife to be admired and cared for, but Sansa saw them as dead eyed followers, children taught into war that they didn't even understand. What they lacked in looks and personality they made up for in skills. Sansa joined them on most of their exercises as Lancel requested but she could barely keep up with them. She could creep but not as fast or as invisibly as they can. They can swim and hold their breath longer, fight under water. Guns, knives and arrows used with way more accuracy than Sansa could ever hope to be.

Lancel laughs and pulls Sansa close at night, seeing her resentment. "I need your looks and personality more, the way I need the girls to use their talents. You are my lovely wife and that is very important. You aren't made to do anymore of the grub work, I just want you to practice in case it's ever needed. Let the girls and Ramsay do the dirty dangerous work, love. You are going to be my sweet dove to help weave the rich into complacency and fall in love with us. That is important, since we can't murder all of them. But I need you to help me weed out who lives and who doesn't. That's very important, superstar." Sansa knew it was important and she did it quite well, it was a talent of hers. But Sansa still saw how proud Lancel was of the damned girls and his eyes lit whenever he spoke of his mindless minions. The jealousy was eating her alive and the girls were a cage that Sansa couldn't break through. It was intolerable and the only time Sansa could breathe was when Lancel took her to Kings Landing, to the mansion.

The huge meeting of all the money hungry rich and mostly rich was a godsend to Sansa. She never thought the day would come when Sansa would be happy to see Walder Frey's ancient rheumy eyes crawling her bosom. Doran's weak handshake and there were the Karstarks, Umbers and a sullen Tully, a Tarly then of course the Bankers of Braavos. Sansa saw to a week long dignified flirtation of cranky men and their far too curious wives. The women saw a young woman that was polite, full of mystery and utterly in love with her husband. Sansa hired the best, the women were treated to personal spa treatments, to fashion shows that no others would ever see and chefs from around the world made them tiny foods they could eat but still keep their figures. In the evenings, they saw clubs that most couldn't get into without a personal invite. Sansa just happened to find favorite singers of these women to show up and give an autograph as well as a performance. Lancel gave Sansa the drugs to slip into the women's drinks and getting information as well as planting it became easy.

Sansa made a game out of trying to ditch or block Bronn at all times. It was her one bright fun challenge. Hating the scruffy man was boring, it got old fast. He wasn't worth such an emotion and Sansa saw that the girls didn't like him either. Oh, they acted as if they did, Lancel encouraged it as much as he spent as much time as Sansa trying to lose the man. But Bronn wasn't stupid and he never allowed even the smallest of the tots to lead him anywhere. He was flirtatious, friendly, funny and charming but never once did he seem to feel safe around any of them, including Sansa herself. Not once did Bronn ever let down his guard and he would always find Sansa no matter how much she would try and escape him. Lancel promised Sansa that when the time came for it, he would let her do the honors and be the one to murder Bronn. It was another fantasy to add to the others and Sansa could smile at Bronn while picturing how to kill him. Oh gods, she was turning into Loras.


	144. Tantrums Of A Teenage Beast

Polliver was only beginning to wake, the aches and stings starting, though thankfully not as bad as before. He should probably be cleared to go back to his cabin today. Keeping his eyes shut, not ready to try and move yet, he drifted. Gregor's voice from the distance, hollering at the students to pick up the pace on the early morning jog before breakfast. He grinned, glad that Gregor kept up the punishment he had started. The clinic door banged and it briefly startled him out of the doze he had slid into. He heard Unella's voice coming from her office area, sounding disapproving, shocked and concerned. "Jeyne! How did you...look at you! Did Gregor know you were coming here? Raff was coming with your medication after his coffee, how did you get here? You are covered in sweat and pale. DID YOU WALK UP HERE, YOUNG LADY? YOU FRACTURED THAT BONE LESS THAN TWO DAYS AGO! YOU ARE GOING TO-"

Wincing, Polliver heard the sounds of vomiting. Unella was still pissed at finding glitter in strange places all over the clinic. She nearly ate Raff, Polliver was truly and properly terrified when she turned on him. "You have no need for this much medication, Polliver. Time to visit the real world again. Welcome to the world of lighter opiates for three days and then Tylenol should do it, young man." Polliver did enjoy the sight of Unella looming over Raff like an exploding volcano. She made him crawl and sweep up every piece he could find for a half hour before he could escape and get his coffee. He had fallen back asleep to the sight of Raff storming past his window with his middle finger extended at the clinic. He drifted off again as he heard Unella trying to get Jeyne to stop vomiting. "Fuck you! Fuck you! I won't see them at all then!" "Jeyne! You will NOT EVER speak to me that way!" Polliver's eyes popped wide open. Did he just hear Jeyne swearing at Unella?

"I AM NOT LAYING ON MY STOMACH IN FRONT OF MY FATHER EVER AGAIN! MIGHT AS WELL FUCKING CRAWL! IF YOU WON'T HELP ME THEN FINE! I WILL NOT SEE HIM! DO NOT TOUCH ME! FUCKING BITCH! BITCH! BITCH!"

Polliver struggled up as he heard Jeyne's voice go hysterical and a mix of growling and howling. Unella's voice was even, it was a very safe voice but chilly."Jeyne, calm down. Take a deep breath, please. Raff will be here in a minute, you can talk with him. I don't think you are in control of yourself right now. I want you to go wait in Raff's office or in one of the rooms. Don't make me have to text Gregor." Polliver was staggering for his door as he heard what sounded like Jeyne tossing every chair in the hallway. "I AM NOT PERSON, BITCH, I AM ANGRY, FERAL ANGRY GET THE FUCK AWAY! I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOUR BABIES SO GET AWAY FROM ME!" Polliver got a surge of energy at that and flung his door open, pulling himself into the hallway, briefly thankful he was in shorts along with the damned hospital nightgown. He was relieved to see that Jeyne was simply smashing the same chair into the walls. The pain was draining her face of all color, sweat poured but the girl was in such a panicked temper that she couldn't stop herself. Unella had tried to get close enough with a syringe to sedate Jeyne and the girl was using a chair to keep her away. Polliver thought to himself that if Gregor saw how close Unella had tried to get with Jeyne wielding that chair, he'd kill his wife then and there.

Polliver slammed his fist against a wall to get Jeyne's attention, then nearly fainted at the pain in his flayed arm. "HEY! WHAT THE HELL AM I SEEING AND HEARING, DUCKLING? FERAL! GET OVER HERE NOW!" Startled, Jeyne stared over at Polliver but she menaced Unella who tried to get closer. Sighing with frustration, Polliver snapped, "Unella! You are making her nervous! Could you take your damned needle and stomach somewhere else? Gregor will murder you if he sees the danger you put that stomach in. I won't tell if you'll let me handle this." Unella backed off a bit but snarled back to Polliver. "You are injured, on medications and currently suspended from duty. If I don't sedate her, she will escalate worse." Unella grimly turned to stare at Jeyne and then at Polliver. "Fine. Jeyne, I am texting Raff and Gregor. You best calm yourself and head into Raff's office before they get here. And get off your damned feet before you fall over or vomit again!" Polliver watched Jeyne's eyes track Unella until the woman disappeared into her office, already pulling out her cell phone. Jeyne turned to stare at Polliver, still holding the chair in front of her, panting, shivering. Polliver leaned against the wall and grinned at the girl. "Okay, the stomach is gone. Put the chair down. You need to pull yourself together before Raff and Nanny Gregor get here. Tell you what, come visit with me. I am off duty, can't discipline you and I hurt too much anyway. Come on, might as well visit while you wait." To his relief, Jeyne dropped the chair and nodded, trying to slow her breathing.

The relief turned to worry when Jeyne dropped to all fours and crawled her way to the room. Polliver backed into his room and sat on a chair, giving Jeyne the space he knew she needed. "It hurts too much to walk anymore. She doesn't understand, she just sees I walked here, doesn't understand." Ignoring the growl returning to her voice, Polliver drawled out, "Why don't you use the extra cot in here to lay on your stomach? It will feel better than crawling around, right? I understand your problem. You don't want your father seeing you laying down, hurt and vulnerable. Seeing you on your back is like him seeing you on all fours, right? You were hoping to skip the visit or have Unella do something so you can stand." Jeyne nodded and burst into heartbreaking sobs. "I would lay there, like a dog, curled around HIS FUCKING SHOE! I WOULD CRAWL AND HE WOULD SMILE, HE LIKED IT! I WILL NEVER, NEVER, NOT AGAIN, IF HE SEES ME FERAL, I WILL BE A FERAL AND I WILL RIP HIM UP, JUST LIKE HER, I WILL DO IT IF I HAVE TO!"    

Gregor and Raff both rushed into the clinic, nearly landing on one another. Unella pointed towards Polliver's room. "Jeyne was wielding a chair, smashing it around, screaming and swearing, she walked here! She should never try to walk this much with such an injury! She looks like hell and is out of control. Polliver coaxed her to let go of the chair and visit with him. She was screaming and crying a minute ago but it's been silent in there for a minute now." Raff had his syringe at the ready and Gregor already had restraints hanging from the back of his belt in case it was needed. Raff carefully peeked into the doorway of Polliver's room, Gregor simply looking over his head. Polliver and Jeyne were laying on their stomachs, facing each other talking. They were an arm length from each other, Jeyne mostly under the bed. But her thin arm was stretched out and her hand was in his tight grip. He wasn't pulling on her, he was simply offering an anchor for her storm. "I'm not a dog! Not a filthy beast anymore!" Soft sobbing, whining voice and Polliver's calm voice returned. "You are not a dog. You were never a dog. You are a human girl, no matter what they did or said, you were never a filthy beast. I will beat up anyone that says different, kiddo." Polliver looked up at Gregor and Raff then grinned at Jeyne.

"Uh oh, looks like Unella called in the reinforcements. Want to hold my hand while you shimmy out of there? I want you to tell Raff or Nanny everything you told me, okay? Let them know how you feel, no need to toss chairs at their heads. It's hard to believe that shiny bald head or that gorgeous hair hides brains but they do, they will hear you and help." Jeyne gave a tiny giggle at that and let Polliver help her squirm out from under the bed. Polliver gave a cautionary look to the men. "Jeyne is having a real rough morning. She hurts bad so she is crawling because of that. No other reason, right, Jeyne? I already told her that her nickname days are over. She is having some trouble with the visit today." Gregor crouched down and smiled broadly at Jeyne. "How about I have Raff set you up some painkillers and something to help you calm down? Not the sedative hiding in his hand, Mr. Handsome can make you something that won't make you fall asleep. Sounds like you need to talk and you can't do that sleeping now, can you?" Jeyne wiped her eyes and sniffed, nodding. Raff came back with two syringes and she whined, crawling restlessly for a moment. Raff crouched down with Gregor, Polliver simply sat on the floor. Extending an arm, Raff spoke in a sweet tone, a soothing calm voice one would use on an injured creature.

"Poor Jeynie, I can see your pain from here. Look, this one is just for making that pain go down a little bit. This one is to calm you down, it's not the knock out one, I promise. Let's get you feeling better, honey, come here to me." Jeyne crawled over after a moment and as Raff went to inject her, she darted her head down and bit hard before anyone could stop her. Gregor got his fingers in her jaw, forcing her teeth out of the bloody skin. Raff swore and gave her both injections fast. Polliver came closer as Gregor restrained Jeyne in a cradle hold as she sobbed, blood dripping from her mouth and her arm. "Now why did you do that? Huh?" Jeyne shivered. "So I won't bite Raff. Why I slammed the chair into the wall instead of Unella when she kept trying, wouldn't stop and I didn't want to hurt the stomach, the babies." Gregor didn't seem happy about that but his voice remained calm and cheerful. "That's good. I'm glad you didn't hurt the babies or Raff. But I don't want you to hurt yourself or the cheap nasty clinic chairs. I know you aren't going to like this, but I'm going to put you in restraints for a little while. It's okay if you swear and struggle, I'm big, I can take it. But the restraints are going on and then we can talk all you need to."

Damon and Myranda worked in the kitchen, setting up while Hot Pie made breakfast. It was clear that things have changed. Damon's eyes were darker and he seemed menacing rather than his usual cheerful demeanor. Hot Pie and Myranda were aware that Damon was looking at his fellow student with new eyes, his eyes crawled along her and his tongue licked at his lips. This was the Damon that first came to the school and they knew Ramsay had his brother back. He did his job, he did nothing inappropriate and he obeyed everything that Hot Pie said. Damon remember what his brother had said, keep an eye on Myranda. Find out the day that the deliveries came and get everything from the girl that she manages to sneak into the school. He already knew, since he took over for Jeyne before, he knew exactly what days, what mornings and afternoons that men delivered things. This morning was a delivery and Damon kept working while Hot Pie and Myranda went out back to meet the truck. Slipping out, he watched Myranda wander into the back of the truck with the man as Hot Pie grabbed his own contraband plus the boxes of ordered frozen meats. Damon went to set up the tables and pretended nothing was wrong. The whore came back and continued to help setting up.

 When the two finished and headed to leave like always, to shower and change before line up, Damon grabbed her. A blind spot just before the dorm house, Damon snatched the slight girl and pulled her out of sight, just behind the cabin. Slamming her up against the old painted, splintered wood, he put one arm on either side of her and leered down into her face. Myranda tried to stay calm, she kept her cool and smirked up at Damon. Every story she heard of what he and Ramsay had done to whores was spinning through her head. This wouldn't be a rape, well, it would be, but it would be one that she didn't live through. "If you wanted to talk in private, Sidebitch, you could've just said so." Damon's eyes looked cruel and hungry, his lips were curled into a sneer. The handsome young brute has become a terrifying, bestial threat and Myranda felt her heart beat way too fast. His voice was too low, it was a painful timbre and it made Myranda flinch, that made him move closer. "Joff really, really wants to hunt you. Ramsay and Theon have been keeping him from it. I have to admit, a whore hunt does sound good. And it's what might happen if you don't hand over everything that trucker gave you." Myranda's eyes went to Damon's in an angry bitter clash. "I think if you want contraband, you should be the one to give the blowjob then. Do you think he just gives me stuff because we are fucking friends? Hunt me if I don't give you what I have? Damon, what do you think Jeyne will feel about that?"

That got through and Damon's eyes seemed to go softer for a moment then it was gone. "Leave my sister out of this. She won't know I was involved, if she does, oh well. Jeyne is Bolton blood and she will learn to listen to me and to Ramsay." Myranda gave a laugh. "No she won't. Damon, you shouldn't be listening to him, Jeyne should never listen to him. Sansa told you that, Loras told you that-" The large hand wrapped around her slender throat and began to slowly squeeze. His voice snarled and he was in her face, his body pressing into hers in a smothering way, strangling her, her eyes wide, trying to form words. "Never say those names. You didn't know anything about Sansa or Loras and you don't know my brother. I won't let you and Arya poison my sister. I want to hunt you along with Joff and Ramsay and Theon. That's what will happen if you don't become a good little whore and do as your fucking told. Give. Me. What. You. Have." The hand loosened and Myranda coughed, trying to drag air into her starved lungs. Damon was a human cage around her and Myranda tried to think fast while he allowed her the time to relearn how to breathe. She could go for his very sore junk and that would probably give her time to run. Problem was, she couldn't hide from him or the other boys forever. Damon alone was a big threat, the others added and Myranda can't defeat that. She won't survive a hunt and even with the Tickler, she was sure they would find a way to do it. "Okay. I'll give it to you. It's not worth being hunted over."

Myranda handed over two joints and then pulled out a small box of purple hair color. "Can I at least keep this?" Damon nodded and asked, "That's it? Seems a skimpy load for the blowjob, no pun intended." Flushing, Myranda lifted up her chin and snapped, "I keep the energy drinks and cigarettes in the kitchen to share with Hot Pie." Damon's hand was yanking her hair back and he slammed her against the wall again, this time with his whole body. "Don't be a salty whore, be a good whore that doesn't get hunted. I think I should search you just in case you have anything else." Myranda swallowed hard, she could still bring him down. But at what cost? "I gave you what I had, I told you where the rest of it is. I am not lying. You don't need to search me." Damon sneered and his eyes were small pits of barely held back urges. "All whores lie. That's what they do, it's their nature. I am starting to think you want to be hunted. You would be such pretty prey and you'd give us one hell of a fight, wouldn't you?" Myranda forced her voice to become softer, conciliatory and tried her damnedest to relax her body. She knew men, she knew what each wanted to see and Myranda could only pray that with Damon she'd be right. Her eyes rolled upwards to him and tears fell slowly as she gently, timidly touched his chest with flat soft palms in a begging gesture. "I'm sorry, please. I get defensive when I get scared. I want to be a good whore that isn't hunted, please. Search me to see I wasn't lying, okay? Please, don't hurt me, Damon."

Myranda could only thank the gods that Damon was too injured to rape her or make her blow him. She was one hundred percent sure that is where this would have gone. Instead Myranda endured hands that squeezed too hard, dove into places they shouldn't and probed until Myranda cried out in pain. "Shut up. If anyone hears you, I'll make you pay for it." Biting her lip, she drove her fingernails into her palms while Damon felt all of her, before he pulled away. "Guess you told the truth. Good whore. I'll see you for the next delivery, for all of them. Of course, you could drop whatever bullshit you and Arya are up to and maybe this can end. Or maybe that hunt will happen someday." 


	145. Sealing Wax

"SuperD! Where the fuck is my shit? How did you get past my damned trap? I'm going to rearrange your fucking face if you don't give me my shit back right now!" Arya had burst into the bathroom and Theon kept showering, anticipating this. "I never touched your shit. I can't get past your traps. I simply unlocked our side of the bathroom door so Death Row could sneak in and do it. Shut the curtain, that jog made me sweat like a pig." She dropped her jaw, staring at him open mouthed. Then Arya reached into the shower and twisted the knob all the way over before storming away, leaving Theon to boil and scream, flinging himself out of the shower. Arya flew out of their room and over to Ramsay's.

She banged on the door until Joff opened the door to smile nastily at her. "Something wrong, wifey?" Arya gave him a snarl of disgust. "Don't call me that, asshole. Let me in, I want to talk to Death Row." Joff stood aside and spread his arm as if to grandly welcome her inside. Ramsay was tying his sneaker and he drawled out, "Make it quick. We have to be against the wall in ten minutes." Arya walked over to stare down at Ramsay with menace and her voice was cold. "Give it back. You stole my shit and I want it back now." Ramsay finished tying his shoe before letting his eyes slowly drift up to meet hers. "You mean that box of gum? Or do you mean stupid little black rock chunk?" Bristling, Arya ground out, "I mean both." Smirking, Ramsay slowly stood up, forcing Arya to take half a step back so that they were only nose to nose.

Arya was ready to spring into a fighting stance but Ramsay put his hands in his pockets, kept his body relaxed. His eyes drilled into hers and his voice was soft as silk. "I loved your trap, very good. Better than mine are. I envy you your mentors. Do you know what I found most interesting though? That box of gum. All small chunks, wrapped in wax paper, no brands, no words or logos, just chunks wrapped in wax. Huh. Where does it come from, Target? Inquiring minds want to know. Tell me about the gum and about the stone and maybe I'll return them." Arya flushed red and her fists turned white with rage. "It's none of your fucking business. Give it back." Ramsay tilted his head. "No story to tell? I love stories, pity. Tell you what, if you drop whatever you are doing with Myranda and Gilly, I will give the stone back. Maybe I'll give you both if you drop this project of yours and tell me at least one of the two stories. How about that? That's fair."

Breathing heavily, Arya growled out, "If you don't give me my stuff back, I'm not going to let it go. I'm going to fucking BLEED you, asshole. Do you hear me?" Ramsay gave a dramatic wince and pulled at an ear. "Yes, I hear you, your voice is getting quite strident. I want to know how you are going to deal with the rest of them after you bleed me?" Arya hadn't noticed Theon or Damon enter the room and shut the door, joining Joff. Her anger and focus had been on Ramsay and getting her stuff back. The three of them were circling her and Ramsay smiled. "You should hurry and get ready before we have to be at the wall. If you change your mind and decide you need your stuff back, just ask your husband to intervene for you with me. I'll happily talk to him. Bye, Target." She had no choice, she can't take them all. Staring at Ramsay, trying to keep her cool, Arya hissed at him, "There is no need for this!" Ramsay gave her a somber sad look that was hiding a boiling fury, his voice was a blade. "There is a need for this. You are clever, you'll figure it out. Sansa always told you that gum was bad for your health." Arya told Ramsay to go fuck himself and shoved Theon out of her way to leave the room. 

 As soon as the restraints were put on Jeyne, she predictably fought against them, flinging herself around, swearing and screaming. This is what most students do once their brain registers they are restrained and safe enough to freak out. Gregor had put the full straitjacket on her, seeing that she needed time to tire herself out. "Maybe the padded room so she can just rage it out for a while? I have to get the meds ready for the students." Raff looked at Polliver with question when he spoke up. "You need to get to meds, Gregor needs to get the kids up here and to breakfast. I'll stay with her, I won't let her smash into the walls. Once Jeyne tires out, she will need to talk and have someone to listen, to help her back from it. Go on, we'll be fine."  Gregor was still holding onto the flailing, screeching girl and he shrugged. "If you are feeling up to it. You aren't too hurt? I mean, she is restrained but she head butts really well and her teeth still work. Jeyne isn't ready to hear words yet, Polliver."

"Nah, we are gonna be fine, right Jeyne? Set her down and when she's ready, we'll chat." Gregor carefully put the girl down on a plastic mat that Raff had hurried to set down. Jeyne screamed, writhed, slammed her feet but stayed on the mat, on her stomach. The sedative and painkiller helped keep her from raging too hard. Polliver sat on the ground, close to the girl, but giving her the distance she still needed. "It's a really large rage, isn't it, Jeyne? It feels so big that your small body just can't contain it all, go on and let it out. I'll stay right here with you." Gregor gave a small nod and he left, Raff heading for the med counter.

Gregor stopped to fill the doorway of Unella's office. "She was out of control. Wielding a fucking chair. And you just kept trying to challenge a violent girl?" Unella glared at her husband. "Polliver said that? Asshole broke his word." Gregor shook his head. "No, he said nothing. It was Jeyne who felt bad that she had to fend you off with a chair, she was afraid of hurting the babies but wanted to keep you away. That doesn't sound like safe behavior for a fucking pregnant woman, does it? Are you trying to get me to break both your legs?" Unella sniffed and went back to her laptop. "Don't you have students to attend to, Gregor? And when you bring Theon for his medication, I'd like to see him briefly to check on his bandages." Gregor shut his eyes and took a long calming breath. "Gregor, what the hell are you doing?" He spoke to Unella without opening his eyes or changing his breathing. "I'm trying to pray to the gods for the strength not to outright just murder you."

Harold was relieved when Gilly brought him his restorative tea instead of the coffee during breakfast. She refused to speak with him the night before. He had caught up with her in the kitchen and she spoke without turning to look at him. "Harold, I am not mad at you. I know it was Bob alone now. But I am very upset and I really don't want to talk to anyone. Please leave me alone. I need time to calm down and to think." He had left her alone. Bob was calmer this morning, but sullen and not talking either. He made sure to take his pill in front of Kevan and Harold right after they were served juice. Kevan sipped his coffee and asked Bob if he felt more in control. "Yes, Sir. I am better today. Just a little off balance but it will pass. I apologize for how I acted last night. I will make sure to apologize to Gilly as well." A text to the twins cells had them all sidetracked a moment later. Harold looked at the message then up at Kevan. "Sir, the staff is reporting that Jeyne had to be restrained and sedated. She was having some extreme upset over her father's visit today. They don't feel there will be any way that Jeyne will be able to visit with her father today."

Kevan gave a pitying look then shook his head. "Very well. I will be spending most of Roose's time with me anyway. If the girl feels stable enough later on, she may have a visit with Walda instead. That woman somehow has maintained a kind heart and will be comforting to Jeyne. The boys will visit with their father and that should suffice." Nodding, Harold texted the staff a response. Kevan smiled as Gilly appeared to refresh their coffee. "Gilly, thank you again for offering to watch the other children today. I hear that Hot Pie has decided to join you in keeping the other students busy during visiting time. Please, thank him for me. I will need the twins here with me while I speak with Roose. Now, I think it's prudent to keep both Raff and Gregor on hand with Damon and Ramsay during the whole visit, but the rest of the staff should assist you if you need it. Don't hesitate to ask for help from the professors or the doctor." Gilly smiled and left again, only to return to clean after breakfast was over. Bob came back into the room while she was loading dishes into her arms. "I want to apologize for snooping. It was wrong of me." She gave him her best customer service smile and her eyes were hard. "Thank you, Bob. It was wrong of you but I understand why you did it. You want to protect your brother. Excuse me, I have to get moving if I hope to make it to the school soon."

 Arya ignored Ramsay and the boys leaning against the wall and walked over to Myranda. The girl was leaning by herself at a distance and narrowed her eyes at the sight of Arya. "Hey, Myranda. Fuckers been at you too?" With a smirk, tossing her hair, Myranda spoke. "Let's see, Sidebitch stole my contraband then gave me a cavity search that felt more like a fucking expedition of my Fallopian tubes and my lower intestine. And I was informed that I'd make a great whore hunt. You mean something like that?" Arya nodded then shifted her feet, leaning closer, lowering her voice. "Yeah. They stole my stash, my gum. Do you think you could-" Myranda gave a throaty laugh as she moved away from the wall, away from Arya. "No. Didn't you hear what I just said? We aren't friends, honey. We just had a common cause and now that's over for me. Okay? You want contraband? Get it yourself." Myranda walked away from the girl and every hard male eye watched her saunter over to Ramsay. She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned close as if flirting. Myranda whispered into his ear. "Call off your rabid bitches. I won't be their fucking prey. I'm not with Arya, I will tell Gilly I'm not interested. So call them off me." Ramsay smirked, he whispered back. "Good Whore. I'll be sure to tell my boys that they we can count on you to do as you're told. We will let you know when we need you."

Myranda sighed and pulled back tired of the game. "How about I just remain neutral, huh? I don't want any part of what Arya and Gilly are doing, I don't want any part of what you are doing. Let me do my own thing, okay?" The boys gave smothered laughs as Ramsay rolled his eyes and spoke very slow as if to a stupid child. "It doesn't work that way, Whore. See, that's what happens when you decide to try and use your brains instead of what's between your legs. You wanted to step a pretty toe out of place and here is where it landed you. Don't worry, I don't need anything from you right now, cunt. But if and when I do, you'll have a choice. Obey or get hunted." Myranda tilted her chin up and her voice was sweet, it was syrup, it promised the best fuck of his life. "Ramsay, I want you to understand something, I want all of you boys to understand this. There is a limit that you can push that even a whore can't take. Don't go there. You can hunt me, sure, but afterwards, when the twins see what you've done to their prize whore, what do you think they will do to you? And if you try and say, oh, they won't know it's us, they will. Arya will tell them, Hot Pie will tell them. I will die a horrific death but so will everyone of you. Except whichever of you they decide to keep as the new Tickler, maybe. I will play good quiet whore and I want to be left alone." Myranda walked over to her place next to Arya just as Gregor entered.

"Good morning again, children! Everyone nice and hungry? A good invigorating jog and a nice hot shower should have you all in excellent moods today! After breakfast, I want everyone here to discuss the different schedule we will have today. It's a slim visiting day so only Death Row and Sidebitch will be heading up to get kisses and cuddles today. Boys, you will be attended by myself and Raff, aren't you just the luckiest things? As for the rest of you, today will be spent in organized activities with Gilly until visitor time is over." Damon looked up at Gregor, his former bestial look wiped from his eyes by worry. "Is Jeyne okay? Is she coming back?" Gregor nodded and grinned at the boy, not seeing anything but a concerned brother. "Jeyne was so excited that Polliver granted her name back that she turned into a firework. She will be fine, a little clinic time and some rest. In fact, if Jeyne feels up to it she might even visit a bit with Walda later."

Ramsay gave Damon a small pat on the arm as the kids got into their line and followed Gregor towards the cafeteria. Getting the boys to turn against Myranda and Arya wasn't hard at all. Theon wasn't too big on anyone hurting Myranda until he had a little chat with him. After he got Theon to let him into their room to steal Arya's stash, Ramsay pulled the boy aside to talk softly with him. He didn't try anything sexual or threatening, no, he sat Theon down and spoke honestly and brutally to him. He reminded Theon how it was Myranda that lured the boy into Bob and Harold's grasp. It was Myranda who saw his pain and desperation and used it to her own gain. To get praise from her handlers, her pimps, by setting up another victim for them. Myranda was at fault for Theon's torture by the twins, it was her fault that he was whored out, that he met Styr and almost died. It was her fault that Sandor died, that Jeyne was shot, that Polliver went crazy, that Theon's throat was injured. It was all because of a greedy whore, can't trust whores. It worked and Theon has looked at Myranda with new hateful eyes.

The one thing he couldn't do was turn Damon or Theon against Jeyne. Last night Joff had jokingly mentioned how they should get to the feral bitch while she was still incapacitated and the reaction was instant and strong. Theon had narrowed his eyes and Damon lifted Joff by his neck, strangling him. "If you lay a single finger on my sister, I'll hunt YOU." Theon had nodded and added, "I'll help Damon on the hunt and bury what's left of you for him after." Ramsay had intervened, calmly touching Damon's back. "Put him down. Joff, there is no reason for anyone to go after my dog sister. She is a Bolton, a fucked up one, but still a Bolton. Leave Jeyne alone, she isn't a threat to us or our goals." Ramsay thought back to Sansa's words on Jeyne one night after he had found out she was his half sister.

"It won't matter how pretty and perfect Loras and I are. It doesn't matter how crazy you act. The true celebrity of this school is that girl. She is their symbol, their mascot. That feral to girl story is Kevan's validity of his school. It's proof of his pride and joy, it's another way to boost his school and ego. Student to staff, every person loves that girl. Everyone wants her to succeed, she is their way of watching a reality show. It makes me sick when someone has that much popularity, that much adoration and doesn't know how to use it properly. How can someone so savage be so appallingly innocent? Lancel spoke to me of it, he sees how they've all changed her, how they love her, feel they have true proof this place works. So we must treat her like the symbol she is. And during a war, what must we do to the enemy symbol?" Ramsay smiled as he headed into the breakfast line as he remembered his reply. "During a war, we must take down the enemy symbol. We burn it before them."


	146. With A Smile

Kevan waiting near his porch for Walda and Roose to come forth. The twins stood near the couple and gave polite smiles. "We are terribly sorry, Mrs. Bolton. But we do need to search these bags before you can bring them near the students. Please understand we in no way wish to invade your privacy, but as you know the students can use anything as a weapon. Thank you for your understanding." Walda smiled at Bob and thrust the numerous large pink plastic bags covered in life size kittens at the twins. "It's all gifts for the children. Mostly for our three, but some things are there for all of them, poor babies! So many orphans, its such a sad thing! Oh, I would just hug and take them all home if I could!" Roose looked properly horrified at the thought but the twins smiled with great amusement. "That is a heartwarming thought, Mrs. Bolton. I am sure the children will appreciate the gifts from you."

Roose sighed and walked over to Kevan to shake his hand. "Good morning, Kevan. How are the children today?" Kevan smiled, his eyes twinkling merrily. "The boys are in excellent health and ready for their visit with you and your lovely wife." Kevan pulled his face into a more sad mask and spoke softer. "Sadly, Jeyne has not had a very good morning and is confined to the clinic for now. She slipped and broke her tailbone a few days ago. If your wife wishes a supervised visit with Jeyne and the girl feels up to it, then Walda may see Jeyne before you leave later." Roose raised an eyebrow. "Walda may see my daughter, but I cannot? And how exactly did my daughter become that injured that she must stay in the clinic?" Kevan looked confused for a moment then as if it cleared up. "Ah, that's what concern must look like to you. Excellent attempt at mimicry but we both know you don't care how or why Jeyne was injured. You don't care that she is injured at all. You just would like to understand why you can't visit with her if you chose to. You upset her, Roose. Jeyne doesn't like you, she becomes agitated over you and that is truly why she is in that clinic. So you are barred from seeing her."

Kevan gave a charming smile to Walda as she came forward. "My dear! How is it that you are lovelier every time I see you? And how you glow! Unella will finally have someone else with an understanding of what she is going through! Gregor and Raff have taken Damon and Ramsay to a nice picnic table area to wait for you. I'm afraid that Jeyne isn't feeling well, she suffered a fractured tailbone. She is in the clinic but there is a small chance that Jeyne might feel up to seeing you before you leave. Now, I hate to be so terribly rude, but might I steal away your husband on a dreadfully boring business matter?" Walda blushed and nodded. However, just before Kevan turned away, her eyes went up to his and her sweet gentle voice whipped forth. "We were not informed that our daughter was injured. How was Jeyne injured and when may I see the doctor about it?" Kevan's eyes widened slightly at the use of our daughter and he cleared his throat. Roose was more than happy to allow Kevan to suffer his wife and put his hands behind his back, waiting.

"Jeyne was hiking and slipped on a wet rock. She was told not to run but gave in to peer pressure as teens are known to do. It happened only a day ago and you were already going to be heading here. What good would calling have done but make you rush your long journey and possibly have an accident? She will be perfectly fine, I assure you." Walda nodded and smiled with innocent understanding. "If she will be perfectly fine then why is she in the clinic over a tail bone fracture if it happened yesterday?" Kevan saw that cunning Frey in her eyes and smiled with full Lannister charm. "Very well. Jeyne was upset over the visit to be perfectly honest. She had an episode and is trying to recover from it. She was violent and in restraints, under sedation early this morning. Now I was told that Jeyne was starting to calm down and was considering a supervised visit with you later on. But it is up to both her and the therapist, not you or me. It's not fair to Jeyne to have others see her in such a vulnerable state. The doctor is anticipating your visit and you may see her at any point."

To Roose's dismay, Walda thanked Roose kindly and headed towards the picnic area, leaving the twins to carry her bags. Kevan sighed and gestured for them to go ahead. "Let's go inside. The twins will be along as soon as your wife releases them from duty, I guess." Kevan led Roose into the parlor and he got them each a small brandy. Roose smiled and held the glass but did not sip at it. He spun it, swished it then finally set it down. Kevan raised an eyebrow. "No thank you, Kevan. I am not a drinker. Also, Olenna dying right after coming here, I really should keep my wits about me. They found tea in her system. You had tea with her before she left, I am sure of it. So I think I'll decline drinking anything with you. Now, I am sensing you are upset with me over something. So please, get to it before my wife becomes suspicious. As you see, that little Frey in her gets squirrely when she feels protective. She loves her step children and me, poor deluded girl." 

Kevan gave a short laugh and shrugged. "My dear man, I gave that old woman poison because she was just that. A woman and because she was elderly. If I wanted you dead, Roose, it wouldn't be something as easy as poison. However, I will admit I thought about letting the twins make me new lampshades out of your skin for a few days. I am quite wroth with you, yes. But it's not worth killing you or maiming you for. But you will suffer me, oh yes, I am ready to show you the sharp side of my tongue." Kevan towered, he stood near the fireplace and Roose did everything he could not to roll his eyes as he did as a youth. It simply wasn't fair that Roose had to continue enduring this posturing as if he were a student still and he cursed his three children. "How dare you keep such a thing as Jeyne's mother from me? From all of us? I don't care that you slept with Cersei, I care that you did that to a Lannister! How dare you subject one of my line to such treatment? How dare you not tell us!" Roose stared at Kevan with true disbelief and amusement. "They all knew. Only you didn't know. Even Jaime knew the truth. Only you and Tyrion was probably too drunk to notice or care."

"What?" Kevan didn't expect that response. Roose continued, pouncing on his chance to finally find a way to shake the director. "Tywin knew and he beat the hell out of both of us for it. He told me afterwards that it was never to be mentioned again. That we all would act as if it never happened and I bet in his mind, it never did. Cat knew, Petyr knew, Sandor knew, Olenna knew, hell, almost the entire North and South that dealt with our family on a regular or more secret basis knew of it. Only you were kept out of the loop, Kevan. We were advised to not tell you, it was insisted upon actually. I would have been thrilled to toss the child at you. As it was, I was stuck with a girl I didn't want, a boy I did, two more boys I didn't and a wife that was insane. She was a cruel, bitter and cold woman that you saddled me with. So I turned to someone who wasn't her as one does when forced into an unwanted marriage. At least I didn't just toss the child away like your niece did. I wasn't home much and I was barely allowed near my own son Domeric because Bethany was so spiteful. The only company I had when I went home was Jeyne so be grateful for her having that much."

Kevan closed his eyes and seemed to slump his shoulders slightly, his voice soft and heavy. "So much betrayal, so many secrets. It weighs all of us down, it hinders us. I suppose it must have been hard on you to have all the money and prestige that Bethany's name brought you? Let's be honest, the only reason you didn't beat or kill her was because of her nosy family. Perhaps, I should have married you to Cat or Cersei. But I didn't and do you know why?" Roose became wary during Kevan's words but he wasn't quick enough just like when he was a student. That miracle move that no student in Sun Sugar history has ever understood but all feared has happened again. The golden pen was halfway up Roose's left nostril and it was cutting into the delicate membrane. Kevan forced Roose into a standing position, using the pen as a leash. "I didn't marry you to Cat because a Bolton wasn't high enough in class or money for such a thing. It would have been an insult. To marry you to Cersei Lannister would be a joke, a tasteless one. You were lucky that I deemed you acceptable for Bethany. And that is why she hated you so much, why her family never left you alone. They despised and resented that she had to marry beneath her own class. I am grateful that you did as little as you did for Jeyne. But she is half Lannister and that means something to me, young man. You shouldn't have forgotten how strongly I feel about family."

The twins dumped the bags at Gregor's feet and escaped as fast as they could. Walda steamrolled right up to the two deadliest boys on campus and hugged them without a shred of fear for herself or her unborn babe. "Damon! Ramsay! You both look well and I have missed you terribly! Did you receive the letters I sent you?" Both nodded, Damon smiling with sincere affection and Ramsay with all the best acting of Sansa and Loras combined. Ramsay had tossed every stupid boring flowery letter into the trash and Damon had read and kept all of his. Hot Pie brought them iced tea and cookies which Ramsay watched the woman conquer and demolish in revolted fascination. Damon laughed and spoke in his usual unthinking blunt manner. "You remind me of our doctor! She has a stomach even bigger than yours and for a long time was eating like, everything! She stole everyone's food, even from students! Once I think she tried to eat Target. Or at least her finger." Ramsay smiled and added brightly, "Wouldn't be our first run with cannibals around here." That earned him a hard smack on the head from Gregor.

Walda frowned hard at the giant then turned back to the boys. "Well, pregnancy makes me extra hungry. And if Unella is having twins, well, she probably needs to eat even more. Pregnancy is very difficult even if it might look amusing to you, boys. I hope both of you are remembering to be nice to her and remember this, it's very important. If a pregnant woman is too stressed, she is more likely to lose the babes." Gregor was the one frowning now and Walda's eyes gave a tiny gleam of satisfaction. Only Ramsay and Raff caught the fox gleam in her eye and both were unwillingly impressed. After chatting with the boys for a few minutes, the woman sweetly took one of each of the boy's hands in her own. Damon's hand swallowed hers eagerly while Ramsay tried not to shudder at the touch. "Now boys, it's time for us to speak with the staff, hear what your teachers and the doctor have to say. No matter what I hear, I will not judge you, either of you. I only want to help as much as I can." Due to her being the only visitor and due to her condition, the staff would came to Walda at the picnic table.

Walda insisted the boys could stay unless they wished to leave. "They are old enough to be involved in meetings about themselves. Since their father is held up and I am conducting this meeting, I say they have a right to attend and offer their own input. Or shall I wait until my husband and Kevan are done? Shall we all explain together why we have sat here in silence until they could join us?" Both boys chose to stay and Gregor nodded to the staff. "Okay, since I am Damon's mentor and activities counselor for them both, I can start." Walda went through each of the staff with a sugary sweet tooth as if they were all cookies. She was happy to hear how well Damon and Ramsay were doing academically. But drilled the hell out of the professors as to how they planned to find suitable tutoring and homework help for Damon since his tutors were gone. She also was interested in hearing how the professors intended to do more than complain over Ramsay's lack of good attitude in the classroom. Walda was happy to hear that since mentoring with Gregor, Damon had become less of a behavior issue and has become a good role model for Jeyne. With a polite smile, she asked Gregor when he was going to mentor Damon with a specific talent in mind.

Raff sat down across from Walda and he gave her his best charming and seductive smile. Walda blushed gently and simpered. Ramsay, Damon and Gregor all rolled their eyes. Raff spoke in honeyed but professional tones, the woman listening and nodding. As soon as Raff finished speaking, she spoke in a rather distracted but flustered tone. "Oh, well, thank you for that. So many big fancy words that you've said, all terms of someone who works in mental health, which I don't. But I always did enjoy reading and I just happened to be flipping through this..." They all stared as Walda reached into her bag and pulled out a book thicker than Gregor's arm. It landed on the table in front of Raff with a heavy thud. "Now, I know you must know this front to back, it is the latest published works from the medical university near my home. As you know, two of my brothers are mental health workers and I have always been interested in their works. Also, Roose was kind enough to employ Dr. Qyburn and his nurse to assist me during my pregnancy. So I asked them to assist me in understanding not only this book but what in it might apply to my two boys. It doesn't sound the same as what you are saying. You know what is eerily spot on? I think I found your conditions in this book and I am nearly confident of it. Would you like to hear it?"

Only Unella seemed to receive a pleasant visit with Walda. She had nothing but a good health report on both boys and Walda was satisfied. They spoke of pregnancy and Walda offered some of the iced tea to the doctor. "Well, I believe that is it for anyone to speak about the boys with. Excellent. Boys? I would like to speak with the staff about your sister now. I will come see you before I leave. I hope you enjoy your presents." Walda smiled cheerily at the horrified staff and patted the air. "Oh come now, who wants to go first? I have so many questions about Jeyne, perhaps you all should just sit with me as a group. Somehow they all sat around her and yet it was them that felt surrounded by this single woman.

Gilly wondered if Arya was coming down with a cold or virus. Through the morning the girl has been looking steadily worse. She was sweating even though it wasn't that hot out, her skin seemed pale and clammy. The girl tried to work on the murder motel model but her hands kept shaking, causing her to slip. The girl had no fever and didn't want to visit the clinic. Once Hot Pie joined them, Gilly offered up the dirt bikes. The students rode the bikes but only the boys were whooping and really enjoying themselves. In fact, Theon and Joff seemed to enjoy trying to circle the girls or cause them to crash. That's when Gilly called a halt to the bikes and they went back to the activities table. Gilly waited until they were all figuring out what to use for their crafts before walking over to Myranda and Arya. "I was thinking that after lunch today we could discuss our plans?" It was not lost on Gilly that Theon and Joff were staring at Myranda and it didn't seem lost on the girls either. "I have decided not to do it. Thank you anyway, Gilly." Both boys seemed to smirk and Gilly pretended not to notice. "Oh? Can I ask why you've changed your mind, Myranda?" The girl shrugged and gave her usual smirk. "I just changed my mind. I am really not a joiner. Sorry."

Arya's head never came up but her words were clear and loud. "I've changed my mind too." Gilly raised an eyebrow and the boys gloated silently. "I see. I am surprised to hear you say that most of all." Shrugging, Arya looked away as if ashamed. Gilly nodded. "Well, that is that. I'm sorry that both of you have changed your minds, it's a bit disappointing. Alright, students, why don't you all watch a movie until lunch time? Let's go pick one that you four can agree on." They all followed Gilly to the dorm house and Arya deliberately banged into Joff, hissing at him. "Give it back. Give me the fucking gum, I did what that fucker wanted. Give it to me." Joff giggled. "Ramsay said if you did what we wanted, I could give you one piece of gum. We are going to hold onto it for you. Wifey's gonna have to learn to listen if she wants what she needs. You fucking hate that, don't you? Good. Tell you what, I will give you half a piece now and you can give me a hand job later for the other half." Arya took a step back and punched Joff in the stomach. Theon winked at Arya as Joff wheezed. "That will cost you that one piece of gum you could have had today. Oh well." With Gilly right there, Arya couldn't attempt to forcibly search the boys for the gum. She told them to fuck themselves as she went inside and stared unseeing at a movie while her body burned, chilled and ached.

Walda received a short visit with Jeyne who felt calmer by late morning. Jeyne wouldn't let anyone but Polliver touch her, she had spent all morning screaming and talking to only him. It was all she felt really comfortable with still. But Walda was so nice and Jeyne hated not seeing her at all. A deal was struck and the counselor held Jeyne up in the clinic room window so she could lean out and speak to Walda. The woman didn't act like it was anything but normal and even understood that Jeyne couldn't take more than Walda holding her hand and squeezing it. Walda spoke kindly and softly to Jeyne who smiled tiredly back. "I'm sorry you aren't feeling well, dear. I hope that some of the things I brought you will cheer you up. It was left with Gregor and I am sure he will bring it to you soon. However, I hope you will accept this for now." Jeyne gasped at the fuzzy large monkey with legs and arms that waved around. "I love it! Oh, thank you!" The thing was as big as Jeyne herself and Polliver had to haul it inside the window. 

The boys were surprised when only Walda came to say goodbye. They only briefly saw their father as he marched out of Kevan's house and straight to the car, holding what seemed to be a bloody cloth to his nose.


	147. Pray Not To Be Prey

It took three days for Jeyne to return to the dorm house. This was a bad spell, Jeyne hasn't felt this bad in a while. It wore her out, to go between having to scream and curse, talk, whisper, howl, gibber, claw, bite and hurl against walls. Worst was anytime that Jeyne tried to smash it out of herself, they restrained to her a bed. After day two and a good bite to the wrist, Raff stuck Jeyne in a ice bath until she shivered and shriveled. It made Polliver yell at him and Jeyne had laughed at that even as she chattered and cried. The counselor was clear to leave but hasn't, he was trying to help her. Jeyne would have told him not to bother, she wasn't worth that kind of trouble. Dog, Feral, Person, it was all too much to fit into a Jeyne and she wanted to let it all rip out of her skin, flow away.

At one point, when she was calm enough to touch but not calm enough to speak, Polliver had rocked her in his lap. "I shouldn't have hit you like that, I can't tell you how sorry I am, kid. But I can stay with you while you work this one out, okay? Now, listen, you can't go on like this too much longer or Unella will fry your brains for you. She told Raff and Gregor she is giving it one more day then it's sizzle time. I don't want you to go through those fucking shock treatments again. You twitch enough." The third morning found Polliver snoring in the chair and Unella standing in the doorway looking at Jeyne. She was wrapped from head to toe in the monkey, asleep on the bed without restraints. Jeyne woke up and looked at Unella then put a finger to her lips, pointing at Polliver. She was pale, her words were still struggling but Jeyne was back to reality. Unella examined her then had Raff spend an hour with Jeyne to determine if she was ready to return to her own room.

Jeyne curled on the couch while Raff watched her from his desk chair. "I need this to stop." Raff tilted his head. "What do you need to stop?" Wiping her nose on her sleeve, Jeyne tried to figure out the jumble in her head. "I can't. If I am broken. I can't be Person. I can't even be Feral. Helpless. Anything. Can. Eat. Me. I don't want to be on my stomach. It is weak. I am not prey. And my father, never in front of him. Never in front of Ramsay. Damon. Anyone, everyone. Not prey." Raff smiled and folded his hands on his crossed leg. "Jeyne, sweetheart, no one here would ever think you were prey. Honey, you wielded a chair at Unella after you walked all the way to the clinic on a fractured tailbone. Then still had enough in you to fight me and Gregor on and off for the past two days. Never mind poor Polliver who is sporting a lovely black eye." Jeyne blushed and Raff spoke soft and kindly. "I understand how it makes you feel weak to be hurt and on your stomach. I am sorry that I didn't understand sooner how it would upset you. Let's talk about how we can handle the next few days until you are well enough to walk to classes."

She came back to the dorm house late afternoon just as the students were coming in from detention. Jeyne knew things were very wrong as soon as she saw their faces and bodies as they filed in. Arya looked sick, Joff looked really happy about it, Myranda was all stiff and her eyes were darting as if she felt like prey. That sharpened Jeyne's senses right through painkillers and mood stabilizers. Her eyes instantly went to Theon who was just behind her scared friend and his eyes were narrow and mean. Damon came in with Ramsay, chatting to him and Jeyne saw it right away. The gloating and winning in the alpha predator's eyes and she saw Damon was Ramsay's bitch again.

Jeyne felt anger filling her as she saw the way Damon and Theon were looking at Myranda. They looked like wild hungry dogs and Jeyne decided if they wanted to be dogs, she can show them who's her alpha. Herself and she wasn't going to let them hurt her friend. As soon as Jeyne was a little better she will have to make sure the boys knew that. Myranda jumped onto the couch and grinned at Jeyne. "Hey! I was worried that you'd never come back! Thought you decided to make Raff your lover and Unella your bitch or something." Jeyne giggled and lost track of her thoughts, excited to see Myranda joking with her. "Guess who stayed with me? Guess who took care of me? Guess what Walda gave me? Guess who got no shocks?"

Arya ran into the bedroom and into the bathroom. Theon wrinkled his nose as he heard the girl exploding from both ends. He waited until he heard her finish and he knocked on the door. "Go away!" Sighing, Theon called through the door, "You are being stupid. I don't know what's in your gum but it sounds like you really need it. How much more of this can you take? How much longer until the staff forces you to the clinic? They won't believe it's a small cold for much longer, you know. Be reasonable. Talk to Joff and Ramsay, maybe you can get Ramsay to have Joff take blowjobs off the table?" Arya screamed for him to fuck off and Theon grinned, walking away. Arya brushed her teeth and took another shower, covered in sweat yet again. The water felt like needles and she whined, sobbing so no one could hear. Theon was right that she can't take much more of this, it hurt too much and she knew it would only get worse. She won't be able to hide it and she is a ball of hurt, of need and it fucking hurt worse than anything ever has before. Arya dressed and considered breaking her hand to get painkillers from Raff.

Myranda stretched and smiled at Jeyne after she finished babbling. "I am so glad to have you here again, someone to talk to. But I am due to see the twins about my next scheduling of clients. Yay me, right? But I can't complain, it's been a good few days off thanks to the bruise. Maybe this weekend I will be over at Walder's fancy new hotel. Old bastard likes to see me swim around in barely anything and getting to swim and tan is worth the wrinkled flesh bouncing uselessly over me." Jeyne frowned. "You never like going away. Now you want to? They are after you. You are scared. Target is sick and scared. The boys are like hunting dogs." Myranda smirked and gently bopped Jeyne's nose with a finger. "Not your problem, Jeyne. I mean it, okay? It's all good. I am not hurt, they haven't hurt me, do you see any bruises? And Arya is sick, she doesn't feel well and no one is beating on her either. Okay? So I want you to drop it and worry about feeling better."

Jeyne watched Myranda run to toss her books upstairs then she noticed Damon nearby as if he had been watching them. Damon came over and smiled at Jeyne as he sat on the couch next to her. "I missed you. Are you feeling better now?" Jeyne nodded and noticed how his eyes changed as Myranda came downstairs and flew past them out the door. "Leave her alone. She is my friend, Damon. Why are you with Ramsay? I saw you with him, I saw the way you all looked at Myranda. I saw how sick Target is. Why are you letting Ramsay talk you into bad things?" Damon's face filled with a quiet thunder as he admonished Jeyne. "Don't talk to me that way. Ramsay is our brother, he was the reason we all got rallied, he was so upset at how Polliver hurt you. He may not like you yet but he knows you are a Bolton. The girls were traitors to our cause and they have some paying to do for it." Jeyne snorted. "Silly. I forgave Polliver. He did not mean it. Ramsay didn't care about my hurt. He cared about his own hurt. Gregor and Raff say that Ramsay is-"

Damon leaned closer and snapped out, "You don't know Ramsay like I do. Be glad he sees you as a Bolton, that I can protect you from him if he gets angry at you. But you are going to have to start listening to me, to him. The staff doesn't care about you, its brainwashing. Talk to Ramsay, he can tell it to you better. We can talk to him together if you want." Jeyne stiffened, feeling that Damon wasn't hearing her. "Damon! Do not hunt Myranda! Do not hurt my friend! Leave her alone! I will hunt back anyone that hunts her. Tell Ramsay THAT!" His fists clenched but he only spoke with a deep menace, not willing to hurt his sister. "I won't say that to Ramsay and you'd better not either. You do not want to make threats to him, Jeyne." Damon tried another smile and grabbed onto Jeyne's small hands. "Listen, I didn't hurt your buddy, okay? I didn't hunt Whore and Ramsay didn't order us to yet. As long as the whore plays nice, I won't hurt her, won't hunt her. Arya knows how to make her sick go away if she wants to. So calm down and smile for me, please? How about we watch any show you want?" Jeyne was tired but worried still. "Promise me not to hurt Myranda?" Damon sighed and rolled his eyes. "I just told you, as long as she does what Ramsay says we won't hunt her."

Arya was laying on the floor, curled tightly against the chills and cramps. Her legs kept wanting to kick out, to spin like they were riding a bicycle hard up a hill. The door opened and she couldn't even look up to see or tell Theon to fuck off this time. It wasn't Theon's sneakers in front of her face, it was fucking Joff's. He crouched down and seemed to actually feel a bit of pity for her. Arya hoped not because if she looked bad enough for Joff's cruddy sympathy then she was truly fucked when Gregor saw her. Already she was being approached by others on staff who seemed to suspect it. Hot Pie bluntly asked her how it felt to rock and roll and was she ready to head to the clinic yet. Tyrion made a crack that she was making those with addictions that can still perform look bad. "But for real, you need to get to the clinic and knock off whatever your taking." Both staff members told her straight out that she had another day or two before they forced her to the clinic themselves.

Arya groaned and tried to croak out for Joff to go away. Joff grinned and Arya noticed he was spinning something between his fingers just like Kevan does. Except it wasn't a gold pen it was a half piece of her gum and a whimper dragged unwillingly out of her throat. Joff smiled brightly then and he spoke in such a false kind tone it made Arya want to die. "You aren't going to make it through supper like this. You won't even make it past the wall and Gregor. And I can see how much you are hurting, but I do know how stubborn you are, wifey. So I am going to take a bit of mercy on you. I will give you this, if you just do one thing for me. Not even a sexual thing, Target. You just have to get on your knees and beg me for it. That's all and I will give this to you." Arya tried to tell him to go away, she wanted more than anything to do that. Her body screamed, every fiber of her was dying, she NEEDED and burst into tears.

Joff singsonged, "It's all you have to do, grovel a bit and this is yours, wifey." Hating herself, hating him, hating Ramsay, Arya forced herself to her knees. "Please, give me the gum, Joff. Please, I'm begging you." Joff gave such a look of sadistic delight, she almost told him to fuck off. He seemed to know this and waited, holding the gum just out of reach. "Did you want to say something else, wifey?" Yeah, fuck you and don't call me wifey. But Arya kept her mouth shut and shook her head. Joff sneered and tossed the bit of gum to the ground before his feet. "Good wifey. Go on, have it. Hurry and start chewing before we need to be at the wall for supper." Ashamed and desperate, Arya grabbed the gum and shoved it in her mouth, slumping to curl back up. She no longer cared that she was still at his feet and Joff laughed. Oh gods, I hate him, I am going to kill him somehow, Ramsay too. But Arya said nothing and just chewed, letting the saliva suck up what it could as Joff left the room. It has been days so even this half piece should be enough to get through for sometime. Long enough for her to figure something out.

Myranda was told that she would be going with Bob to Varys's brothel for the weekend. She was surprised that they would return so soon after the last problem there. Also, it was rare that Myranda was seen there anymore since she was fully trained. But it wasn't for her to question and she just smiled, nodding. That wouldn't be that bad at all actually. She would be away from the boys all weekend, she could dance, spend time with other teens. Even though Bob would hand pick her clients, not many over the age of fifty went into Varys's club. Myranda left feeling better already and Harold looked at Bob. "Are you sure about this? Do you want me to come along at least? Just in case." Bob shook his head fast. "No. I am sure. Varys will be there and he knows. Don't you think he's going to talk to me before anything else?" Harold sighed and gave in. "He's going to probably lecture the hell out of you. But I agree with you, this might be the only way, at least, I can't think of another way. Maybe Varys can. If not, this is better than just praying."

By supper, Arya looked better, not great but much better than she had earlier. Hot Pie still gave her a look but she ignored it. Theon and Damon forced Myranda to sit between them during dinner while Joff and Ramsay flanked Arya. Both girls remained pale and silent, picking at their meals. The boys ate with gusto and Ramsay smoothly suggested, "You girls should eat so the cook doesn't tell Unella something might be wrong. Girls are famous for eating disorders, after all." Damon's hand enveloped Myranda's thigh and started to squeeze painfully. Theon sneered while he poked her side hard with his fork. Myranda picked up her own fork as fast as she could and started to eat. The grip on her thigh lessened but stayed as a warning. Joff pinched Arya's arm and cheerfully ordered, "Eat at least half of this plate." Arya muttered for Joff to fuck off. Ramsay raised his eyebrows at Joff whom he had coached earlier that day. Joff hissed at Arya. "That will cost you. The next time you want gum, you get a third of a piece. Now eat half the plate of food or you can forget anymore gum at all." Raging internally, Arya tried to force herself to eat. There had to be a way out of this.

 


	148. Relationships Take Effort

The students started to stand to file out of the cafeteria as the staff came down from their table. Ramsay stepped out of line to stand in front of Unella with a smile. She raised her eyebrows at him as did Gregor who was next to her. "Excuse me, Doctor, but I was hoping you could be my mentor?" Unella said yes as Gregor said hell, no and the rest of the staff started to join the students to watch the show. "Professors, please escort the students to the clinic along with Raff for their night medications. I will meet them for our jog in thirty minutes. I need to speak with my wife first." Gregor grabbed Unella's arm and dragged her out, towards their house. 

They didn't get more than halfway there before their argument was blistering the air around them. In the middle of the pathway, they ended up nose to nose roaring at each other. The ducklings watched with satisfaction at the fight. Well, at least the males did, the girls seemed to be in their own world. Arya took advantage of the boys distraction and sidled up to Myranda. "We made the wrong choice." Nodding, Myranda shrugged. "Yeah, well, what was the right choice? They would have hunted me and you would probably have a seizure and die before you made it to the clinic." Arya muttered, "I know but they are still going to keep us like their fucking prisoners. It's only going to get worse. They are going to get their hunt and seizure if they really want it anyway. Do we just let them? My sister would laugh herself to death if she could see the situation I fucking put myself in. She is queen of the fucking world and I am just a junkie begging my husband for a hit. Fuck. We are fucked."

Myranda giggled. "The junkie, the whore and the feral versus a pack of bitches. Sounds like a terrible movie. Yeah, I know we are fucked. I am going away with Bob for the weekend to see some clients. I will try and think of a solution, you do the same." Arya bit her lip and Myranda rolled her eyes. "Are you thinking we should tell the twins? No, you are thinking that I should do it. Leaving me with all the risk? No fucking way, not unless you are coming clean right along with me to them. If I have to suffer it, so do you. Do we tell or try and think of a better solution?" Arya sighed. "I can't. They might take away my mentorship. They will make me detox in a terrible way, I just know it. If I can just find my stash, where Ramsay put it or if I can get Joff to give me more, I just need more time to get some more in me and then I can think better."

Myranda gave a small smirk. "I am only an occasional user but I have known plenty that were addicted, needed to be just to deal with what we do. If you want the honest truth, you need to get clean. You have to stop or it might kill you one way or another. The day comes when you won't be able to function even with it." Arya didn't want advice and was almost relieved when the professors lined them up in the clinic for medications. Raff looked and Arya and smirked. "Funny, you looked so much worse this morning. Hot Pie came to see me. He thinks you are having a problem, Target." Arya forced a blank face and shrugged. "Feeling better already. Just had a cold." Raff sighed. "I have sent a note to the staff. You have therapy with me first thing in the morning." Saying nothing, she took the medications he gave her, showed him her open mouth and her middle finger.

 "YOU DO NOT FUCKING OWN ME OR THE SPAWN IN MY STOMACH! I WILL DO WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT TO DO! YOU WANT TO KEEP RESTRAINING ME AND THREATENING TO BREAK MY BONES? GREGOR, I CAN LITERALLY KILL YOU! I AM NOT A STUDENT, A CHILD TO BE TOLD WHAT TO DO! THE GENERATION OF WIVES OBEYING THEIR HUSBANDS HAS LONG PAST, GREGOR! I AM GOING TO MENTOR THE BOY WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!"

"WOMAN, IF YOU WEREN'T PREGNANT I WOULDN'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU DID AWAY FROM THE SPAWN! BUT WHILE THEY ARE IN YOUR DAMNED SKIN I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU DO! YOU CAN'T MANAGE MORE THAN HALF DAYS AS IT IS AT THE CLINIC SO HOW THE HELL ARE YOU GOING TO MENTOR ANYONE, MORON WIFE?" 

"ASSHOLE, I CAN'T MANAGE MORE THAN A HALF DAY BECAUSE YOU WON'T LET ME! YOU AND THAT IDIOT DECIDED IT'S BAD FOR ME, I NEVER DECIDED THAT! BUT IF I DON'T LAY DOWN YOU RESTRAIN ME TO THE DAMNED BED! I CAN MENTOR DURING MY TIME IN THE CLINIC! WITH RAFF TRYING TO DO MY JOB, WE COULD USE SOMEONE TO CLEAN THE FUCKING PLACE ANYWAY!"

"THAT BOY WILL USE YOUR SURGICAL EQUIPMENT TO TAKE AN EARLY LOOK AT THOSE FETUSES! YOU CAN'T LEAVE THAT BOY AROUND A Q-TIP, NEVER MIND PENS, PILLS AND SURGICAL WEAPONRY! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MIND? WAIT, I ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT. I SAID NO, THAT IS THE END OF IT! GET HOME AND GET OFF THOSE SWOLLEN BOATS YOU CALL FEET!"

"THAT IS NOT THE END OF IT! I AM MENTORING HIM AND THAT IS THE END OF IT!"

Gregor watched Unella storm towards the house and thought of going after her to fight more. No, at least she was heading for the house, but the woman was crazy if she thought she won. There was no way in hell he was letting her mentor Ramsay Bolton. He would find another mentor for the boy. Except Raff stared at him horrified. "I am already doing my job and your wife's. Plus I am still Jeyne's mentor. Fuck off with that. You could ask Polliver to do it but he won't be back on duty for another week and a half. Plus, after his episode, not sure that's a great thing to throw at him right away."  Gregor banged on the gaming cabin door and was surprised to see Polliver let him in. "What the hell are you doing in here? Figured you would be smoking a joint, drinking a beer and flying high on your painkillers while whacking off gently to The Passion of Dora The Explorer or something." Polliver grinned. "Naw, you know that Dora is above my academic grade level. I need just one stationary picture for my gorilla brain to comprehend and I'm good. Got bored and decided to join the professors in a battle game. Bored the shit out of me and luckily Hot Pie is here now. We are playing a new video game. Don't worry, our cook is not going nuts, he only plays with supervision."

The professors seemed drunk but coherent, insulting each other as they carefully moved about their large table full of a world they tried to control. "I need a mentor for Death Row. He asked Unella and she wants to do it. I need to get someone else since the woman won't see sense on her own." Stannis shook his head, frowning sternly as Tyrion's submarine poached upon his ocean. "I was going to mentor Theon now that he has given up on the twins. He came to me today and I already said yes. Even if he had not asked me, I would have said no, Gregor. That boy is just, not compatible." Tyrion chuckled. "That was the nicest way to put it, Sir! Gregor, I was asked by Kevan to mentor Joff and I barely have enough alcohol to deal with him. There is no amount for dealing with Ramsay Bolton. I would have to start taking some hard drugs for that." Swearing, Gregor threw up his arms. "Fine! Hot Pie will do it! If I am tell him to, he won't dare to tell me no." Polliver was sitting on a couch that had belonged to Sandor and he protested. "No fucking way! Don't you remember how Death Row and Princess nearly killed him? Knives and hot stove utensils are not things to have that fucker around." All of them turned, expecting some sort of denial from Hot Pie himself.

Instead, the boy was intent on the game, causing Gregor to smile dangerously. "Fine with supervision, huh? I could name him Ramsay's mentor and he won't even know until he unplugs from his game." Without looking away from the screen, his fingers rapidly slamming buttons on his controller, Hot Pie spoke. "I heard you, Gregor. But I know that Polliver will keep you from allowing me to be murdered by a teenage killer that already tried to bleed and burn me to death." Gregor growled as Polliver gave the cook a thumbs up. "I can take on Death Row when I get back, don't put my buddy in that kind of danger, Gregor. If he dies, so do our stomachs." Gregor shook his head. "No, you can't do it. Not right after you just return. What about Gilly? She already does detentions?" Tyrion sighed. "She is good with discipline and her unique little therapies. She has great ideas for the school that I am interested in exploring. However, she is foremost, Kevan's housekeeper and he isn't going to let her take even more time from her original job." Raff entered the cabin, which was now overcrowded by Gregor's standards.

Raff got a beer from Polliver and got caught up on the discussion. "Hey, here is an idea! Why don't you just let Unella mentor him. He asked her, she said yes, it's already done. Unella has managed to intimidate the fucking twins with that rage and nearly kill me with that iron hard stomach. She is more of a danger to Ramsay than he is to her right now. Besides it's only in the mornings and I'll be right there. She will mostly have him for cleaning anyway." Gregor invited all of them to go fuck themselves as they all agreed loudly with Raff. He slammed the door as he left so hard that it shook items across the battle table. Stannis shook his fist at the door. "Good gods! You just crashed a submarine onto France! The wine, Tyrion, the wine, quick with a napkin. Sweet mother of mercy, you just flooded the Swiss Alps!"

Harold and Gilly held hands as they drove off school grounds with Kevan's full permission. They didn't speak too much as he drove, Gilly was looking out the window. Only after they got their ice cream at the stand they had been to on that date, did they finally speak. They walked and Harold started. "Thank you for coming out with me tonight. I understand why you didn't want to talk to me the past few days. I feel really terrible about what Bob did and he was not really himself. Or more like that was full on real Bob that we try not to release from the cage much. He wasn't taking his medications correctly and is having some personal issues too." Gilly nodded. "I am sorry for being so distant, I needed time to think it through. I felt very exposed. And feeling very silly about my own thoughts of us. I mean, I told you how I would love to have children, provided I don't murder them, right?" Her humor was bright, fragile and Harold gave a small chuckle that seemed to help her relax. "Gilly, I think you would be an amazing mother under better circumstances. You just wanted to protect them anyway you could and so you did. I think it's time that I told you about me."

Gilly smiled. "Oh? Does that mean I get to hear about the Collector? Do I get an explanation about why you tried to trap me?" Harold blushed and paused, looking at the bench. "I am not sure that I want to sit while I talk. Can we keep moving? And, I just didn't know how to ask you out. I thought if you caught you, I would get you to understand. I never did figure it out, you know. Myranda is the one who noticed my issue and advised me. She explained how to properly ask a lady on a date. But I have never had a date before and it didn't even occur to me that you probably hadn't either." Gilly squeezed Harold's hand and kept walking up the flowery path around the ice cream stand. He let go of her hand and spoke in a quiet voice. "My mother is a distant memory, I remember only a blurred face and a soft hug. Varys remembers more than I do. We were little, she married this guy who only wanted a few little boys, albino ones. He ended up killing her and keeping us, made us call him Da, act like he was our father. He was, kind of, he was all we had while we were too small to stop him. He liked boys the way your dad liked girls." He looked intently at the moon, even his glasses were not enough for his exposure.

"Varys took most of it on purpose, to keep him off us as much as he could. Didn't stop the bastard, but he mostly enjoyed Varys since he would cooperate best. I would scream and try to escape, did a few times. Bob would fight until we thought Da would beat him to death and rape his corpse. Da was drunk, violent and loved these fucked up games where he would actually hunt us and take us down like an animal. That's when I learned how to trap, to make ways to stop or hurt him. Bob learned to fight way better and Varys learned to lure and distract him. The day came that we managed to use the game to trap him in the basement and run away. Varys had been speaking to a brothel owner who was willing to take us in if he worked for her. But, I was already trapping other things before we had left Da's shitty apartment. I am sure Da found them long before any janitor in that building ever found his starved corpse. It was a poor area and a slumlord owned the apartment building we lived in. So we would get large rats all the time. Da made it one of my first chores, to tend the traps and kill the rats. It was peaceful for me, because while I was busy with that, he left me alone. He didn't kick me, insult me, touch me, hurt me or watch me. Da was afraid of rats. That's why I also made sure he was trapped in the basement, that thing was full of rats."

Harold stopped long enough to lick the ice cream slowly leaving the cone then continued. Gilly remained silent and paying full attention. He wouldn't look at her, he didn't want to see what might be on her face. "Da wasn't someone you wanted hugging you or giving you any lap time. Varys was always tired, always bossy and snappy if he was around. He had school, he had Da all over him, he had to sell himself on the corner to get money for groceries if Da was on a bender or working. Bob and I were always together but we weren't able to be anything but strong around each other or we'd just break down. I just wanted something of mine to love and cry to. So I started to trap cats. Da would catch me and kill the cats, beat the living shit out of me for it. Then Varys started to catch me at it and he would kill the cat himself. He would skip the beating part and instead lecture me about how it was for my own good, to save me from Da. One time I got a rabbit, it was clean and white, must have escaped from someone in the building. I hid him in the basement way better than the cats and unlike them, he made no sound at all. Called him Mr. Bundles and he was mine for a whole amazing month. I could go and tell him everything, I could cry and bang my fists on the ground and he was there, listening to me. He let me hold him and cuddle all I wanted. One day I came to see him and Bob was slitting his throat. He told me that I was spending so much time with my pet that I forgot my family, my own twin."

Clearing his throat, Harold ate some more of his treat before speaking. "I stopped after that for a little while. I also stopped talking to Bob because I was so angry with him. I had forgiven him before he suddenly decided to give me a gift. He had caught an injured possum and we kept it in the same spot I had kept Mr. Bundles. Bob named it Stone and he liked it as much as I did. So we both spent too much time in the basement. Varys wasn't the only one to discover us, he didn't know that Da was following him. Before Varys could react to the possum, Da was already there. He poured gasoline on Varys and threatened to light him on fire if we didn't torture and kill Stone. He directed us exactly how to do each bit, he had us flay it alive, after we took out it's eyes. I had nightmares for months and I had no more pets until we ran away from Da. Once we lived at the brothel, I thought it would be safe to have a pet. Not in our room, the owner told us no animals allowed. But the basement was perfect, no one ever used it. Soon as Bob or Varys would discover it, they'd kill whatever it was still. I couldn't get them to change and they couldn't change me. I became obsessed. They did find other uses for my trapping though. And it helped me stop trapping animals, alright."

"Some out of control client decided to beat Varys so bad that he needed a hospital. I trapped him and Bob helped me torture him and flay him to death. We kept his skin in the basement. There was a shifty guy that bought corpses and he paid us for the rest of the man. Then we needed money and a rich family just moved to a city nearby. So I trapped the wife and we held her for ransom in one of my cages. Varys knew about it and refused to allow any liberties to be taken. She was kept blindfolded, gagged and we blared a rock station into headphones so she couldn't hear us. Varys gave her a blanket, a bedpan and she was fed, given water. No one touched her and in a week we dumped her at her home after we got our ransom. I used my traps to steal from others, I used them to get a little money by trapping a few enemies of local gangs. Bob was already working with some gangs and fighting others at that point. We had to go on the run because Varys got messed up on drugs and someone went into the damned basement, found skins and the cages. We ended up going between Qyburn's clinic and a terrible excuse for an orphanage. I started with the pets again and found myself in the same bad problem. This time I had a kitten and some asshole that was trying to fight Bob found me. He beat me up and crushed the kitten with his damned boot right in front of me. Bob killed him two days later after I trapped him and tortured him."

"There was a girl at the orphanage. She was persuaded by Bob to allow him to pimp her out to some of the staff and teachers that worked at the school part of this place. The girl stole some of the money and tried to run away. The police brought her back a few days later and the staff beat her, locked her in her room. She was back to the rest of the house and school in a week or two. She went missing a week after that and it was assumed she ran away again but they never found her. Well, not for some time at least and when they did, we were sent to stay at the new shiny Sun Sugar School. Bob had asked the girl for his money back and she told him she used it to run away. Then she told him she wasn't going to work for him anymore and she wouldn't pay it back. He asked me to trap her and I did. Bob took his payment out of her flesh. I will admit that I couldn't bring myself to walk away, that I was caught up in it. Bob was scary, he was almost like Da and it just made me freeze there. He brought sexual abuse to a whole new level than Da though. Then he tortured her in other ways before the end and that I did help with, including flaying her living. She died before we got very far at all. Then we were caught and Varys was caught, boom, we got here."

Harold tossed the last of his cone into a trash can as they made a full circle back to the bench. "I started trying to trap at the school but they were watching for it. Kevan did the strangest thing when he found I was harboring a wild rabbit. He explained why it couldn't stay and had me release it deep into another part of the woods. Kevan made one of my new chores be trapping any rabbits in the garden and releasing them in the woods. It helped me more than I could ever express to him. Kevan allowed me to learn more about trapping, he didn't stop Bob and I from learning more deadlier skills, he just made us learn caution and reason. He hired others to come teach us weaponry, to help us hone the skills we already had and we became Kevan's men. But I could never truly stop trapping and Bob couldn't stop torturing and killing. That is why so many servants have passed through Kevan's home. That is why Kevan likes us around when the rare staff or student or other must disappear."

It meant more to him than he could say when Gilly took his hand and squeezed it.


	149. That Monkey On Your Back

Gregor was late for the jog and his mood was thunderous. They didn't go for a jog, this was an all out run. By the time they had finished, he deemed them too tired to torment further. "I want everyone in showers and nightclothes! Lights out in one hour, if I come back and see this place shining like a rock concert, I'm going to beat out my own rhythm on your asses." He roared after them as they each staggered towards their rooms. Slamming a fist on a door, he growled, "Target and SuperD, better stop fighting and one of you get in that shower."

Jeyne was on the couch and Gregor grinned down at her. "Want some help upstairs yet?" Shaking her head, she kept her eyes on the television screen. "No, thank you. I am watching this. It ends in an hour. Can I go upstairs at curfew?" Jeyne didn't want to look at Gregor, staring at the dumb movie on the screen. She didn't want to lie or keep secrets from staff but this was different. Jeyne couldn't tell Gregor that she was staying downstairs to protect the girls. The boys were making Arya sick and Jeyne knew they were going to hunt Myranda. Damon won't let them if Jeyne talks to him, she is sure of it. Jeyne is also sure that she can back down Ramsay. Injured or not, this was important for her to do. It wasn't a very Person thing but it was a Student thing and the staff cannot help Jeyne with that.

It wasn't long before the kids showered and began to appear to get drinks or snacks, to steal the remote from her. Jeyne was sitting almost upright, having wrapped her monkey on her from behind helped. Plus Raff had just come by with another painkiller so her pain was low right now. That was good because she wanted to appear strong, menacing if need be. Damon walked over to sit next to her on the couch, grinning. "You look fucking adorable like that. Friggin monkey head is hanging over your shoulder with this goofy look." Joff gagged and flopped into a chair nearby as Theon landed on the couch too. He winked at Jeyne. "You are always adorable, darling. Don't bother with Princess, he is just jealous that no one likes him enough to give him a monkey."

Ramsay came out of his room then knocked on Arya's door. "Come on out! Theon already told me you looked bad again. Hits harder after that kind of physical activity, doesn't it? Joff has your third of a piece out here in the common area. Might as well come and get it. Again, I shall be kind and promise, no sexual activities in exchange for it. Jeyne's out here and doesn't need to see that kind of sick thing." He smiled at the muffled cursing and walked over to the staircase. "Whore? Since you have such a big weekend ahead of you, I'm going to let you off the hook until you return. Stay up there and go to bed. Night, night. You should thank me for that." Jeyne bristled as she heard Myranda holler a thank you and her door shut fast.

When Ramsay came into the common room to smile at the boys, Jeyne was softly growling at him. He raised an eyebrow and acted surprised, hurt even. "Dog sister! What have I done that deserves growling? I haven't even teased you once since just before what Polliver did to you." Jeyne forced herself to speak calm and clear. "You know. Leave Myranda alone. If you send the boys to hunt her, I will hunt you. Leave Arya alone. If she gets too sick and dies, I'll pull out your insides until it kills you. I won't let you hurt them." Damon got nervous and started to admonish Jeyne but Ramsay gestured and Damon shut up. Ramsay smiled and spoke softly to the boys while keeping his eyes on Jeyne's, who was clear in her challenge. Her eyes didn't drop from his for a second. "Damon, Theon, do you remember what we discussed earlier? How this would be done?"

Arya was getting sick again and felt frantic. In the morning, it was over anyway. Raff will do a drug test, take her urine and blood. It's over even if she gets her stash back. For some reason that was a terrifying maw of blackness that Arya couldn't face. Oh gods, I am a fucking coward, I am a weakling. It's over tomorrow anyway and yet, I am thinking of going out there. Doing whatever I have to for that measly bit of gum. I am trying to figure out how to sneak into their room and steal the rest back. It over in the morning but I can't think of that, I can't go there yet. Arya stood up and pulled her hoodie over her head. She fixed the hood to cover her tangled, damp hair and that's when Sansa started to shake her. Arya was sobbing and her sister kept shaking her, she was crying too.

"What did I tell you? I told you to never, ever take candy from Mr. Frey! Not ever and never sit on his lap! Why did you do that? Look what he did, oh gods, please, speak, can't you say anything?" Arya couldn't speak, she couldn't tell her sister that Petyr had told her to. It was a secret and Petyr was teaching her to be good at them. Sansa yelled at Petyr in front of Arya, as if she wasn't even there, just a thing that Walder could pet, just a thing to be moved around and told what to do. "You promised! You promised that you wouldn't let anyone touch her!" Arya shivered and was feeling sick from the candy, watching as Petyr backed her sister into a wall. He stuck his face in hers and his hands went everywhere, like they always did.

"Sweet, pretty superstar, you aren't old enough yet to get the right to yell at me or tell me what to do. I did promise and I had no idea that Walder was invited to this weekend party. I warned the stupid girl to stay away from him and his daughters. He uses them to lure, I told her that but she went with one or two of them to play. Walder just gave her a mild sedative, she'll be fine and he didn't do more than paw at her. If you want a pet, you need to take care of it, I told you that. You should have tried to keep a better eye on her." Sansa gave a small cry of bitterness. "How can I keep an eye on her when you set Cersei on me?" 

Arya hurt and she wanted to hurt Petyr because now Sansa was crying, she was hurt too. "Petyr, I can't, I am too tired to do anymore. She is all over me and I can't take her on me anymore, I want to go home so bad. Arya needs to leave, she isn't safe here and you know that! Cersei invited more and I know you will let her share me, I can't do it. Please?" Petyr shrugged. "I can't predict what Cersei does, lovely girl, but what happens when we tell your mom why we came home early? What will she ask? Shall I tell her the truth about you and about your sister? I would have to tell her about our times together, about Cersei, her greatest enemy. What about the others? Or we can make it easier here for you? I can tell Cersei that it's just you for her. Arya can get more candy and be the party favor for the rest of the crowd?"

She came swimming to reality to find herself curled under the bed, sobbing. It took her a minute to wipe her eyes before climbing out. Sweaty and shaking, Arya rushed towards the door. She needed that fucking gum before anything else decided to burst into her mind. Whatever that memory was, it was going to be buried again, far away, she rejects it. That gum, Arya had to have it now and she went into the commons room. Joff had Arya bring everyone a drink and snack, he used insults and made her bring him his on her knees. He tossed the piece on the floor and she crawled to use her mouth to get it as instructed. Jeyne objected to all of this until Arya assured her it was fine, really, it was fine. It was the gum, that was all, she just needed it was all, at any cost. Arya went back to her room as soon as she got the bit of gum. The boys all laughed but let her go thankfully.

"That was mean. It was very mean. She is sick, you are making her sick and I don't like it." Ramsay shot Damon that look and he nodded. He understood earlier when Ramsay gave the signal, as did Theon but then Arya had come out. Ramsay had made a stopping gesture and they waited while Joff tormented the girl. Now she was back in her room and Damon saw that his brother had not changed his mind. Ramsay had explained earlier to Damon that because of how damaged Jeyne was, it would take different measures to get her to hear them. That if Jeyne didn't like what she heard, she can get savage in a second. So he told Damon this wasn't to hurt her, this was to keep her safe, to protect all of them, it was restraint not hurt. Damon was happy that his sister was wearing that stupid monkey, it will cushion her, help comfort her if she gets scared. Damon knows how scary Ramsay can be.

As soon as Arya went back into the bedroom, Damon and Theon moved fast. They tried to be careful not to hurt Jeyne but be quick enough that she can't escape or attack. In a moment they had her laying down, flipped onto her stomach. Her top half was resting on Damon's lap, the rest of her was over Theon. His hands kept her legs pinned down so she can't kick at him. Damon had one hand gently pressing on the monkey, on her back just above her injury. His other hand was trying to brush over Jeyne's short spikes and rubbing at her scalp as he muttered to the struggling girl. "Hush, it's okay, relax. Jeyne, calm down and stay still so you don't hurt your back! Ramsay just wants you to listen to him and I know you are stubborn. I just want you to hear him out and then I will let you up. I won't hurt you and I won't let anyone else hurt you. Just listen, okay? Don't scream or the girls will come and we will have to hurt them." Jeyne went still and tried hard not to panic, she won't let the girls get hurt because of her actions. This was to Help And Support Her Friends, no matter what. Ramsay crouched down so he was at eye level with Jeyne. "I just need you to listen, I won't hurt you, no one wants that. The girls will be left alone if you can just listen to me until curfew. Deal?" For the girls, Jeyne nodded and listened.

Arya chewed so fast her jaws pricked, burned and ached all at once. It wasn't fast enough, it couldn't kick in fast enough and she was tossed. Sansa was rushing into the Bolton horse stables with a bottle of something. Sansa was older now and becoming a bitch, she wears a real bra now and thinks she is all that. Arya noticed her hair was messy and Sansa looked like she had been crying, she seemed frantic. "Arya! Take this, take this, open up right now, okay? Obey me, dammit, swallow it fast!" It was a terrible taste and made her mouth go numb, she felt everything start to go numb and gagged. Sansa slapped a hand over her mouth and hissed into her ear. "Don't you throw that up! Please, you have to hold it down. Its really important, I can't do anything more but at least you don't have to feel it as much this time." Arya felt prickles of terror seep into the numbness and she mumbled, "What, what did you do? Why?" Sansa hugged her sister tightly and pulled her into a corner to sit on a bale of hay. "I am so sorry. Petyr is going to hurt you, he is going to have Mr. Bolton do it, I think. I am so sorry, it's all my fault. I told Petyr no and you know that makes him so mad. So he's going to hurt you to punish me."

"Why is it always me? Why does he hurt me for you? He never hurts you when I mess up?" Arya slurred a little but Sansa understood her as she felt her sister going a bit limp. "Because you are mine, it hurts me when someone hurts you and Petyr knows it." Arya started to sluggishly fight as Sansa started to drag her sister towards the kennels. "He is even making me bring you myself, I fucking hate Petyr so much, Arya. He pretends he loves me, pretends he wants me to learn and rise, that is what he says, it is a lie. He says the same thing to Lancel and Ramsay, you know! It's lies and he will get his someday, all of these sick jerks will get it. We have plans, we have ideas, sis. Lancel says as we get older, we can learn to take them all down. Take a deep breath and stop pulling away. Please, this hurts me bad enough, don't make it worse by screaming. If you don't just take it then Petyr will make it worse for us." Arya started to drift and none of it mattered anyway. She heard and smelled the dogs in cages, Arya felt the hay on her feet and wondered why she had no shoes on, no clothes but her underwear? Was this like Walder, Roose never seemed to want anyone to sit on his lap and he never gave her candy.

No, Roose wanted to tie her arms above her head and use a whip on her. Arya screamed at first but the drugs worked while the pain did it's job and her brain exploded. Things connected and suddenly she was soaring above herself. She saw Sansa nearby, sobbing, watching while Petyr was touching her in a bad way. That girl curled in a cage wearing a dog collar howling, she noticed her too. Arya looked at her own body, saw the bloody lines, more important she saw how she did not scream. How her eyes were mean, ice and set on her sister, her face was suffering and seething. Another thud and Arya was sneaking cough syrup at the pharmacies. Arya was given liquor or drugs by Petyr for secrets, she was given it by Sansa for whenever she pissed off Petyr. She learned how to get it all by herself. That's when Arya started to fight back, she remembers how it made her feel so strong to defy them. It was magic power fueling her to no longer be their whipping girl. No matter if it was Sansa, Petyr, her mother or one of Petyr's bad men, she fought back. With her voice, with her body, with every drop of narcotic or liquid courage she could get.

The gum kicked in and Arya sat up shivering in the corner of the tub. She felt crazy, she was laughing and crying. "That's why he gave me the gum. Petyr's last fuck you to me. His last fuck you to Sansa. He had said if I wanted more once the box was gone, I'd have to find a way to ask Lancel. Now I get the joke. What a fucking prankster to the end, Petyr."

"I am not lying, Jeyne. Everyone here already knows all of this. Myranda and Hot Pie even knew. It's all true what I said." Jeyne stared at Ramsay and replied, "I will think about it. Think about the staff. Now let me go. I want to go to bed." Ramsay nodded and the second hands were off her, Jeyne forced herself upright, in spite of the pain. She inched her way upstairs, ignoring all offers of help. Jeyne waited until she heard Gregor come in. She waited until he checked in on her, bringing medication from Raff, her last dose of the night. Nanny Gregor was being gruff but nice and Jeyne smiled at him. What Ramsay said stuck in her head though and began to nibble as she fell into a troubled slumber.

Theon was almost asleep when he heard Arya finally come out of the bathroom. He grinned to himself thinking how she must have just gone into a druggie stupor and forgotten where bed was. A shadow in the dark came forth with a white floating bobbing thing. Only when Arya was fully standing over his prone body did Theon see she was holding the toilet tank cover over her head. She was grinning at him in a terrible way. He screamed just as it came down and only a quacking sound came out of him. Arya went through the bathroom and used the key Theon had hidden to enter Ramsay and Joff's room. Joff's screams woke Ramsay but lights came on too bright and staff came in. Ramsay stood against the wall, half awake and squinting, trying to understand. Blood was everywhere and there was a toilet tank cover on the floor. Arya was shrieking and being held by Stannis and Hot Pie while more staff flooded in.


	150. Candy For All

Kevan strode towards the clinic grimly, following and listening to Bob. Harold and Gilly had already gone down earlier along with Bob when the first alerts went off. They had just returned from their ice cream drive, to get the text as they were nearly at the house. He had been on the phone and only when Bob came for him, did he finish his call. "Sir, Unella could do nothing for Theon, his head was caved in." Kevan nodded and tightly asked, "Joff? Is he alive?" Bob responded quickly. "Oh yes, he is breathing and screaming louder than Arya herself. Joff needed several stitches in his head, his left arm is broken and a few cracked ribs, he was lucky. Unella is working on him now."

Giving a sigh of relief, Kevan asked, "And the girl?" Bob gave a frown and spoke heavily. "I want you to see and hear her, Sir. Arya is delusional, she is not able to even tell who anyone is. She is speaking to the ghosts of past Uncle Petyr and Sansa. We found the gum hidden in Ramsay's room that they apparently stole from her. It was an impressive amount and I have asked for Unella to test it. Raff has taken Arya's blood and urine, it's exactly what Harold and I were afraid we'd find." Kevan closed his eyes, even though he kept walking, took a deeper breath and opened his eyes. "Please don't tell me it was that sickening damned concoction that Petyr used to make when he was a student? I thought you'd managed to destroy all of it, Harold made sure not a single bit of that drug was left. You both swore you didn't put it back in your damned closets to be stolen by another student!"

Bob frowned deeper as he hurried to keep up with Kevan's furious strides. "Sir, I swear to you we destroyed everything. We never kept anything like it again, you may check even my private safe if you would like, its the only place I keep any drugs now. And you have the list of all of them, from what we use on Myranda, to our victims, to our own personal stuff. Petyr must have found another way to make it or hid more than we thought he did. He did warn you that he left you a parting gift just before he died, Sir." The girl was restrained to a bed and Kevan saw with disgust that she was drooling and there was fecal matter running down her leg. She was whipping her head around and screeching, thrashing as much as she could.

Raff ran past the director to put an I.V. into the girl's ankle while Gregor held her leg still.

"SANSA! STOP SAYING NO! NO! NO! I DON'T CARE HOW GOOD I TAKE THE FUCKING WHIP, ROOSE KEEPS HITTING STOP SAYING NO YOU FUCKING BITCH! PETYR, I HATE YOU, I HATE YOUR SECRETS, I HATE YOUR WHISPERS AND I HATE WALDER WITH HIS FUCKING CANDY! PETYR, GIVE ME MORE GUM! I NEED MORE, PLEASE, I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING, YOU PRICK! YOU SICK FUCKS, YOU BOTH KNEW THE WHOLE TIME! BOTH OF YOU, SISTER AND UNCLE YOU BOTH KNEW THAT WAS ROOSE'S THING, HE LIKED HURTING ME AND YOU MADE ME, TRICKED ME! I HATE YOU KILL YOU, I FUCKING HATE YOU, KILL YOU! CALL ME A TRAITOR? I AM A FUCKING BETRAYER?  I NEVER TOLD ON YOU, NEVER TOLD ON SANSA, NEVER TOLD ABOUT ANY OF IT! BUT I DON'T WANT TO KEEP ANY OF YOUR FUCKING SECRETS! I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOU IN MY HEAD, JOFF, GIVE ME THE FUCKING GUM AND I WILL BLOW YOU FINE JUST GIVE IT TO ME YOU BASTARD! OH GODS, SANSA, HIDE, HIDE, DON'T CRY JUST HIDE, CERSEI IS COMING, DON'T WORRY, SHE WILL HURT ME INSTEAD NOT THE OTHER, IT'S OKAY, I CAN TAKE IT. FUCK YOU FUCK YOU FUCK YOU GIVE ME SOME WINE FIRST, YOU CUNT!"

Kevan turned and stared hard at Raff. "Sedate her now. Tell Unella to speak with the twins on Arya's withdrawal treatment. It will be severe, she might need to be kept under for a few days if I remember correctly. Consult Unella after you put this girl out cold." Kevan looked at Gregor. "I want to make sure you and Harold search this entire estate tomorrow for anymore of that vile gum! I want every bit of it destroyed." After leaving the clinic, Kevan turned to Bob. "What if Petyr gave Sansa the recipe for the gum?" Bob gently cleared his throat and tilted his head to stare up at the moon. "Sir, more than that know how to make that drug. There is an excellent chance that he did give her the recipe. We got the recipe from Qyburn, the original liquid. Lancel mentored with the doctor as did Unella."

Kevan stared hard at Bob until the man twitched. "Except my son, Qyburn and Unella have no reason to give the girl any of the gum. Sansa hated her sister from the moment she lost control of her. Arya hated her sister with a passion, still does. Bob nodded, adding, "If Sansa and Ramsay were having a relationship, could she have left him the recipe to mess with Arya?" Bob said nothing and Kevan muttered, "It's never going to end. This has to be the end of it, they are mostly dead!"   

Kevan sniffed and headed to the cafeteria where Ramsay was sitting along with Stannis and Polliver who hovered in the background. "Sir, I only came because it was an emergency. And I didn't feel comfortable leaving the professor alone with Ramsay." Kevan nodded. "I understand. Where is everyone else?" Stannis spoke as he allowed Ramsay to continue sipping at a half cup of hot coffee. The boy was shaken, ashen and wasn't speaking much. "Hot Pie and Gilly are cleaning in the dorm to the best of their ability while Harold is, uh, caring for Theon. Tyrion is watching the other students, he has put Damon in the cook's old bedroom so all the kids are upstairs until downstairs is settled. He has blocked the upstairs hallway with his own presence upon a chair."

Kevan patted Stannis on the shoulder briefly. "I am thankful to see you and Tyrion beginning to step up more. It is appreciated deeply, Stannis. We shall deal with Ramsay ourselves now. Please go and assist at the dorm house however you can. Polliver, head back to your cabin, everything is under control now. Thank you. If you are needed, we shall text or call you."

Ramsay watched the others leave and he thought to himself, here we fucking go. He isn't perfect Loras and he isn't his amazing Sansa and he knows sure as shit that he isn't Lancel. In his mind he heard Sansa's voice, husky, younger, so much pain and love in that voice. "Remember you are Roose's son. Watch, listen, learn. Remember Petyr is your fucking handler in the summer, watch, listen, learn, Lancel got out, we can too. It will happen, Lancel said to watch, listen and learn." Ramsay did, he even observed Cersei, Tywin, Walder, Olenna, he observed them all.

Loras was brought by his grandmother, not Petyr but they took him into their circle. And Ramsay would whisper to the little crying boy while Sansa held him after one of the parties. Ramsay would give that same exact advice and they all listened. How could they or Lancel have known that when it was finally over that Petyr would have Qyburn make them all forget. Lancel had to introduce himself and trigger them all over again so they could remember. He has been through so much, they all have, Ramsay will weather this.

Now it was Ramsay's turn to shine and he wasn't about to let Kevan ruin it. He pulled every shield down, he pulled up every mimicry and bit of acting talent in his body to the forefront as Kevan sat across from him.

"I had no clue that would happen, I swear it, Sir! We thought it would be funny, you know? I mean, me and the boys, we noticed Arya always had the gum and thought it would be fun to steal it from her. Yeah, I mean we did figure out pretty fast that without it she got sick, that it was drugs or something. None of us tried it, no, we didn't know if it was like, heroin or bath salts! But Joff was always being ragged on by Arya so he sort of played revenge games. We just watched and laughed but we didn't stop him, it was funny to us. He did ask her for a blowjob but she said no. He made her beg him for tiny bits of the gum and he made her serve us all drinks but that was really all that happened, nothing else! No, the girls were never there for any of it. I think Arya just told them she felt sick with a cold. Myranda asked her if it was drugs but Arya told her no. We didn't say anything because we didn't want the girls to stop our fun. We never thought she would try and kill anyone over it!"

To Gregor's horror, after spending the entire time being Unella's assistant while she dealt with the injured and hysterical students, he had to deal with her. Unella finally had both kids tended to and asleep. Raff had been sent to check Ramsay for shock and administer a sedative, also to check on the other students. "As soon as Raff comes back, he can spend the night here on a cot. Why don't you head up to the house and I'll wait here for him?" Unella shook her head no then burst into tears. Gregor groaned and wrapped his arms around her the best he could with the stomach in the way. He pretended it was her neck he was wrapping his hands around.

"Why the fuck are you crying? They will be fine. Girl will detox, boy will heal." Unella was getting tears and snot all over his shirt and she wailed about Theon. Rolling his eyes, Gregor sighed. "Listen, I am upset over his death too. But if I cried or raged out over every death, every unfair tragic thing that happens with these kids, I'd be a fucking useless dickless wailing mess, no use to them that way. You are the same way or were before the stomach of damnation." Unella growled into his shirt, "After the stomach, I will probably be meaner than ever." Gregor nodded and grimaced at the state of his shirt. "I sure the fuck hope so. I don't think I can take much of this."

Raff gave the students sedatives, trudged back to the clinic to deal with trying to get the Cleganes out of it. Unella wanted to leave a list of things for Raff to check on during the night and Gregor just wanted to get her to shut up. After getting them out, Raff collapsed on a cot, hoping for a little bit of sleep. Except every time he started to drift off either Joff or Arya would wind up. One screaming for painkillers, the other ranting to imaginary people. Both managed to thrash enough to set off their alarms several times as well. Raff put up with this for an hour and then gave each of them a mix of morphine and tranquilizer.

"This will either overdose and kill you or knock you out for the night, frankly, I am past caring which, just shut the fuck up!" Raff happily administered a dose to Joff and watched with glee as the boy's screams faded into soft snores. Raff took the other dose into Arya's room while the girl was mumbling and giggling. "Okay, crazy girl, time to go bye bye, nighty night to dream land, scream in your head, let me sleep." Arya's eyes seemed to briefly land on Raff as he put the medication into her I.V. "Lancel? Loras? Which of Olenna's pretty boys are you?"

Raff backed away and hissed, "Shut your fucking mouth and go to sleep! You want them to send you for Qyburn for that talk, you stupid little bitch? How the hell are we going to keep you alive if you can't shut your mouth?" He spun around and nearly had a heart attack to see Bob standing there. Bob gestured for Raff to leave the room and he did, panting, holding on to his chest. Whispering even though he gave the kids enough to knock out an elephant, Raff asked, "Why are you lurking in the shadows like that? You just scared the shit out of me." Bob reached past Raff to gently shut Arya's door and then he moved too fast for Raff to scream out.

The handsome young man found himself tossed onto the cot hard and Bob was over him, smiling. "I heard what she said, I heard what you said, sweet boy. We all know Olenna, don't we, Raff? Just like we both seem to know Myranda. It bothers me having things in common with you, Raff. I don't need to send you or her to Qyburn because Kevan has already called for him. You look like you are going to piss yourself, boy? Are you that scared? Of Qyburn or me? Qyburn is feared by us all except Kevan. But right now you want to be very afraid of me."

"Do not touch Myranda anymore, Raff. Tell Polliver the same or I'll make what Qyburn does seem like a wet dream. Are we clear? Nod for me and keep your mouth shut. Good. Until I return no one sees Arya but Harold or Kevan. You, Unella and Qyburn are the only ones that will be visiting and treating her, no exceptions. If there are any extreme changes in her physical or mental health, you will text me immediately. If you don't wish for the evil scientist to take a trip through your own head, I suggest you stop responding to Arya's memories and words. Kevan has never dealt well with what the others did, you know that's why he ran here with his son, to get out of it. It kills him to know it keeps going, that even his own students were contaminated by it all. And that is how he sees us, contaminated."

Raff overcame his fear enough to harshly whisper out, "He was in it too! He knew what had been done to each of us and just kept erasing minds, like that would stop it or fix it." Bob sighed and sat on the edge of Raff's bed. "Kevan was born into it, he clawed his way out and rejected the cult. He has spent years with Qyburn trying to do whatever they could. They could not stop it, but they could save and ease the minds of those who had been in it. The girl will be made to forget again or she will learn like everyone else to accept it and move past it. Like you did, right?"

Raff nodded and dared in the darkness to whisper, "Were you and Harold, were you two?" Bob shrugged.

"We had the same experiences but not with upper class. My Da was part of the lowest order of it, Varys was brought into it fast, he saw that the upper class played the same games but with shinier toys. He kept us out of it, we only saw what Kevan and Qyburn's parts were. Varys never worked for the order after Kevan took us in. Varys hated them as much as we all did. He did his damnedest to buy poor teens from the order to give them at least a slightly better life once Kevan let him open the brothel. Kevan and Qyburn did what they could for the others, one by one each year. Kevan tried to forget it all, to let past be the past and move forward, leading us to do the same. Now it's back, it's going to test us all, Raff. While I'm gone, if it hits you hard again, talk to Harold, call me if you have to. Don't start talking to anyone else. No point setting others off right now. Polliver and Hot Pie don't need their memories clouding their minds, do they? Polly already seems to have started to have issues, we just got him settled. Do we want to make him remember how his own Da was like mine? Should we remind Hot Pie why he had gone fat and addicted, killing himself with pizza, computer games and narcotics?"

Hot Pie wept while Harold awkwardly petted his shoulder. "I was mad at Polliver because he made me stop playing the games because he was done. So Stannis took me out for a walk to calm me down. I told him how I was concerned for Arya. That I was sure she had a bad drug problem and just as I tell Stannis, we hear the screaming. I should have forced the issue during the day, not just tell Raff and Stannis. I should have went straight to Unella and Gregor with it. Now Theon's dead because of me." Harold sighed and reminded the boy again that there was no way it could be his fault. 


	151. Yowling Creatures Sewn Together

"Hey! Pay attention, Jeyne! I don't care what they told you, I don't care what bullshit Ramsay shoved into that tiny head of yours! We can talk more about it when I get home on Sunday, okay?" Myranda grabbed the sullen face between her hands. "Look, doctors and professionals write books and make movies of their success all the time! That doesn't meant they don't' like or care about you, it means they found you exceptional enough to write about. Take it as a compliment. Hey, could have made you famous! Could you imagine movie stars fighting to play the part of Jeyne? Huh?" She tickled the girl and Jeyne giggled slightly, but she moved back to crouching on Myranda's bed. "Why are you acting all feral again? Come on, I am going to worry instead of enjoying Varys's club! I only get a short time to party before the work part starts. Now I will push away all the dancers, I will sigh and shove Bob over at the bar, demanding a drink so I can brood over you."

 Gilly wasn't stupid and she frowned as Bob went by with his duffel bags. Harold wasn't far behind him and she could see that Bob was tired of listening to whatever his brother was saying. Spinning around, Bob pointed at Harold. "You just worry about taking care of your own fucking baggage, how about that? Keep Kevan calm, keep everyone safe from Qyburn if he shows early, keep that girl isolated and keep Raff steady around her. I will speak with Varys about all the different things, about here, about what's going on with the school and with me, okay? I will speak to Kevan's fucking excuse for a detective and that insufferable lawyer. As for Myranda, you agreed to it, Varys agreed to it, you wanted the trade off, you got it. I don't know yet what will happen, I won't lie, I really don't know what will come of this if anything. But I will do my best as I am sure you will with your Gilly. Good bye, Harold. See you on Sunday, hope I don't have to hear from you before then."

Harold watched Bob leave and turned to see Gilly looking at him with a sad smile. "Tell me you didn't just trade that poor sixteen year old girl's life in exchange for Bob letting me live? Harold, I care deeply for you, but I won't allow another to pay my costs. If Bob is going to come for me, than he comes for me, I will deal with that, we can deal with that. But doesn't Myranda go through enough? Hasn't she already spent all her life forced to please men just for her to die for their pleasure? Harold, please, that can't happen. I would never be able to live with myself or with you." Harold frowned and pulled Gilly into the kitchen. He spoke in a hushed tone in case Kevan was about. "Listen, I didn't just send Bob off to kill Myranda, I swear. Bob is going to be working then he is spending exclusive time with her, that's all. If he gets it out of his system, Varys is there, he knows how to control Bob, he will keep her alive and safe, I trust my brothers. But this obsession with Myranda has been growing and it's gotten worse since I haven't been there to continually distract him from it. The obsession started before you Gilly, its not on you."

Polliver was half asleep still when he heard a thunderous pounding on his door. Cursing, he fell out of the bed, dragged on his sweat pants and staggered to his door. He cracked the door open and there was Jeyne. The girl was growling, her hands were claws churning at her sides and she was crouched on his porch railing. "Jeyne? What's wrong, kiddo? It's what, breakfast time? Instead of trying out your neat butt pillow at the cafeteria, you decided to come here? I don't make breakfasts as good as Hot Pie, you know." Jeyne was struggling to be in control and to not go feral. "I can't. I am angry, I am confused. Myranda is leaving, Hot Pie is staff, I have no one to talk to. I don't want to hear anymore stories from Ramsay and I don't want Damon telling me to listen to Ramsay. I can't trust staff. I can't trust brothers, I can't trust students. Who do I trust?" Trying to force himself awake, Polliver opened his door further. "Okay, Jeyne. I need to get some coffee in me. Come on in and we can talk while I have my caffeine. I am suspended so I'm not staff right now and I haven't been a student in a long time. So maybe I am your neutral person to talk to, eh?" 

Unella was trying to relearn how to breathe while sobbing and Raff had to text Gregor. "I can't get to my fucking breakfast because of your wife. Do something." Gregor sat down with Unella in her office, rubbing roughly on her back. "Qyburn isn't coming for you, woman. I won't let him touch you, I won't let his nurse touch you. I already told you that so what is your problem? They are coming here for Arya and any other that might need extra treatments, that's all. Not for you, I was firm with Kevan on that. Raff already found us another doctor that will give you an examination next week, I will take you myself. If that doctor tells me you don't need so much bed rest, I'll stop yelling at you so much. Okay? Now can we get breakfast before I wither and die before your eyes?"

Snarling, Unella glared at Gregor as he forced her to her swollen feet. "I am not a weak or soft hearted person, Gregor. This emotional shit bothers me worse than it bothers you. I cried at a commercial for cats. I have always hated cats. I cried and am considering making a live cat sweater for you. I wonder how many yowling cats I will have to sew together for it?" Gregor gave a leer and hugged Unella briefly. "Now see, there is the wonderful cunt I married!" He shoved her out the door. "If you give me a live cat sweater for my birthday, I'll give you a live dog coat for yours." 

Myranda had no idea anything was wrong with this trip. Since it was just her and Bob they took Kevan's nice car. Bob let her ride up front with him and change the radio stations. They rode in silence for the first half of the trip to Kings Landing. Myranda was glad Bob wasn't talkative, her head was still full of worry she hasn't let of of yet. Jeyne is alone with Ramsay, Damon and Joff. Myranda is fairly sure that they won't physically hurt her. Damon is too protective for that but he won't stop Ramsay from brainwashing or triggering his sister. The idiot has drunk Ramsay's fucking fruit punch of lies and there isn't any changing it. Myranda worries for Jeyne. She worries for Arya. She isn't her friend, no, but, it was like, she likes her then hates her all in the same breath. But Myranda sees the look, that blank look that buries secrets. She knows that look so well, a lot of the kids Varys pulls in has that look until they get used to things.

It's the look of someone who was forced too young and hurt badly. Some deal with it like she does, roll with what dice you are given, baby. But others, it scars too deep and they go blank, they go to a freeze sometimes.  Myranda saw it on Sansa the day the girl hit her up for oral services, shivering. Myranda had understood, something triggered her and Sansa needed the feeling to leave. Or a feeling had to happen under her control. The girl had called Myranda names the whole time and she understood that too. Sansa's sister had the same look but handled it differently.  Arya was like so many girls and boys that need to gain courage and escape by any means needed, usually chemical needs. Myranda wondered if Ramsay had any idea what would happen if Arya didn't get those drugs, was pushed too far. Theon was like that, needed to escape except he wanted to escape his skin. He got his wish and Myranda hates that she even thought that. She hates being cold and hard, she wants to cry over his grave wearing black, he deserves that kind of thing. Theon was kind for awhile, he was nice and then, Ramsay got him. Just like Damon who had been turning into a proper person himself. Fucking Ramsay is really who got Theon killed and sniveling Joff hurt.

Myranda blinked fiercely, thinking to herself, don't you dare cry for fucking SuperD, he was going to hunt you and enjoy himself because fucking Ramsay would have told him to. But even if Theon was an asshole in the end, he had no one left to cry for him. So Myranda allowed herself to open the window and allow the breeze to dry the tears as they came down. Bob asked why she was crying and Myranda hoarsely responded. "Theon. He has no one else to cry for him." Bob caressed Myranda's arm and told her that she was such a sweet compassionate girl. Myranda wanted to laugh, even when she was honestly showing emotion, truthful face, no acting, Bob just brushed it off. Clearing his throat, Bob continued. "Theon was a very confused boy who made some bad choices. I am sorry we have lost him before we could have rehabilitated him. I will admit, just between us, we made a mistake taking him on." Myranda grinned slightly and turned to look at Bob. "You admit to a mistake, Bob? Do you have a fever, Sir?" Bob smiled and gave a playful pinch to Myranda's cheek.

Bob took her to lunch at a nice cafe that served her favorite foods. He even allowed her to have dessert. "I almost feel like you are buttering me up for something, Bob. I like the nice lunch and the chocolate cake along with radio control more than I like the drugs and fancy little bottles in limos. Is this all courtesy of a particular client that is trying to persuade you? Or is this going to be like, it's a client under fifty but he has two extra horny friends with him?" Bob shook his head and smiled at her. "No, sweet girl, this is just because I felt like doing it. This weekend is going to be a little different. I need to attend a few meetings while we are there so we will we be staying in a nice room that Varys has set up for us. You can dance and play with the other teens while I attend my meetings." Myranda nodded as Bob paid the check. As they got in the car, Myranda asked, "So if we are there for two nights, will I have two clients?" Bob played with her hair and smoothly responded, "Don't you trust me to always make the right decisions for you, honey? Does it matter what I choose for our weekend?" Blushing, Myranda shook her head slightly. "No, Sir. I trust you."

Varys gave Myranda a big hug and cooed at her. "Go let the girls make you even more gorgeous than you already are. Tonight you are going to pick clothing from a new rack, it is divine, I promise you! Bob has already sent back the specifics for what you can choose from. Enjoy yourself, lovely girl, I am going to chastise your mentor for keeping you away from me so long." Myranda looked through the new rack and noticed the tiny extra color was for girls already reserved, not to be touched. She wondered if Bob had set her up with some client that he is afraid she would object to? But in this brothel, Varys only allowed the safest types. Even the most extreme kinks allowed were only if the teenager agreed to it and the handler must be present in the room the entire time. If a client wished to use any type of bdsm gear, Varys had to be informed. He personally saw that the specific girl or boy is able to deal with such a thing. So Myranda can't imagine anything that would scare or upset her within the brothel itself.

She looked at herself in the mirror after Shae finished her transformation. It was a different look than she normally would wear but it was still a cool look and she smiled at her reflection. "I look like a chick from one of those eighties videos, don't I? Kind of bad ass retro." Shae grinned. "Except the teased hair wasn't usually purple, we had no idea how to make a smokey eye and our outfits were way sluttier than this one is. But yeah, the off the shoulder overlarge see through sweater hanging off the shoulder with the tight camisole under it, along with that mini skirt and those long tasseled boots, so eighties. I wonder what video you would have been in." Bob and Varys smiled at her when she came bouncing out, showing off her make over. "Now darling, while Bob and I have a boring meeting in my private booth, you are going to dance and see your friends here. Two drink limit, dear and no trying to pick up your own clients, please."

Myranda grinned at Varys and giggled. "I have heard of this new client, Podrick. He hangs out with Bronn, I heard all about the dynamic duo. I would love to pick them if I ever get a chance to do that again. Bronn was great fun and I hear that Podrick is just magic." Varys looked alarmed and Bob looked angry, giving Myranda pause. "I'm sorry. I was only joking." Bob forced a smile at Varys's sharp warning look as his older brother hugged Myranda lightly. "Oh sweetie, you did nothing wrong. We are just stuck in boring business mode. Now you know that Bob doesn't like those young scoundrel types, always nervous they will charm you away! Until Bob comes to get you, I want you to dance and play with your peers. No flirting with the scoundrels or anyone else, enjoy the fun instead." Myranda walked into the club between Varys and Bob who each had a hand on her shoulder. This was lost on no one from teenagers to handlers to clients to employees. The body language of the brothers told more than the reserved cloth on her outfit. Varys signaled to the bartender that Myranda could have two drinks and Bob told her to go enjoy herself.

Bob followed Varys past the usual booths, up the small staircase where a few reserved areas were kept for the more exclusive clients. Walking past those sections, Varys walked over to a large muscled woman who leaned against a mirrored wall. Varys sighed at the look on the woman's face and waited, tapping his foot. The woman gave a mulish look before she moved and opened the door, to allow Varys to enter his own private section, hidden from all who wish to peek inside. Bob followed his brother inside, ignoring the fact that the blond behemoth followed him in. Bob looked at the mirrored glass to see where Myranda was. Varys clicked his tongue impatiently as he sat on his favorite chair. All his furniture in this booth were lovingly dressed by his brothers, disconcerting all who must visit Varys in here. Varys likes that.

"The girl is fine, Bob! Sit down and stop making me nervous with your stalking. Bri! I can only take so much raging testosterone in one room! You and Bob are simply too much and I'm going to have a hot flash!" The woman scoffed. "Fuck you, Varys." Rolling his eyes, Varys smiled gently. "Thank you, honey, but your biggest and best strap on couldn't do the job. Bri, meet my brother Bob, you've seen the twins before I am sure, at least from a distance." Giving a curt nod to Bob, sticking out her hand, she spoke grimly. "Nice to meet you, Bob. Yes, I have seen them in Kings Landing a few times. You both work directly for Kevan in his school. I'm Bri. I was a good friend of Jaime Lannister, met him in college. I ran with the same gangs as Sandor Clegane as a kid. I'm Bronn's partner, he will be here himself tomorrow to speak with you. But I will be your point of contact, not him."

Varys smirked. "Bri is all the brawn and brains, leaving Bronn the charm and the face for a target. But aren't you forgetting an important thing to tell Bob? It's not just your bro love with Jaime that makes this case personal for you, what else?" Blushing, releasing Bob's hand from her crushing grip, Bri muttered, "I was Margeary Tyrell's girlfriend. I have lost my girlfriend and my best friend to that fucking cult." Varys looked at Bob. "So you see, it's a personal case for both the detectives. Both lost a good friend, Bri lost her beloved as well. Luckily, my Lollys has been able to comfort both in their worst moments allowing them to focus better." Bri gave Varys a frown. "That isn't relevant, there was no reason to taunt me like that in front of your brother, Varys." Bob watched Myranda dance with other kids, happy and carefree as he spoke. "Forgive my brother, Bri. He isn't like the rest of us. He is all brains and no brawn, so he uses his words like weapons, sharpening them on the likes of us. It's just his jealousy kicking up. He's right, we are just too much testosterone for him."

A waitress came with drinks for each of them and Varys dismissed her after thanking her politely. "It always amazes me that you are so nice to all that work for you considering your business dealings." Varys looked at Bri with a raised eyebrow as he sipped his drink. "Do you think if I underpaid them, whipped and humiliated them that they would be so loyal to me? I only get mean if there is no other way around it. Every person who works here knows how generous and caring I am. But every person who works here knows what happens when someone betrays me. Not that it's ever the full truth but I encourage the circulation of the rumor mill. It's always just true enough that no one cares to attempt being the one to prove my deadly temper right or wrong. And for those young ones, they see enough violence in their lives already. Why should I add to their nightmares? I try and let them have the safest haven possible. It's not candy coated here. The kids know what they are, what they are here for and if I can at least give them a few moments of happiness in between it, then I will."

 Bob cleared his throat and spoke. "I don't mean to seem rude, but this small talk isn't needed. I'm sorry, but I am pressed for time tonight. So can we get to work, please?" Varys gave a prim look to his brother. "You have plenty of time. Pull yourself together. Don't they have social time at the school yet? Is this how you are with everyone? Don't the two of you ever leave that school to visit the world? No wonder you and Harold are so weird and stiff all the time." Varys craned his neck to look at Bri. "Are you sure you didn't go to the school after us maybe? Because you are just as awful at small talk and you are always weird and stiff. Wait, are you our long long sister?" It took another few rounds with Bri and Varys before she sat down and began to get down to the meeting. Bob listened as Bri spoke and offered pictures on her cell phone.

"Since the deaths of Petyr Baelish and Olenna Tyrell, the order has granted Roose's request to shut down the main Kings Landing chapter of the order. All of the power of the group now belongs to the Martells. They have been running a huge operation for a long time but now it's the main structure. As you can see, Bran Stark and Robin Arryn-Baelish have become their little stars. It's sick how many enjoy that boy who is paralyzed." Varys and Bob looked at a picture and shuddered. Varys sighed. "I have tried to get Doran and Oberyn to sell at least one of the boys to me with no luck." Bri had one more picture and Bob groaned when she softly spoke of the corpse. "We found these remains just a few days ago. Qyburn has identified the boy as Samwell Tarly. He plans to notify his older brother of it when he visits the school. He was found with some others in an old construction site pit that the Martells use to dispose of the ones they are done with or that won't cooperate or try to run. I think the poor kid was sold to them by his father who is a member of the order."

Cursing softly, Bob texted Harold quickly. If Qyburn showed before Bob did, someone needs to be there with Raff. The young man is already close to the edge, this might plunge him over. They can't afford another staff member to crack, not while that doctor is there looking for reasons to play with heads. Bri shook her head as she put her phone away. "The worst part is, the father must have sold the boy when he was still just so little. It looks like he lasted some time before they decided to kill him. I would give anything to see the father held accountable for his crimes. I would love to bring all of them to the law, but even the proof I do have isn't enough. Not with so many in their pockets. Having the Kings Landing chapter shut down was a good start but not enough. Roose simply uses the Wildlings to work with the Martells. The North and South are still running smaller groups and exchanging with the larger order when needed. The largest group out of the Martells, would be the Freys. Walder has a small but powerful chapter and Roose belongs to it. I have heard nothing of the particular gum that was mentioned by you, Varys. All the chapters traffic drugs and use them on the children but not gum, usually candy or something in a drink."

Bob rubbed his forehead. "What about the Lannisters? Did Lancel have anything to do with any of this so far?" Bri shook her head. "No, he made it clear that he and Sansa will not allow it in their circles. They have been using Varys's establishment only for their guests and for anything else of that nature. When they had their meetings and conferences with the likes of Walder Frey, they only offered him either Myranda or a girl from here. They are certainly involved in a cult, yes, that is clear. Bronn will speak to you more on that tomorrow. They seem to be a cult built of the foundation, in revenge against the order and those in it or that helped hide it." Varys stared at Bri for a second. "So, we have a cult against a cult situation with the rest of us as casualties?" Bri nodded. "Pretty much."  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are a few more songs. Clues are contained, about the plot and the characters in general.  
> Sansa: Get Down, Make Love by Nine Inch Nails  
> Lancel: Model Citizen by Alice Cooper  
> The Order: Bad Influence by Pink   
> Bronn and Bri: Private Eyes by Yes   
> RIP Theon: What I Am by Edie Brickell & New Bohemians  
> RIP Loras: The Stroke By Billy Squier  
> Varys & Brothel: Raise Your Glass by Pink/ Heathens by Twenty One Pilots


	152. Teacher's Pet

Jeyne furrowed her brow and stared at the black plastic thing in her hands. "Now in order to play this game, you can't have claws, girl, you need your hands to be hands and you need fingers, not claws to hit the buttons." Polliver sat next to her on his couch and turned on the game on his large screen. "I will explain the game and what you need to do. Then while you play the game, I am going to drink my coffee and you will tell me what got you all bound up. Now this is a Person game, understand?" Sitting on three pillows that Polliver put around her to cushion the injured tailbone, Jeyne was able to sit straight up. She forced her hands to relax and her fingers stiffly touched the colored buttons. "I am a Person. I have to be. Ferals can be angry but they can't tell you. A Person can tell you and be angry too. I can play a Person game. Tell me how." Polliver explained only enough for Jeyne to be able to control how her character moved. It wasn't going to matter, the point was to give the kid something to do that would distract her. Something that only a person could do. Let her calm down, let him drink his coffee and then he can understand what Death Row did to set her off.

He sipped his coffee as Jeyne concentrated on the game, figuring things out for herself, ignoring any words, tutorials. Giggling, she had seemed delighted with the characters and was in love with it instantly. Polliver woke up, his eyes widening, not because of the caffeine as much as watching Jeyne just demolish a game. "Holy shit, kid! Hot Pie would be drooling in jealousy if he saw how you play! You just killed the killer who is supposed to be killing you! I didn't even think that was possible. Damn. You just actually took out the Huntress! Fuck, that is impressive! That is most certainly only a Person thing. Want to play again?" He sat down on the chair near her and set her back up again. "So Ramsay said something to upset you? About the staff, right?" Polliver watched in amazement as Jeyne started trapping the Trapper as she talked. "Ramsay said that they don't care. Ramsay said Raff and Unella were using me. Ferals are rare and to cure one is very hard. They only wanted to cure me to write books about me. To make books or movies about the feral they fixed. They say you don't care, if you did, you never would have hurt me like that. Ramsay and Damon say you were nice when I was sick because you could have lost your job. Ramsay says Kevan keeps me like a pet, like in a zoo. If I get all Person, he can use me to show how his school cures a feral! If I stay feral than I am the curious pet he owns. Ramsay says Nanny Gregor doesn't really care. It's just his job to act that way, to keep me acting right. Ramsay says the staff is washing my brain. Ramsay says I let myself get used, like Myranda gets used but in a different way."

Polliver needed a moment. "Ramsay is full of shit, Jeyne. Listen, why don't you look at my other games and pick a new one. Let me get a second cup of coffee." He refilled his cup from the new but cheap coffeemaker he had stolen from Sandor's cabin. Sitting back down, Polliver watched as Jeyne was setting up GTA5, he sighed. Great, Jeyne and Hot Pie will have to be fended off from the gaming systems constantly now. What has he done? Jeyne grabbed Trevor, the most offensive character of course, she set about a crime spree. "Okay. Let's take this step by step, Jeyne. Unella and Raff were trying to write books about you. Like you said, it is a rare thing and a famous thing possibly in the medical world. But, here is the thing I want you to really hear. Both of them were told to stop writing their books by Kevan. He told them to stop and that was way back when the other students came, right? So they haven't stopped helping you, supporting and teaching you, have they? No, they only get more invested in you. They are helping you because they care. They can't write books about you so they could just not bother anymore, right?" Jeyne committed another robbery and stole a tank before responding. "They still help me. And there are no more books but they still help. Okay. You and Gregor didn't write books. You broke my tail and Gregor shaved my head. Then suddenly you care?"

"I fractured your tailbone, not your tail, silly. I felt really bad that I did that. I lost my temper and that should not have happened. I was wrong and I needed to take my own punishment for it. Like a Person does, right? But I helped you because that is what I do when a student is really trying to change. I am mean, Gregor is mean because we have to be. Sometimes, it takes a lot for students to be able to hear us, so we have to use other ways until they can hear us. You started to hear us, we responded to that and it is our job, yes, but that isn't the only reason we help you. It's not the main reason we like you. Do you want to know the real reason Ramsay is trying to turn you against the staff? Have you ever heard the term, Teacher's Pet, before, Jeyne? It means someone that is the favorite of the teacher above all others. You happen to be the Teacher's Pet, kid. After you finish hijacking that helicopter, I will tell you why you are the favorite." Polliver raised his cell phone and said, "Jeyne, smile at me!" She turned and gave a silly grin as he took her picture. "Why did you do that?" He smiled back and grabbed his lap top. "One second, I'll show you. Keep playing, you are being chased." Polliver watched as Jeyne managed to cause a three car pile up while only riding a kid's stolen bike. She stole a clown car after slaughtering a circus and was merrily on her way down another road. He sighed and went back to what he was doing. Finding her file, he pulled up the picture he had from when Jeyne had first arrived at the school then downloaded the picture he just took of her.

"Hey, I want to show you something." He sat on the couch and held the lap top in front of Jeyne so she could see the pictures side by side. Jeyne dropped the controller and stared. Polliver pointed at the picture of the dirty, wild haired crouching thin girl, no face, all wrong angles, feral, scared, abused and angry. The bruises and scars were visible upon her skin since she only wore a medical gown, the picture had been taken in the clinic when she was first dumped there by Roose. "This was how you came in to us. Now look at the other picture, Jeyne. Look at the difference." Jeyne looked at the other picture taken a few minutes ago. She was clean, her hair was in a spiky short punk look that Myranda taught her, a silly grin on a seen face, sitting normal, doing a normal kid thing, she looked like a Person, not like the Feral in the first picture. "Do you understand why you are the favorite, why we care, why we like you? Hell, we love you, kid. It's a tough love, but I assure you, it's love in the purest form we can offer. Look at those two pictures! How do you go from this one to that one, what a huge difference, right? It took hard work, it took pain, fear, anger and all that trying was noticed, Jeyne. We saw your pain, we know what you went through and saw how you were the strongest kid we have ever met. The harder you fought us, the harder we fought back, we saw the true Person in there, we just had to yank her out. And here you are, the Person we knew was hiding in there, too scared to come out. You aren't scared anymore. You don't need to be a feral to hide how you feel because it is safe to feel, to get it out."

Jeyne nodded and stared more at the pictures before turning back to the game. "Okay. Thank you. Ramsay is full of shit. I can fight him better now." Polliver was putting down his laptop and paused. "Fight Ramsay? Why do you need to fight him, Jeyne?" Shrugging, Jeyne started to play her game and simply muttered, "It's school stuff, Polliver. I can't talk about that stuff. Snitches get Stitches. I know that saying. I like the Teachers Pet one though." Polliver tried to coax more out of the girl but it was useless. She played until he had to nearly carry her out the door. "Get! I don't need two Hot Pie's after my gaming system! Looks like you better start earning good points from the staff so you can visit the gaming cabin."

Bob was relieved when Bri left. She was a lot to take and Bob was already tense enough. He sighed when yet another person knocked on the door to come in. This time it was that girl that was new when the twins had come last time. As the girl stalked forward, a flirting smile on her face, Bob tracked her and Varys gave him a small disapproving look. "Bob, this is Lollys. She was my last rescue from that  huge batch that came through. She spies for me. Lollys takes good care of our detectives and our lawyer whenever possible and is excellent at pillow talk. Lollys also has other skills. She was the lowest caste when she was bought by the order as a child. No name, just a pretty little child to play with. She was bought by Elia Martell and later became a companion to the Sand Snakes. It was their pleasure to teach our little friend how to use weapons as good as she used her body. Oberyn was displeased when he found out the girls had allowed a slave girl to do such things and he sold Lollys to me. Now she is my spy and watchdog." Lollys shook Bob's hand and then whispered into Varys's ear. He smiled at the girl and patted her arm. "Excellent. Thank you, dear. If Bri wants to pay the extra for all night, that's fine. I would like you to wait until after Myranda leaves the club. I would like you to keep an eye on her, keep the clients off her so Bob will stop staring out the damned window at her. Thank you, love." Bob watched as the girl left to wind herself around the large blond detective, to say something flirtatiously. Lollys drew Bri towards the dance floor where Myranda was.

"Bob. Please, I am begging you to stop staring out the window like that. It's disturbing me. Look at me, your older brother, I am tired of having a conversation with the back of your head." Making a sound of frustration, Bob turned to look at Varys. "Harold told me you had some trouble with your medication. Is it memories again, Bob? Harold also says it's gotten worse since he started to see this Gilly person. Is this thing with Myranda about you, about Gilly or about memories, Bob?" Bob shrugged and sipped his drink. "I always had a sort of obsession with the girl. I mean, back when we took her, I wanted her for myself. I remember arguing with Harold about trying to trap and keep her for myself. He wouldn't do it. But I followed the rules we set down, the ones we discussed with you way back on how we would treat any student we mentored for this. I might have slipped once or twice but that was all. We groomed her exactly as we said we would, never taking liberties, never confusing the situation for her. But I never got it out of my head, I just ignored it and focused. When Harold got all crazy over Gilly, I had more time by myself. I had time to think too much, maybe. We have started to become more involved in the actual school and the students. So I see Myranda more often. It's like waving a flag in front of me and it's driving me insane." Bob chugged his beer and set it down slightly too hard.

Varys spoke softly. "Do you think you feel scared about losing Harold? Do you feel jealous and you are trying to focus on Myranda instead of Gilly? Do you feel that you are going to kill Gilly if you don't try something else? That is what Harold thinks. I'd like to know what you think on it?" Bob slumped a bit and sighed. "Part of me does want to murder Gilly, yes. But I am controlling it, I understand that can't happen. It wouldn't just destroy my relationship with my twin, it would bring the wrath of Kevan upon me. I might end up being the next Tickler for such a thing. But even medication can't seem to help me get over this obsession with Myranda. This is all Harold and I could think of trying before I slipped at the school and did something there. I am not Olenna, I won't have Kevan thinking that of me." In a rare show of affection, Varys reached over and squeezed Bob's hand. "You are nothing like Olenna Tyrell, don't ever think it. That old bitch was a pure predator of the highest order and I hope her death was painful and slow. You are a different kind of predator but don't ever compare yourself to any of those sick people." He sat back and sipped at his wine while Bob finished his beer. "Lets talk about limitations, Bob. I want to be blunt and clear on this, no matter what, I'll not be okay with you killing or maiming that poor girl. I want no weaponry in that room, I want to know every single thing you've brought with you for your playtime. If you feel even slightly close to killing or injuring that girl, get out of the room and text me right away. If you find a weekend with her isn't going to fix this obsession then we need to find other safer options. I can always buy her from Kevan, she can stay here and you can come whenever you wish, have exclusive rights to her? It's a solution."

Bob seemed to think on it then he asked, "Would she be working the club when I wasn't around?" Rolling his eyes, Varys sighed and waved a hand at Bob. "Would you have me keep a sixteen year old locked in a room until you could visit every now and then? That is cruel to her and expensive for me. If she stays here she will work like the others do. She would be very popular and I would love to have her. Myranda is a good girl, Bob and I hate seeing good talent go to waste." Bob shook his head. "No, that is almost worse. Knowing she'd be with the likes of Bronn and Podrick while I was away. The obsession would only grow worse that way." Varys toyed with his glass. "I should talk to her first, Bob. Don't keep shaking your damned head at me. She is going to be very confused, scared and maybe even angry at you, Bob. You are her handler, her father figure, her authority figure, her mentor. She expects you to act a certain way and this won't be anything like she is used to. Karl was the type to fuck his whores and beat them to keep them in line along with copious amounts of drugs and fake promises. You and Harold changed that for her, you carefully groomed her as differently from Karl as you could. What you are asking of her is going to change your relationship with her. You have accepted that but you have had all this time thinking upon it. Myranda has no idea her entire world is about to shift. The girl has a very small world, Bob. It consists of her mentors and that school. You are a very big part of her world, her rules and the way she acts and thinks all come from you, Harold and that school. Whatever you do this weekend, it will affect her entire world. She will see you, Harold and that school in a different light after this, perhaps. I think we need to be very careful about that, Bob." 

Bob was firm on it. "Myranda is a good girl, she will listen to me and do what she is told." Varys smirked and gave Bob a sweet voice. "Yes, of course, the girl is trained to do that. Do you know where these kids go in their heads during sex, darling brother? Anywhere else. We teach them to pretend to like it, remember? They are listening for secrets, for commands of their clients and the sounds of them finally being done. Now, the only person or persons that should be able to actually pleasure the girl are the ones who groom them, the ones who handle them. In a safe way, in a way that they can handle and be held by like a gentle leash. The girl trusts only her handler with her vulnerability, with her enjoyment of sexual acts, it is something carefully used as a reward or a comfort, for a training tool. A handler gives pain or pleasure to their whores, they don't receive it from them. That is how I have my handlers here work, it's how I taught you two and it's how I strive to teach others to do! You are going against everything and I am concerned you are about to destroy the girl." Bob growled and stood up. "I am tired of hearing how I am going to break, maim or outright murder Myranda from Harold and you! Why did I think you would be useful in this situation? I will make sure she survives, that she understands what I want." Varys threw up his hands. "But you don't know what you want! That is the very problem! Myranda looks to you for orders, instructions. What you want from her is going to require actual explanations. What are you going to tell her?"

Heading for the door, Bob tossed over his shoulder, "I don't know, I will figure it out. I understand, she will be scared and maybe even angry, I heard you. I will keep my patience and it will be fine. I won't kill or maim my sweet girl. If I even slightly feel it's too dangerous, I will text you and lock her in the bathroom. Sound good? Great." Varys watched Bob leave and he sighed. What the hell did he agree to exactly?

Myranda was finishing her first mudslide at the bar when Bob approached her. Smiling, she slid off the stool and took the offered hand. As they headed up the hallway towards the elevator to private rooms, she chatted easily. "I hope whoever it is doesn't mind letting me shower first. Unless he is into the whole wild sweaty teen thing. I hope not, I hate being all icky like that." Bob chuckled as they got onto the elevator. "You will get to shower, sweet girl." She watched the numbers go up on the elevator and raised her eyebrows. "Oh my, we just went past the regular rooms, you really did get me a high class customer." Bob smiled but said nothing as the elevator slid open and the plush hallway with silk wallpaper greeted them. Myranda grinned and admired the fancy digs but inside things were already squirming. This wasn't right, Myranda knew this wasn't right somehow. Bob wasn't acting right, Varys wasn't acting right, her clothes were different, not a word to her of this client. Bob opened a door and she forced herself to walk in with confidence. It was an opulent room, a small living room, large bedroom, full bathroom, gold and white plush everywhere. It was clearly one of Varys's best suites and there was no one else in it.

Myranda saw the bed held her bags and Bob's. Her blood went cold, her stomach dropped and she turned fast to see Bob enter the bedroom. Dropping to her knees, instinct riding her hard, she begged prettily and frantically. "Please, what did I do? Sir, I swear I only had one drink and I never willingly spoke to anyone but other teens! Did I do something at the school to upset you?" Bob frowned and Myranda tried to think of what she did so wrong, what would warrant a punishment that had to be administered at the brothel. "Sweet girl, you aren't in trouble at all. You can get up, it is alright, I am not upset with you, dear." Myranda was confused, she let Bob pull her to her feet and he guided her to sit on the edge of the bed. He kept holding her hands and sat next to her. "Calm your breathing, sweet girl, there is no punishment. I want to explain to you how this weekend is going to work, that's all." She sighed and was a bit relieved. Bob just wanted to stop here and explain the clients and the schedule. But her instincts told her that wasn't at all true, like a cockroach scuttling through her spine, she felt the wrongness here. Another thought struck her that was just as awful and Myranda couldn't help it, for a second she froze up, hitching her breath. Bob seemed to understand instantly and squeezed her hands.

"No, I am not setting you up for another Craster client. Do you really think Varys would allow such a man like that in his brothel? Hell, he wouldn't even allow Pycelle to enter the cafe, never mind the club." Myranda giggled and shrugged. "I'm sorry, Bob. I trust you, I trust Varys, I do. It's just, things seem to be off today. I am feeling confused, can you please just tell me who the client is? I am freaking out a little bit." Bob kept a firm hold on her hands as he smoothly replied, "There is no client for you this weekend. It's just you and me." Myranda jerked as if he had struck her and Bob didn't know her eyes could go that wide. If he did not have such a good grip on her hands, Bob was sure she would have jerked back, rolled across the bed and leaped through the wall. The logic part of Bob was telling him to pay attention to that reaction, that he should stop himself. The other half of Bob wanted to get in her face, growling to ask if she would like to play a hunting game. One he learned so long ago. No, he can control himself, he will prove to Harold and Varys that he can control his beast like they control their own. But he needed her to stop acting like a deer so he can not be a hunter long enough to explain things to her. Bob struggled with himself and he worried that Myranda senses it, she does, he can see it in how her body is tensing as if ready for fight or flight. The predator tried to lunge up through him and he fought it down, stomped on it, held it there with sharpened teeth.

Bob loves the sweet girl, he owes her a little honestly, an explanation, she will understand. Myranda is a clever, sweet obedient thing, she won't make him hurt her, she knows better. And she loves him, worships him, he is her mentor, her world just like Varys said. The more scared she looked, the more Bob grew hungry for her. This had to stop and Bob finally relaxed his body and spoke. "I know you are confused, scared and according to Varys, you might even become angry. I am patient, you know Harold is the one with the quick temper. It's okay that you will feel these emotions while we talk. And we are just going to talk right now. But you cannot run, fight or hide while I speak to you, no matter how upset you might feel. I need you to be calm, to be good and to just listen, nothing else. Can you do that, sweetheart? Please, calm your breathing for me, Myranda." She was beyond those emotions, Myranda wondered if Bob was about to kill her. That is exactly what this felt like. What if Kevan was as done with her as he was with Sansa? Oh gods, she was either being sold off at a bargain price or Kevan told Bob to dispose of her. Tears fell and she shook but she pulled up those big girl panties and smiled, lifting her chin. "Bob, please, if this is Kevan's end for me, can I at least have a small say in it? Don't let me die covered in sweat in this eighties get up, please? Can I at least have a little dignity? Or if you are selling me to the lowest bidder, can I at least be clean when I get the burlap sack over my head?" Bob couldn't believe how badly this was going and he sighed.

 "Sweet girl, I asked you to just breathe and listen. You are not being sold, you are not being murdered, honey. Kevan would never order such a thing, Myranda. Now I am making it an order, stay silent, listen and breathe. I want you to relax yourself and listen to me, look at me, there you are." Bob held both her hands in one of his now and the other was tilting her face up gently, making her shiver. Those large doe eyes begged his for mercy, for an end to the fearful anticipation, his girl always like to face things head on. Not knowing is what always made the poor thing nervous. Bob leaned closer and Myranda froze, giving a tiny whimper that sent a thrill through him. He spoke in a thick hushed sort of way, like he used to talk when he was younger, still with all his brothers, when he could hunt or be hunted. "I want to tell you a small story, that is all. You just need to listen to a story and you will understand, Myranda. When we first found you, when Harold and I saw you that very first time, I wanted to keep you. I wanted to buy you from Karl for myself, not for Kevan, not for my brothers or for the school. But even staff has limited power, I was unable to keep you for myself. I had to train you to use your talents for us. Every time I had to allow some old bastard touch you, it made me see red, Myranda. It was driving me crazy to see you allow yourself to be used by Polliver and Raff for such petty reasons. But I said nothing, I did my job as I was told to. Seeing that you even were with Sansa was upsetting. The last straw was Harold allowing Bronn to have you."

Myranda sucked in her breathe but remained silent as instructed. Bob saw that he spoke too fast and too bluntly. There were all the emotions that Varys mentioned, fear, anger and confusion crossed her face like an emotional rainbow. Bob noticed how fast her pulse was in her graceful swan like neck, so fragile those bones, a classic frame on a whore that was fascinating to him somehow. He thought if he bit down on that pulse it might taste like candy. That wasn't a logical thing to think and Bob found that he was breathing a bit heavy and it was scaring the hell out of Myranda. Her eyes were wide, she was still but trembling. Bob had to fix this, he doesn't mean to scare her this much, he doesn't mean for his reactions to be so strong. He can control it, his sweet girl doesn't deserve anything but his control. He saw that he has removed his glasses and didn't even know that he did it until it was done. The lights were very dim, he could still see every feature upon Myranda and seeing his eyes wasn't exactly new but it was startling. That's when he felt, actually felt and heard Myranda's shields all fall into place around her. The forced slight smirk that plays upon her lips, the suggestive bent to her body and her eyes were inviting, sweet. Bob knew her too well, he could see that it was taking all her courage to keep herself safe. He remember what Varys said about what happens when students are with clients, they shut down to get through it. Just like he did with Da. Just like Lancel did with Olenna. Myranda thinks he is using her as a client would so she is shutting down. No, that isn't what he wants, dammit. She HAS to understand if he was going to keep control.


	153. Cost Of A Good Whore

Hours later, an eternity, might have been a week, a year, could have been twenty minutes, no, not that short of a time, silly girl, good girl. Myranda stared into the hotel bathroom mirror. It was a lovely shiny bathroom with a shiny mirror that had gold painted gilding around it. The sink was designed like a seashell, it was pretty but useless in her opinion. It was light pink, the faucet was gold and crystal, the sink, it was ceramic, it was cold and it was solid. Myranda's grip upon the sink was tight enough for her knuckles to turn white and make tiny crackling sounds. She didn't even notice that one of her nails split from the exertion. Myranda was too busy using one of Raff's techniques to try and keep herself from, from, something.

She concentrated on using the toilet first, wincing at the painful pink liquid she produced. The washing of her hands was another thing to focus on, the scent of the soap, the feeling of warm water, the soft plushness of the white towel with gold stamping on it. This was working until Myranda looked up at the mirror and didn't recognize the girl staring back at her. The girl in the mirror was pale, her face was drawn, her eyes were too large, dark shadows under them. Mirror girl's hair was all over the place, it looked like it had been attacked by a cat. Scratches, bruises, bite marks and some cuts, all mild, nothing unusual really all over the bare skin of mirror girl. But the way the girl seemed to hold herself, as if she was in terrible pain, as if she was shattered, she looked broken.

Mirror girl had that blank look, it could have been Sansa's face, Arya's, Ramsay's, Theon's blank faces. It could have been the face of so many girls and boys from outside of the school in her line of work. Myranda stared at the blank faced girl in the mirror, twitching. A small sound escaped her and she slapped her hand over her mouth so hard that it stung her sore lips. Staring hard at the pathetic blank mirror girl, Myranda slowly lowered her hand and tried to look away but couldn't. That. Is. Not. Me. This. Will. Not. Be. What. I. Am.  Repeat, over and over, repeat it, chanting it, whispering it to the mirror girl in defiance while Bob's touch still lingered on her skin.

While Myranda tried to gain the courage to even approach him to ask to shower. What happened, what he did, what she did, I won't cry, I won't scream or fight or run but I am going to repeat my words. I will repeat them until I can ask to shower, it's a good solid focused plan. A good hot shower alone will help, it always does. Not a bubble bath, she only enjoys those at home, where it's safe to be so vulnerable. This is not safe, none of it is safe and Myranda starts to count the tiles in the mirror behind the girl's head. Think of your words, think of the lovely tiles, her eyes drew back to the mirror girl and she hissed to the pathetic apparition, "Don't you dare cry! Pull up your big girl pants, you bitch. Come on." But her skin was crawling with Bob, she was full of Bob and the eyes on mirror girl were so blank that Myranda could see her own memories through them.

Myranda had kept her shields up but she saw that it seemed to anger Bob. That was not her intent, her fucking intent was to calm him down. She had felt angry, betrayed and confused, oh hell, yes. But most of all her instincts had her in pure lock down terror. Bob was trying to keep himself from doing something bad, like the boys' hunt kind of bad and Myranda felt that deeply with a certainty. When he said in a very tight voice, "Drop your damned act in front of me. Don't you ever shut down on me like that. Not ever, Myranda. I am not one of your fucking clients. I own you, girl, you will not show me that kind of disrespect."

Myranda stopped acting and let him see that she was just plain trying to understand what the hell he wanted, to let her live through this weekend. Her sweet voice was high pitched with fear and she was careful to sound as submissive as she felt, as scared as she really felt. Maybe pure honesty can prevail and create logic. "I am sorry. I am scared and I don't understand what you want from me. I will do whatever you want me to, but you need to tell me what to do for you, please. I don't want to make you upset, Sir. I don't meant to treat you like a client, I just don't know how to, to react to what you are telling me."

Bob had smiled then, it was a dangerous wide sharp thing but at least it wasn't angry, just hungry. He stopped gripping her face and stroked a finger down her cheek instead. "Poor sweet thing, I didn't mean to overwhelm you that way. It is a lot to take in, I know. I have always wanted to be with you, to keep you for myself and my own games, love. I wasn't allowed to and it's driving me insane. Tonight, this weekend, I need to have you for myself and try to get over this obsession with you, sweetie. I need you to be yourself, to be good and that keeps you safe. Does that make sense to you, Myranda?" She felt like a hammer was whacking her in the head. It took effort to try and speak with composure.

"You want to have me for the weekend. Because you always wanted to keep me for yourself. What if, Sir, what if this weekend doesn't end your obsession with me? What happens to me then, Bob?" He smiled in a way that seemed pleased. The wolf was happy that the simple rabbit understood its basic fate. "I would rather slit your throat than allow Kevan to ever sell you. Unless it was to Varys, then I would just trap, hide and keep you. But I think as long as you are at the school, staying AWAY from the young men you used your skills upon, that I can control it. I would try to only give you to exclusive clients and rarely as possible. We would come here together and that is probably enough. Of course, this weekend might even just be enough, Myranda. That is what I hope for."

Myranda tried not to pant or panic, not to imagine Bob slitting her throat. He stroked her hair and watched her shiver with an alien intensity that made her feel weak and somehow splayed open. "I am sorry, I shouldn't have said that. To be honest, Myranda, your fear is just, it's always been intoxicating to me. The more scared you are, the more you submit to me and what I want, I am going to become a little savage. I promise, you are going to enjoy it, you know that I always make sure you have pleasure, don't I? Even if I hurt you accidentally, you'll even want that, you are my girl, I know how to make you feel good, don't I, sweet girl?" Myranda nodded and wished Bob would release her hand, stop touching her face, let her get centered for a damned minute. "Yes, Sir, always."

There wasn't an option but to submit to whatever Bob wished of her no matter how Myranda felt about it. This version of Bob was too dangerous to dare question or defy. Myranda was stiff when Bob first pulled her closer, pulled her onto his lap. But he was right about one thing, her body was truly groomed to her mentors' practiced touching. Fear, confusion and anger might still swirl through her, but the pulsing pleasure warmed her unwillingly. Bob kissed her and she melted into it.  He started to remove her clothing and that was normal enough for her to relax. It was shocking to feel Bob's warm flesh hand touching her rather than gloves. Myranda moaned as he gently flicked one of her nipples as he removed her bra. "Good girl, that's it, just let it feel good and do what I say."

Myranda had nodded, squirming against the hand that was removing her underwear, brushing lightly between her legs. When she was fully naked, Bob set her down on the bed and stood up to remove his own clothing. The illusion of normalcy was shattered again. Anytime the twins played with her, for grooming, training, punishment or reward, they never took off their own clothing, only hers. They might wear leather aprons, they might wear other clothing but they were always covered. Hands were in gloves, if they chose to have her suck their cocks out of some punishment or training session, they wore flavored condoms the entire time. Only their mouths, their faces were bare, except their eyes of course. Gloved hands, toys, a condom covered cock to suck on if she was acting too sassy for them. Even that was so rare.

Only once did Myranda come into true skin to skin contact and intercourse with Bob. When he was so mad at her and hurt her, raped her. Myranda doesn't want a repeat of that or anything similar or worse than it. The branding, the fists and the violation still made her upset when she thought of it. It was the most scared she had ever been of Bob and know she feels just as scared now. Myranda must tread very carefully and she knows it. Bob was muscular, pale and smooth in body, it was only a brief glance, Myranda barely saw him before he was crawling on the bed towards her in a manner that almost reminded her of Jeyne during her feral moments.

Panic bloomed through her and she found herself digging her feet hard into the mattress in order to not back away or run. "Hush, it's alright, trust me, just be a good girl for me. I like how you shiver and your eyes get so huge when you are scared, when you are so unsure. I can make even that fear feel good, Myranda, you'll see." But Myranda didn't want to see or feel any of this, every bit of her wanted to reject it and loudly. That didn't matter, that has never mattered and Myranda held her breath as she waited for Bob to reach her. It felt strange to feel Bob's flesh against her, to see his eyes eating her alive but it didn't hurt. Myranda's body was it's own craven creature, it belonged to Bob's touch and his voice as it always has.

While her mind still reeled with so much unfamiliar ground, her body was sticking with what it knew and understood. Bob was everywhere, his hands, his mouth, tongue, teeth, his legs, he seemed to dominate every space until she had none left. Myranda's body was on fire, it was begging, arching to reach for more and her words, her sounds all screamed yes while her mind shouted, fuck, no! After a moment even her brain was dulled and lulled into the pure animal sensation of pleasure. Myranda gave herself to the feelings, she became willing and that only made the betrayal in the next moment that much harder to bear. Bob had shoved her down on her back as he licked and bit her nipples and had nudged her legs wide open with his own. Myranda saw that he was about to enter her and suddenly tried to sit up, to shut her legs fast. "Bob! You aren't wearing a condom yet!" Bob's voice was a snarl of lust, impatience and greed. "It doesn't matter."

Myranda exploded, it was more than she could tolerate, it was enough to shut her whole body down, it lit her mind on fire instead. "It does matter! Please, put a condom on!" Bob was tensing over her but she was too upset to heed the danger. Myranda tried to shove Bob back with her palms flat on his chest, her legs trying hard to press together. "Stop defying me, Myranda. Do you think I would do this if either of us had diseases?" Gasping, outraged, Myranda continued to push at him. "No, stop! I could get pregnant! Please, can't you just put on a condom on? I won't do this until you put a condom on! I won't-" The hand caught her hard and fast across her mouth, Bob's open hand felt as hard as a punch, knocking her flat. Bob landed down hard, knees on either side of her, his hands crushing her wrists, pinning them to either side of the bed, her arms outstretched until they hurt. His face was in hers, white teeth gnashed as if to bite through her nose and Myranda gave a short scream. "I warned you. I told you to be a good girl, didn't I? Now it's too late for that. Now we are going to play a game. How about hide and seek, Myranda? Do you like that game, sweet girl?"

Except it wasn't hide and seek, it was closer to the hunt that Ramsay and the boys wanted to subject her to. There were only so many places to run and to hide in the suite, it was worse that Bob shut out almost every light first. Bob did tell her she could do more than hide or run, that she could try to fight him if she wished. Myranda wasn't stupid, she couldn't take Bob on by herself, naked without a weapon. Not to mention, she was positive that to dare any further defiance would certainly spell her death, if this game alone doesn't. Bob said the only rules were that she couldn't try to actually escape the suite and that she couldn't attempt to kill him. Myranda would have felt better if she felt he was going to play by the no death rule himself but she wasn't banking on it. So she did her damnedest to stay out of his grasp as long as she could. Adrenaline kept her moving and just out of his clutches for awhile. When he caught her, Bob was so rough, Myranda thought this was going to be the end for her.

Bob slammed her into a wall then bit into her stomach until he drew blood, then he bit her in her inner thigh as his hands squeezed her neck so she couldn't scream with pain. Just as brilliant white spots started to appear, he released her. Only his voice was with here, Bob has moved away, it sounded like he was pacing. "I will give you sixty seconds to breathe and move. If you want to be my good girl again, you have to play the game until I'm done." Myranda barely dragged air into her body before she started to scramble away, hearing him chuckle. "Good girl, I knew you understood." Myranda couldn't keep dodging and running, not with her throat and body so sore. It was time to switch to stealth and hiding as much as she could. That didn't work any better, Bob would drag her out of hiding places by a limb, he would attack her like an animal. Myranda tried to alternate between running and hiding but he always caught her, injured and released her. Then he switched up his game, using the dark to panic her, he would circle her, she could hear him but never see him. The growling getting closer, further, closer it was unnerving and Myranda would have no idea which way to go.

Twice he nailed her with teeth, nails, fists and feet before she could run or hide anywhere, simply by disorienting and scaring her so much. The second time, Myranda wiped blood off her neck and curled up tightly, shaking, sobbing silently. She whimpered, hearing Bob crawl over her and lean down, licking the blood dripping from the almost too deep bite on her neck. "You aren't going to tell me no or stop ever again. You aren't going to tell me you won't do something ever. I can do anything I want to you, you are mine, you understand that now. Are you ready to be a good girl for me or do you want to play another round?" Myranda's voice was threadbare. "I want to be your good girl." Bob took her on the floor, it was brutal, savage but what hurt the most was that her body betrayed her along with him. Regardless of pain, panic or humiliation, Myranda's body was an instrument that Bob knew how to play well. When he had her wet and squirming, he entered her hard and fast, seating himself deep with a single thrust. Myranda cried out, it was wordless, it was both a sound of invite and of denial.

It didn't matter that he took her like some animal, Bob knew his girl inside and out and wrung every drop of pleasure out of her. She wasn't even given the dignity of just suffering him like when he raped her at the school once. When it was at least a punishment, so Myranda could accept it. No, Bob made her beg for it, he brought her to the edge over and over, to see her cry, tremble and hear her say everything he wanted to hear. Myranda told him she loved him, that she was his good girl, a sweet girl that he owned, yes, she trusts him, wants only him, only his body to bring her to this, please, oh please. It made her sick, it set her on fire and the mix of hatred, revulsion, betrayal, lust, pain, fear and a horrid love that was there regardless, it all was too heavy and she shattered like glass. Bob allowed her to orgasm just as he did. Myranda had one of the most earth shattering orgasms of her young life, far greater than even with Bronn that one time. The fact that it happened while Bob was shuddering hard against her, filling her, turned her body's pleasure into her mind's pain.

Now Myranda stood in front of the mirror girl and shivered, trying not to cry. Not to scream or run or fight. That fucking blank look, it fucking OFFENDED her. Hawking deep suddenly, Myranda spat a huge glob of blood threaded mucus onto the mirror's image. Myranda felt a bit better as the sweet anger and outrage filled her and she cleaned the mirror off with hands that weren't shaking so much. Her whisper was angry, fearful and harsh but it was strong and it was there. "Fuck that shit. Fuck your blank look and pitiful why me shit. Fuck drugs, fuck liquor, fuck nightmares, PTSD, or any other of that fucking trauma shit. That isn't me, this won't be me. I am not that kind of whore, baby, you fucking PAY this bitch, you fucking owe me now. Treat me this way, oh no, you didn't, you didn't get that for free, my loving mentor. You want a bareback broken pet, Bob? You got it. You want a hunt, Ramsay and Boys? No problem. But you will all pay me my due, see if you don't. One way or another, I get what I am owed. See if I don't."

Myranda rinsed her mouth and forced herself to walk tall and as if she wasn't in agony out of the bathroom. She started with a simple thing, asking if she could shower. Bob let her shower, but he ruined even that by joining her. He washed her himself, he made her wash him as if they were lovers, as if Myranda was a willing participant and not just his fantasy puppet. When Myranda asked if he could allow her to stay in the shower by herself to condition her hair, she noticed it angered him. She noticed because he began to water board her as he sodomized her. Only when she was puking water, as he was flaying her with his damned cock, she honestly felt he was ripping her all the way up her colon, did Bob relent slightly. "When you stop coughing, throwing up and screaming, you can tell me if you want to be a good girl." Myranda managed to sputter out that she wanted to be his good girl, she loved him, hoping he would stop. Instead, the mercy Bob granted was to reach around and use his hands to make her whine, to squirm and undulate against his hands in spite of the painful invasion.

Each time Bob brought her to an orgasm, Myranda felt filthier than when she started the shower. Bob released his seed into her ass and Myranda thought crazily, the only place he hasn't shot his load yet is in my mouth. That should be next unless he is thinking of just carving a new hole which Myranda thought might be a possibility the way the night was going so far. When Bob pulled her out of the shower, Myranda looked at the mirror girl and was pleased to see the blank look was gone. Her eyes were too wide, full of bad things, feeling like a very used and betrayed whore, but she wasn't blank and didn't want to forget. No, forgetting doesn't get her paid, doesn't get her vengeance filled, doesn't settle shit. The first goal was to survive the weekend, the second was to get her shit in order and the third goal will be to get what is owed. Getting rid of that blank look was a great start. Even if she dies this weekend, at least Myranda won't do it with a pathetic blank look on her face like some fucking victim.

It was a long night, Bob kept her up until dawn lit the sky. He did use her mouth, he used his own too. He used his tongue and his teeth, causing Myranda to go into a frenzy of terror charged lust and pain. By then he had her wrists in handcuffs, she was tethered to the bedpost, Bob lifted her legs over his shoulders, she wasn't even on the bed, hanging between Bob and the bed. She could see the smears of blood on her thighs, on Bob's mouth and wailed out loud. It didn't matter, he hurt her and made her like it because he could and that made Myranda feel small and mean. There wasn't a single sexual act left unexplored and if he felt she was the least bit reluctant or said the wrong words, it was instantly and harshly punished. Myranda suffered two more of the hide and seek games for minor infractions. She learned that Bob's new rules included no tolerance for even the slightest perceived disobedience.

By the time Bob brought out the hot wax and the whip, it wasn't for punishment but simply because he wanted to play with them. Myranda was a fast learner and has now understood the rules. She cannot hesitate, pull back or away, she cannot question, obey and fast. There are words that Bob doesn't like, they no longer came out of her mouth. Won't, don't, stop, can't, no, why, any words that might mean anything but compliance. Bob wants to see fear, submission, respect and utter mindless worshiping loving, trusting obedience. He wants Myranda to enjoy it, he wants her to beg him to hurt her, to make it feel good, beg to be his good girl even as he makes her sob. So be it, Myranda does her part. It is no act, as ordered, she truly does fear and love Bob, as much as she hates and resents him. Bob finally was sated and he gave them both one last shower. He did not need to water board her this time, Myranda was beyond sore and tired, she leaned into him as he washed her. She washed him and was relieved that Bob didn't want anything more than cleanliness this time.

Bob carried her to the bed and spooned her as he fell asleep. Myranda stared into the dark, her eyes burning, she shifted to stare out the window at the pink sky. Congratulations, bitch, we made it alive through the night. One more day and night to go. She never thought the day would come when school would seem like a safe haven to her, but right now, it was her only hope of staying alive, she was sure of it. Live the weekend, get home to school. Then Myranda can get her debts settled. One way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few more songs, hints,etc.  
> Arya: I'm So Sick by Flyleaf  
> Bob: The Edge of Heaven by Wham  
> Unella: Bitch by Meredith Brooks  
> Myranda: Oh No You Didn't by Wojahn Bros (Mercenaries 2)


	154. Doctor's Hours

Qyburn was packing the last of his equipment, humming a jaunty tune to himself. He was excited about the trip to the school, it was always nice to visit the past a little. It has a been a while since Qyburn had a young mind to play with. Brainwashing, erasing memories, it was a hobby more than anything else, he just plain enjoyed it. The fact that both the Order and the School have paid handsomely for his services, it was a true joy. Both sides believed his loyalties weighed towards them but in truth, Qyburn didn't care, he profited from both in so many ways, why would he ruin that by giving judgement? 

The Order sought his services first, it was started by the Targaryens, they in turn set the other houses aflame in their traditions. At first it was meant to be two things, two parts. The first was to breed high class children within the high class families. They felt Qyburn might be able to help them create a better high quality of the higher quality and he smiled at his pun as he made sure to pack extra latex gloves. He trusted nothing in that clinic that Kevan was too cheap to keep well stocked. The second part was to keep a supply of castaways of younger ages for everything that they couldn't do to their lovely high class children. It turned out that unlike the Targaryens, the other homes tended not to introduce their incest with love, to create loving relationships between siblings for better breeding. So the order provided the extra victims for all the things the members must suppress when teaching their children.

Qyburn was the one to care for every child, high class and slave alike. Often the injuries done would make the slave children useless and he would get to keep them. That was a huge bonus for his studies and work. Whether as a living experiment or a cadaver to rummage through, Qyburn almost enjoyed that as much as the actual pay. The Order paid for his first real lab, they helped him hang his first official doctor shingle on a small clinic for impoverished children. He stole babies, he made the pact between Craster and the Order, he treated those he was asked to and received much for his services. The Targaryens were brought down in a slaughter by the Lannisters for unrelated reasons, or so it was said. Suddenly the Order was broken into chapters rather than under one leader. The Tyrells ran the the largest chapter, Martells had the second largest chapter and the Freys ran a small chapter with the loathsome help of Craster.

Each chapter made its own rules and all followed general guidelines. The chapters of the Order had no further interest in the breeding program, no, it was all about two things now. Pleasure and power. Families with money, power or estates, gangsters, judges, high ranking politicians were lured into it. Blackmailed, sworn to secrecy into compliance and made to watch their own taped sessions. Shame, guilt, it was nothing compared to when it was whispered, it didn't have to feel that way, it could be accepted, it was accepted, others just like you. Simple suggestions were enough for many, drugs that Qyburn created did the rest of the work. It didn't take much to add a drop of liquid into wine and a quick suggestion into the ears. The Order chapters were grateful for such tricks. Nothing like a dignified upper crust seeing a hidden video of themselves black out drunk raping their children or someone else's. If the dark joy doesn't appeal to them, blackmail appeals even less.

Whether or not a relative chose to invoke their sexual rights with the children, it was left up that family. However, each child was to be used by the Order whenever requested. Some chapters like Walder's mainly produced children he could fuck then sell to others within the Order. In Olenna's turf it was all about keeping power among the elite. The Tyrells might not be as grand as the Lannisters but underneath it all, Olenna had every high class family's ball sack in her iron grip. The Tyrell's and Lannisters invited the Stark, Tully and Baratheon families to large private vacation. Qyburn used the last of his potion and had to make more after that. The Order kept him busier and richer than ever. Then trouble started and it kept growing for both Qyburn and the chapters. It was getting too big and too noticed. Some wanted to break away and most felt that some should have the right to leave.

Qyburn had been noticed for his medical breakthroughs except a good amount of the medical community had concerns about his ethics. While Qyburn was evading the media, lawyers, angry parents and very inquisitive doctors, Olenna was trying to hush up voices that were getting too loud in protest. The Lannisters were equal in power enough that when Kevan chose to walk away, Olenna had to let him. His father and brother stood behind him on it and that was the beginning of the rebellion. Qyburn was thrilled to find that the new little dump of a clinic in a dump of a dirty city he was forced to hide in, also contained Kevan Lannister and his pretty girlfriend. He shared wine with the man and let the memories flood back. He informed Kevan that while he thought he was running away from rigid family rules, it was a lie. It was a lie put into his head by Qyburn himself, by order of Olenna Tyrell. The new rule was anyone who chose to leave the Order or was considered someone who needed to forget, that he would wipe their minds.

He was amazed at how even after knowing the truth, after creating this rebellion, Kevan somehow kept himself blind. Kevan kept himself removed from it all, using money and influence to do what he could. Qyburn wanted to inform Kevan that what he really did was run, hide his thoughts and forced others to do the same. But the money was good and if the man wanted Olenna's cast offs, what was it to him? The school was a wonderful idea, it gave Qyburn a place to bury himself until things died down and his lawyers could work their magic. The Baratheons only offered up Robert to the Order and when his contracted time was up, they paid handsomely to Qyburn to erase the boy's mind. The boy was fine, maybe some violence issues and some drinking but generally fine. Lyanna Stark killed herself two days before her parents had managed to pull her out. Other children came out very wrong as well. Jaime had some incest issues, Tyrion started drinking but not until he was older, so Qyburn considered those two a successful mind wipe. Other kids had a harder time and started to act out badly. From higher classes to the lower ones, the kids seemed to be rebelling without a reason why that they even knew.

So Kevan did what he could, he took the damaged kids and tried to change things, to fix them. He thought that if Qyburn treated them more aggressively, if they were given an isolated home, tough love and science, it would cure it all. But Olenna had some enemies that were determined to see her dead. Until they could be stopped and the contract on her life ended, she had to hide. Leaving the Order in the hands of the Lannisters, she hid at the school. Kevan couldn't tell her no, she had too much power and was working with his family, he had no choice but to let her stay on as a counselor. Olenna loved every second of it, as much as Qyburn enjoyed working the school clinic. It was more of a laboratory back then, of course. Olenna preyed on every child at the school. Of course, her favorites were the boys. Kevan ignored her antics as long as he could until Olenna's molestation of Lancel was brought to light by another of her victims. Lucky for her, the killers after her had been disposed of by the time she was banished from the school. Without any fanfare, Tywin handed the chapter back to Olenna.

Lancel was brainwashed and it happened again and again. Qyburn did start to worry that it would have terrible effects if it didn't stop. Kevan would allow the boy to be used just as much as Tywin did to his own children but didn't see it that way. Everytime something happened to the little boy, Kevan would worry, cry and be heartbroken all the way to the clinic. Qyburn saw the boy after he was molested by Olenna, after Meryn got to him one afternoon, after he was molested by Cersei. The summers away with his uncle Tywin, Kevan had to have known what would happen because the boy was always blank faced and in need of Qyburn's help whenever he returned. Kevan didn't seem to understand Lancel's turmoil and serious issues. There came a point when Lancel simply couldn't have any more done to his mind. The boy never said a word that he recalled anything, but Qyburn knew he did. Lancel worked with him for some time after he left his father's school and Qyburn saw that darker mind working.

Kevan never understood why the class that held his niece and the other victims rebelled against him and all he offered. No one had bothered to erase Petyr's mind, he wasn't upper class, no one cared but Kevan what happened to him. Petyr was the first to start whispering the truth and starting trouble. Of course, when the class discovered they couldn't destroy Kevan or the school, when he punished them so badly for acting out against him, they fought him the best way they could. By joining the Order, making it blatant to him that they did so. Of course, Qyburn could have told them to not bother wasting their time, Kevan only saw what he chose to. Olenna still ran the chapter but the others made most of the new rules now. Petyr, Cersei, Cat, Roose and Bethany had struck a deal with Olenna that kept things much more secretive. Every summer, the children would all be gathered by trusted members to be brought to the different homes or other vacation spots. It would be done only during summer, holiday or school vacations.

Roose had the hardest time since Bethany refused to allow Domeric to be used by anyone. She kept him away from his father and all others as much as she could. The only solution Roose could see was to have more children which worked and didn't. Jeyne would have been a perfect donation but Cersei wouldn't acknowledge the girl. Then Bethany turned the child into a side show freak, there were only unique clients that had interest in such a thing. Ramsay and Damon fit the bill nicely for Roose instead. Joff, Loras, Theon, Sansa, Arya, Jon and Rickon were all donations as well. Like many others before them, the children became unruly and rebellious as they grew. Now it seems little Arya was remembering things and Qyburn will take care of that, at least for now. He was concerned to hear that his drug was floating around without his permission. He must take care to ask the girl where all the gum came from. A rustling sound came from the lobby and Qyburn called out, "Nurse, I am almost ready. If you want to start the car, go on ahead. I am not so old I cannot carry my own bags and boxes."

Barbary was starting the ancient car in the driveway when she saw that the remote for the garage door wasn't working. Frowning, she clicked the thing four more times as if to force it to work. Sucking hard on a butterscotch candy, she leaned back in her seat. Hoisting her overlarge bag into her lap, she stuck her hand within the writhing mess. Barbary was sure she had some batteries in there and her fingers found them after a bit. "Ah ha! Dirty little bastards thought you'd hide from me!" She lifted the batteries and her head at the same time. Her eyes saw the figure in the backseat rise but before she could yell, the knife sliced across her wrinkled throat. Wrinkling a cute nose at the blood on her pretty gloves, the girl slipped into clinic through the open garage door to join her sisters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More music inspiration.  
> RIP Qyburn: Lookin' Up by Barenaked Ladies  
> RIP Barbary: Minimum Wage by They Might Be Giants


	155. Gardens

Varys pursed his lips in distaste, he always hated this part. When he had to intervene upon a client because he was afraid of what damage might be done to the doves. Having it be his own brother doesn't make it any easier. It was still early but the doctor was just drinking his coffee and setting up for the day. He wanted to get Myranda to the private house doctor before others might see her. Varys prays he won't find a corpse, a maimed girl or one with broken bones or need for surgery. Giving a brief polite knock, Varys used his card to unlock the door and stride hard towards the bedroom. Eyes scanning everything, he is relieved there is no splattering of blood on the silk wallpaper, nothing organic upon his carpets, the furniture is all intact. In the bedroom Varys saw that Bob and Myranda were still laying in the bed. They mustn't have stirred until he came in. Bob had sat up fast but Myranda remained huddled under the sheets, letting out a faint groan. "I want to see her right now, Bob. Then I am going to take her to the house doctor, I told him already to expect literally anything to come in."

Bob hurried to reach for his sunglasses as Varys gently tried to pry the sheets away from Myranda's curled form. The sharp voice he used with Bob changed into a cooing, soothing tone as Varys wrestled the girl for the sheets. "It's only Varys, darling. Come now, let me see you and help you out. I'm going to take you to see the doctor and make you feel all better, lovely girl. Please, let go of the sheets, I don't care how bad it is, I am here to help you." Bob spoke in a rusty, dehydrated voice. "Myranda, let go of the sheets." Instantly, the sheets were released and Varys slowly inched them away, not wishing to startle the poor girl. Varys gave a quick look and chided, "Bob! She looks like she was attacked by wolverines! Myranda, sweetheart, let me help you up. Bob, get me that nice thick bathrobe for her, please. I will speak with you later, brother. I am taking our lovely girl to see the nice doctor and get patched up." Bob corrected Varys quickly, causing him to pause as he was helping the girl get to her feet. "My girl, not our girl, mine." Varys clicked his tongue and glared at Bob. Myranda was moving slowly, it was clear she was in pain, she had frozen upon Bob's words, flinching when Varys got too close. It was clear she had no wish to be touched by anyone.

Bob held out the bathrobe and she let him envelop her in it. Bob tied the robe with his arms around her, pressing against her back. He kissed the top of her head and couldn't see her face. "I will see you after my meeting. You will let the doctor treat you and have lunch with Varys. I expect you to be a very good girl while I am away from you." In a hushed voice, Myranda responded. "Yes, Bob. I'll be good, I promise." Satisfied with her response, Bob let go of Myranda and gave her a gentle shove into Varys's arms. "I'll go shower and get ready to see those assholes." Primly, Varys commented, "Those assholes are full of important information for Kevan. So try very hard to call them by their names instead of insults. I am letting you use my private booth so no one has to see if any of you disgrace yourselves. Be on time, please. They won't be allowed into the booth until you show up and it's rude to leave them standing there. We will see you later, Bob."

As Varys led Myranda gently down the hall, into the elevator, he thought of the look on her face when Bob touched her. Just as Varys had predicted, there was the look of anger, betrayal, hurt but there was more. He wasn't able to tell what it was yet, but he would pull it out of her soon enough. Myranda wasn't in the mood to talk and didn't respond much to his light banter. The doctor gave her a brief examination before speaking with Varys. Wincing at the whispered words, Varys replied softly, "I want her pumped with narcotics and numbed first." Pulling up a stool, Varys held tightly to Myranda's hand as the doctor put her legs up and prepared to stitch her up. The medication had kicked in before the doctor began but a tear still came down her cheek. Varys stroked her hair back as he squeezed her hand. "I know, sweetheart, just breathe and try to relax. It will be over before you know it. Are you in too much pain? Do you need more medication, honey?" The girl gave a good try at being sassy. "Well, now I can add rectal speculum into my vocabulary words for Professor Tyrion." Varys saw that flash of anger, a terrible mix of love and hate. A determination, a judgement rendered and an account owed.

Varys had been relieved not to find Myranda dead or maimed. He was relieved that Myranda didn't have that blank look, that broken doll face that Varys hates to see. It was not relieving, it was alarming, to see this new look on the girl's face. It was not a surprise, many whores are tough like this one, they will turn their emotions into something harder, a reason to survive, they want to be paid for their troubles one way or another. Varys understands this, he is that way himself. Varys tried to comfort Myranda while the doctor treated her. He made sure the doctor gave her a full bottle of opiates that would be handed to Bob. Varys helped Myranda back to her room and he personally assisted her in getting dressed for their lunch. The medication she had been given during treatment had her floating, feeling little pain. It made her allow Varys to dress her, brush her hair and guide to her to a private table in his gardens. Varys had the chef serve a simple fare that the girl would be able to choke down. Grilled cheese, chicken soup and tall glasses of chilled milk. Myranda smiled at the meal, her voice was soft and distant but she was beginning to clear up a bit. "Comfort food, Varys?" Smiling back, Varys sipped at his soup. "Certainly. Don't you feel the need for a little comfort food, Myranda? With the medications you are on, you need to eat. How about one half of the sandwich and half the bowl of soup?" Myranda gave a small nod and began to nibble at the grilled cheese, take sips of the milk.

Varys waited until the few bites of food grounded the girl a little bit more into reality. Not enough to cause her aches to return but enough that Varys can be sure that she will hear him when he talks. "We should talk about what happened, how you are feeling. You know the rules, it's best to tell it right away, get it all out." Myranda seemed to grow a rather nasty snicker and her eyes glistened with a dark furious glee. "Oh, I know the rules, Varys. Never worry about that. It's just the different changing rules I had a little trouble with. Got that one nailed too. I'll go tell one of the kids. I don't want to talk about it with you. And the RULE doesn't say it's you I have to speak with. I can go tell it to a pimp on the corner, as long as it's a person in the trade." Varys patted his lips daintily with his cloth napkin then set it down on his lap. And here it was, that brittle anger, Myranda was full of blame to pass around, full of fury to leak and she can't. "You are very angry with all of us, aren't you? You gave your trust and we broke it." Myranda dropped her spoon into the soup, not caring that it splattered and she got up to pace the room, as far from Varys as she could get. "You knew, Harold knew, Bob knew, why bother telling the stupid whore, too complex for her sucky fucky mind to handle. He talked about slitting my throat, he...he...HURT me and HUNTED me and YOU BOTH KNEW AND LET HIM! Not one of you could take the few minutes to tell me what I was walking into. He might have slit my throat! He could have-"

Taking a ragged breath, Myranda stopped then gave a giggle. "He still might slit my throat, the whore is still intact enough for another good game or two. So yes, I am very upset. I am being disrespectful and I am sorry. Can I please just not talk about this with you?" Varys watched her rant, letting her get it out and stood up slowly. "I'm sorry, dear. But you aren't leaving this room or my presence until we've talked it all out. I know that you won't believe me, but Harold and I do care. Did Bob explain you have been an obsession of his for some time now? The only reason this weekend is happening was in hopes to either end this obsession or control it before Bob did carry out his threats. Bob wouldn't allow either of us to tell you, he was upset at the very thought of it." Laughing, Myranda kept moving so that there was always furniture between herself and Varys. "Yes, he explained that I am his sweet girl, his PET, he always wanted to kidnap and keep me, that he would rather kill me than see me sold off by Kevan. It's great to know that was my end fate, to either be sold off to some old fuck or have my throat slit. Tickler would love to have some fun with this corpse. Though I am sure my skin would be kept for Bob to wrap around his cock while he jerks off to hunting and killing me. I'm sorry, I know I'm rude but can you just leave me alone? Because you're right, I don't believe that you and Harold give a rat's ass if I lived or not. You are trying to help your brother stay sane and out of trouble with Kevan by having a quick fuck and kill on the student whore. Trust me, Kevan won't give a shit as long as no one tells him the details."

Varys didn't care that she was being rude, she was getting it out and that was what he wanted. Let the rage fill the room but don't let it get back to Bob. "Bob has issues, no denying that one. But he has never managed to keep control so well of it before. This was truly, for him, amazing. Bob loves you. It is no longer the same type of caring love you receive from Harold, no. It isn't the kind of caring I have for you either. I think what is upsetting you the most is that you respect and love Bob too. That you responded to it. That he turned your safe feelings of pleasure into something scary and painful." That was the last push needed and the girl exploded. Tears of helpless fury came down her face and she raged, screamed and smashed half the small flower garden in the corner. Varys stood aside and let it happen. The gardeners here were used to it, when Varys told them that this continual filled garden was for healing. Just last month Lollys demolished it, screaming over the Martells. He watched as Myranda went to her knees to rip apart flowers deliberately set in the dirt hard so she had to really pull. "Fuck you, fuck, fuck fuck you all! Just a fucking whore, dead or alive, who fucking cares. I care, how the fuck about that, Varys? HOW ABOUT IF I CARE IF I DIE! HUNTED AT SCHOOL, HUNTED HERE, IF I HAVE TO TAKE IT THEN I WANT TO BE FUCKING PAID!" Varys said nothing, he waited. Myranda destroyed the entire garden before exhaustion and her pain caught up to her. Slumped in the mulch, she tried to calm herself, muttering about the mulch, the flowers, the details of the destroyed garden.

Varys gently cleared his throat, extended his hand and softly spoke. "I agree. If you have to take it, you should get paid for it. It's what we are brought up to know as our one big rule as whores, always get paid. You are owed and I will see that you get your worth for it. But we are going to talk about how to do that and how to correctly use it." Myranda looked up and a flash of fear went across her face. "Please, I would never attempt to hurt or kill Bob or Harold! That wasn't any part of my revenge fantasies. I was just very upset." Varys snorted and waved his extended hand at her. "Oh, there is some bullshit in this mulch! It's no fantasy, you are upset, you want revenge, you want to get what is owed to you. Do you think I got into this career because I was bored with my Ivy League college or something, darling? My whore instructions started younger than yours did and lasted longer than you've been alive. I got here by never letting anyone get away with taking what's mine for free. I am not setting you up for a loyalty test, I know you wouldn't be dumb enough to try and hurt the twins or me. And I know you are loyal and that you still love them, even if you are very angry and hurt. This space is private, it is soundproof and there aren't any cameras. It's a space I use for my doves that are upset, need to talk privately and rage out if need be or cry for an hour. We are going to talk about what happened last night and then we shall discuss how you might get your due. I will show you the opportunity you have been given to perhaps help yourself. First, I would appreciate you washing that mulch off before touching the comfy furniture. That is for the sobbing and talking part, not the destruction part."

 Ramsay was having a shitty morning. Gregor made the jog twice as long since it was only Damon and Ramsay. He gave them barely enough time to shower and dress before it was breakfast. With only Damon and Ramsay at the table, it was quiet and strange. Jeyne was told by Gregor that she could join them if she wanted breakfast, to bring her pillow. Shrugging, Damon muttered, "She might not feel ready yet. Do you think she is believing anything you say? I mean, the staff really has her brainwashed, don't they? I'm glad the girls aren't around to mess with her head. Maybe we can talk to Jeyne again tonight." Ramsay smiled at Damon, who looked too pale and pathetically sad. "Don't worry about it. Jeyne is supposed to be resting and instead she just wanders everywhere. The pain probably finally kicked her ass and she is stuck laying on the couch. We will talk to her more later tonight, it's all good. You look upset, can't really all be over dog sister. What's going on in that head of yours?" Damon toyed with his toast, stacking it over the eggs. "Arya killed Theon, smashed his fucking head like a rotted pumpkin. She broke Joff's fucking bones and nearly split open his head. We helped do that, did we help kill Theon in a way?" Ramsay wanted to roll his eyes and snap that he wasn't the fucking therapist and he didn't get paid for sad giant boys to cry on.

"No, Damon. None of us ate that gum, right? Because we knew it was addictive and dangerous for us. It's Arya's stupidity for taking and using the gum. It made her sick not just in her body but in her head. Come on, it's not like we didn't see enough addicts, right? Remember our buddy Luton? He got hooked on crack and he ended up killing that old lady just to steal twenty dollars? Some of us take drugs for fun and that's all. Then there are others like Luton and Arya who get all fucked up from it. Arya got fucked up, she was sick in the head and reacted. We are just lucky it wasn't us that she reached first, right? Theon was a good kid but he was so confused and scared deep down. This school only made him worse, at least he's out of this freak show. Joff will be fine, everyone has a broken arm or rib at some point. Arya will go through detox hell, Qyburn the evil scientist is coming and will probably use her for some Nazi underground experiment and then she'll be back all better."

Breakfast ended and Gregor was right there to cheerily announce their chores. "Saturday morning is an excellent time to clean the dorm, boys! I want your rooms picked up, I tossed them and they are a mess! Clean your rooms and the common areas!" Groaning, Ramsay and Damon cleaned until the place stunk of detergents. Gregor smiled at them. "Excellent work, gentlemen! Now as a reward for hard indoor work, we shall switch up to light outdoor work! Let's soak up the sun and deeply breathe of the air! Time to work in the garden with Hot Pie! And Death Row, if that cook has ANY issues with you today, you'll be learning the finer aspects of hellhouse's septic tank cleaning." Ramsay smiled up at Gregor and asked politely, "When is my mentorship time today, Nanny?" Gregor stood so close to Ramsay he could have stood on him. Slowly he leaned over until his face was just hovering above Ramsay's and Damon stood nearby, watching nervously. "Little boy, are you trying to get Nanny's goat? Are you trying to taunt me, sweet summer child? You will work with Unella after gardening. And duckling, please do not misunderstand your Nanny Gregor. I am against this mentoring and you know it. So if a single thing goes wrong, I am coming down on you so hard, you'll think it is a visit from the Gods."

Ramsay and Damon worked in the garden, giving Hot Pie no troubles. The cook was upset over Theon and Arya, he wasn't paying much attention to the boys. He showed them what he wanted them to do then went to smoke and drink coffee nearby. It gave Ramsay time to talk to Damon, to keep pulling him in closer and closer. He pointed out how the school seemed to be breaking and destroying them one by one. Damon pulled weeds and listened carefully, agreeing with Ramsay's logic. Ramsay was about to expound the abuse and banishment of Sansa when he suddenly was hit in the head. He felt a thwack and pain, nearly cutting his forehead. It was a sneaker and Jeyne was hobbling towards him with her other sneaker in her hand. "Ow! The fuck, dog sister?" At Ramsay's shout, Hot Pie put out his cigarette and came over. Ramsay stood up, Damon grabbed the fallen sneaker and Jeyne kept advancing. "You are full of SHIT, alpha brother! And you are dumb for listening to him, bitch brother! I checked, I talked to Polliver! You are jealous that I am Teacher's Pet and you are mad that I can be a Person!" Ramsay gave a bark of laughter, his eyes glittering angrily. "You talked to Polliver? So you went to the person who HURT you and let him convince you that they are all nice staff? Idiot. Did he use stuffed animals or puppets on his hands while he talked to you, poor feral dog sister?" His mockingly kind voice enraged Jeyne.

"Polliver is not staff until he works! He is nu.." She struggled and Ramsay spoke with a patronizing tone. "Neutral? Is that what you are trying to say?" Jeyne glared. "He is neutral. He let me play his computer games and he talked to me like a real Person!" Shaking his head as if Jeyne was a pitiful dog that just couldn't understand, Ramsay mocked her. "So you let him lure you by showing you games to play then you let him stick his bullshit into your head. Did he give you candy and set you on his lap too?" Jeyne was trying to get them to understand so she yelled back, "No! He let me play games and showed me pictures!" Ramsay and Damon burst into laughter, even Hot Pie smiled slightly and it was too much. Screeching in frustration, Jeyne lunged with the other sneaker. Damon got in the way just in time. He winced and let Jeyne beat him with the shoe as he kept blocking her, the mocking laughter from Ramsay kept her going. Hot Pie hovered close to Jeyne and spoke firmly. "Jeyne, that isn't a Person thing to do. Stop and put your shoes on before you get in trouble." Jeyne ignored the cook and Hot Pie came closer, now his voice has gone steel cold. "Put on your shoes and walk away or you don't get to start the new cooking class next week." Giving a muffled curse, Jeyne wrenched her other shoe from Damon. She put them back on while holding on to Damon's arm then hobbled away without a word.

Gregor came by to snarl at Ramsay and nudge him over into the mulch with a large boot. "You. Asshole, head to the showers and get to the clinic. You have exactly twenty minutes to be there. Get there late and I'll tell her to lock the door. You'll get in trouble with me for skipping class. Fuck off fast, duckling!" As Ramsay scrambled to run, Gregor turned to Damon. "Looks like someone has some corn shucking to do. Let's go." Hot Pie rolled his eyes while sighing out, "Yeah because what I really need is more frigging corn." Gregor turned and pretended to look for something. Hot Pie and Damon stared at him. Hot Pie finally asked. "What are you looking for?" Gregor looked at Hot Pie with a blank expression. "Trying to see if any of the kids might have a left a plastic tray laying around." Damon had no idea why this made the cook pale and walk away fast. With a cheery smile, Gregor grabbed Damon by the neck and headed towards the corn field where the whirlygig man celebrated their coming with a wild dance. 

Ramsay showered fast and ran all the way to the clinic with his hair dripping wet. He panted and leaned against the clinic door, wrenching it open with four minutes still to spare. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> music. inspirations. you get it.  
> Joff: I Fucking Hate You by Godsmack  
> Damon: Kinda I Want To by Nine Inch Nails  
> Hot Pie: Let's Get Rocked by Def Leppard  
> Ramsay: Shout by Disturbed (I like this cover version for him)


	156. Just Plain Mean

Ramsay sat across from Unella and all he could do was stare at the huge white stomach. He has never seen such a thing in his life before, even Walda wasn't that big and she was fat. Unella hasn't gained that much weight in the rest of her but that stomach. It was fascinating and terrifying in some mystical weird feminine way that made Ramsay's skin creep. Though he had to admit, he truly did fantasize about watching Sansa do the honors of killing Unella via C-section with a butcher knife. Right now his thoughts weren't on murder, he was trying to bring himself to look up at the stern handsome face of his mentor and just can't do it. The stomach was so large that Unella had the chair backed against the wall and the stomach just kept trying to creep over the desk, straining the buttons on the lab coat. Luckily Unella wasn't really looking for any feedback yet. She was explaining the rules of this mentoring, what Ramsay would do and not do.

"You will wear scrubs, you will clean following all printed and laminated instructions on the walls. You will stock, you will clean and I will slowly introduce you into the other parts of our clinic work. I do not want you entering the room that Arya is in for any reason. The door is locked and no one but Raff, myself and Harold will be going in there. If you wish to see your friend Joff you may do so when you mop up his floor. Chatting is fine as long as it in no way affects your work performance. Ramsay, I can't believe I am saying this, but, my eyes are up here, young man!" Ramsay managed to tear his eyes away to look at the woman's face. "Thank you, now I, are you kidding me?" Out of the corner of his eye, Ramsay saw three separate bumps appear against the tight cloth on the stomach then the three became four and MOVED.  His eyes had riveted right back to the stomach.

He was getting a headache from the cleaning fumes as he endlessly wiped, swept and mopped. Ramsay couldn't understand how a sterile medical environment had so much glitter in it. What the hell kind of kinky circus shit must happen in here at night? Trying to imagine what that must look like, glitter covered staff just raving it out or having an orgy and he almost sniffed the bleach on purpose. It was with pure delight that he only had to mop Joff's room left. Finally, at least he could have someone to talk to while he works. Joff looked like shit and was high as a kite but he was happy to have company. He complained of pain, of crappy treatment by the doctor and of the sadistic uncaring nurse. Joff complained of boredom, he complained of everything but drew the line at complaining about food service. "The only fucking person who hasn't fucked me over yet, is that little prick of a cook. Hot Mess brought me an extra large slice of chocolate cake and made all my favorite foods. Even said he hoped I felt better soon. I guess it was worth the punishment for attempted murder if the fucker is so nice now." Ramsay wondered if any of Cersei's other children had brain damage too.

"Things are boring everywhere today. They are all sad about SuperD dying, about you all busted up and Target detoxing her ass off in a locked room. The one right next to you, actually. I am not allowed to clean in there. But I heard her when they would open the door. She is ranting and raving like a lunatic and it stunk of piss and shit in there. Little scary wifey of yours is going through some true hell and they are worried. They called for Qyburn because she is way past fucked up and they think it might kill her or drive her permanently nuts." Joff smiled widely at that. "Good, I hope it hurts like nothing else ever has. I hope it kills her. No, wait, I hope it drives her crazy so I can toss her into the worst mental institution I can find! I wish I could see her suffer, she deserves to fucking suffer. She almost killed me, that cunt! My own wife was going to smash my head in like she did to that fucking cannibal bait! If she gets better, I'll fucking make the rest of her life miserable!"

Ramsay grinned as he slowly finished dusting the room. "Well, Raff left his keys on the counter right over there and her room is next to yours. Now, I can't give you the keys or unlock Target's door because I just starting mentoring today and I need to play nice. But if you don't have broken legs and can walk with your arm in a cast and wrapped ribs, then you should go for it yourself. Unella is on a coffee break down at the cafeteria and Raff is locked in his therapy office with Jeyne. Take a quick peek. I can't stop you, I am just a student on cleaning duty. How the living FUCK did green glitter get in the windowsill?"

 Myranda sat on the couch with Varys after some time and talked. She gave every detail and Varys tried not to show his apprehension and anger at certain details. Like knowing that Bob had unprotected sex several times with her. Hearing that Bob hunted her in a way that was eerily close to how their Da would hunt them. Varys had someone bring them tea and texted to the doctor to bring the morning after pill for Myranda. It was rare that it had to be used considering the profession, all were careful to observe the condom use rules. But it was kept in stock for the occasion when some asshole client abuses this rule or when a condom might break. Varys poured tea for himself and Myranda. "The hunting and the overly aggressive sodomy, the waterboarding, was it all in reaction to what Bob perceived as a misunderstanding of his rules?" Myranda nodded and sipped the hot liquid. "Yes. If I said anything that sounded like defiance to him, anything but obedience and submission made him do those things to me. Once I figured it out, once I acted the way he wanted, he stopped. I mean, he used hot wax and a whip, restraints and he was really rough on me, but he..." Varys gave a tiny smile. "He hurt you and scared you but made you enjoy it?"

She clenched her teacup and her teeth gritted. "That was the slap in the face. Making me enjoy what I didn't want and then praising me for reacting to it. Forcing me to beg for it. Deliberately scaring me because he liked to see me scared, panicked and groveling. I don't usually mind pain and pleasure, but this was extreme. I mean, if he hurt me this badly last night, what am I in for tonight? Am I going to die here? Or do I have to worry about him slitting my throat or hunting me at school? Because at this point, I feel like I should be handing out tickets for The Great Whore Hunt. That way I can sell the tickets and get something for it, at least!" Varys gave a tiny laugh and agreed with her. "I think we need to talk about whatever is going on at the school for you. Sounds like Bob isn't your only big problem. I'd like it if you'd tell me, I promise that this conversation is entirely between you and I. Bob and Harold will not know what you've told me." Shrugging, Myranda told Varys how the kids became divided over students issues briefly.

"The main point is Ramsay has the boys gunning for me. They want to hunt rape, torture and kill me. A favorite game before they got to the school. They drove Arya crazy by withholding her drugs until she literally killed for it, they are messing with Jeyne's head and now they are going to hunt me. At the very least, Ramsay is using the threat to keep me in line. But he is inches from letting Damon rape me, if not the others. Arya might have killed Theon but Joff will heal. Then he will be back to begging Ramsay to hunt me down. By then Damon will rape me, he is too big for me to fight off. And if Bob is having trouble with letting me live now, can you imagine how he will react to Damon raping me?" Varys shuddered at the thought of what that could mean for both students. "No wonder you are feeling as upset as you are. Feeling attacked or under threat no matter where you go and everyone wanting your body without your consent. I cannot change Bob's actions or his feelings for you. Harold and I have tried to do what we can about that and what is already done is done. I cannot change that Bob will be with you again tonight. I can't change that you must go back to the school afterwards. What I can change is your own ideas of revenge. How about we talk about defense and revenge? Let's talk about being owed and how to get paid."

Myranda listened carefully as she curled on the couch, tired and hurting. Varys gave her some pain medication and talked until the girl fell into a small nap. He covered her with a thick blanket and wondered why the doctor has not sent up the pill. Varys was both shocked and angry to receive a text from the doctor. "Sorry. Bob left strict rules not to give the pill to the patient." Varys paced for a moment. What the hell is Bob thinking? Is he honestly hoping to get the girl pregnant? Does he think to use it as a way to trap and keep her? Varys snorted. Sure, Kevan would love that. He would probably make Bob marry her, then he would castrate both of them.

Bob was careful to show for the meeting with Bronn and Podrick a full twenty minutes late. They were standing near Varys's locked booth, drinking and looking a tad sullen. Or at least Podrick did, Bronn seemed like he could care less and that annoyed Bob. He almost went back upstairs to let them wait a little longer. With a brilliant smile that Gilly would be proud of, Bob approached the men and didn't bite when Podrick stuck out his hand. He shook it a tad too firmly and Podrick turned white briefly almost yanking his hand back. Bob smiled wider at Bronn, who didn't offer a hand at all. "Do you have a key to this fancy booth or should I go get us a common one?" Bob unlocked the door and entered the small room, turning on only the dimmest lights. Scowling a bit, Podrick sat down and began to set up files and a laptop. Bronn smirked and sat down, doing the same thing, commenting, "I work well in the dark, don't worry about Pod, bat boy, he just gets tired and cranky after his bedtime."

Briefly, Bob considered removing Bronn's teeth one by one then decided Varys would be pissed at the blood everywhere. "My name is Bob, feel free to use it." He sat down across from both of them. The table was covered and he knew he was in for a long afternoon. His disdain for these two shoddy characters didn't include their work details. Bob knew they were excellent at their jobs and therefore he could do nothing but be impressed. Podrick managed to make financial forensics interesting to Bob for the first time in his life. He has managed to find everything that Jaime's killer has done with the inheritances and the businesses of all that Jaime represented. "None of the changes caused any negative affect for Kevan or for Lancel. It didn't touch Tyrion or Stannis's inheritances." The waitress had come with drinks and left a small black button on a larger red square that will notify her to bring more.

Two drinks later, Bronn started his own report and it was disturbing enough for Bob to order a third round. Bronn laid out glossy photos that were blown up. Ten females ranging in ages from thirties down to four years old. "These are the Craster girls. The young ones are adorable and every one of them can rip your fucking throat out quicker than your most savage student." Bob looked at the pictures and grimly said, "I remember meeting them in worse circumstances. They didn't look as clean or well fed then." Bronn gave a small grimace. "Yeah, I have their history. If any girls ever had a reason to be the way they are, they do. Lancel has given them schooling, the older ones work for him, take classes if they need it for their jobs. They get a nice house of their own, horses, a pool and a new replacement daddy that didn't fuck them. It's such a sweet story it should be in the news, don't you think? I mean, a rich young bachelor takes in ten traumatized orphans? But he kept it very quiet and they stay at Casterly Rock, out of the sight of any media. Except here is an interesting thing. So many of them it's hard to keep count. But there are days where I only see maybe four of them. I have no idea where the hell some of them go but it always coincides with death or destruction. Several warehouses of members of the Order have gone up in flames, guards slaughtered." The pictures Bronn showed them of the victims made Podrick gag and look away. Bob tilted his head and studied one particular picture. "The little ones might have done this. Look at his wounds. Ankles, behind the knees, specific stab wounds to the kidneys, spleen. Look at the angles of the cuts. I bet you anything it was the youngest ones, the ones that couldn't reach past his stomach. He was still standing when they attacked. The tallest jabbed his organs while the smaller ones cut his tendons, that way he can lay there and bleed to death while they giggled."

Podrick excused himself to the bathroom and Bronn grinned. "Pod hates this part of things. That's why Bri and I hired him, I think. I mean yeah, he is brilliant as a lawyer and detective, but the kid can't handle the scary or gory stuff. We hired him for these exact moments. Nothing like watching Bri drag him to see a crime scene, he vomited on an officer's shoes once." Bronn took another beer before continuing. "I managed to get a peek into the kids' creepy house while they were all on some damned activity with Lancel." Bronn showed Bob his phone, the screen showed  children's drawn pictures of bloodied bodies. Some seemed like fantasy stuff, others were eerily similar to real murders. Pictures of explosions. On the table was also a picture drawn crudely of Sansa and Lancel depicted as a fiery king and queen. Among the crayons, markers and a plastic blue and pink colored unicorn, was a small board with a dead rat nailed to it. Bob frowned. "I have a feeling that isn't the latest fifth grade science project." Bronn muttered as he swiped the picture away. "Sent it to your phones, both of you. If I have to suffer the picture, so do you and Harold. That picture of Sansa and Lancel is important. That is exactly how the girls have been taught to think of Lancel and Sansa as their royalty. Lancel is their leader, he is their authority figure and their good daddy. Kevan isn't going to like this or want to believe it but Lancel runs a cult. It's full of women and girls ready to do anything he says. Sansa is the perfect wife, the perfect socialite and the perfect mother figure. She is trapped and she knows it. She is also under the spell of the cult but Sansa is restless in it. It's driving her fucking crazy, it is so bad that Sansa has actually asked me to take her in my car a few times. She despises me but it's better than having a Craster girl up her ass."

"Lancel is teaching all of them survival skills, he lets them use real weaponry and they have these crawling, sneaking exercises that scare the hell out of me. Those girls are good, they should be, every day and night, doesn't matter if it's raining or storming. Lancel goes from Father of the Year to Loving Leader to Demented Evil Teacher in a flicker of a second. Makes them hold out their hands while he beats them with a rod. Makes them kneel in cornbread or on gravel for fucking hours if they piss him off. He holds fire pit meetings and talks forever, they all listen like they are hearing the word of a god. I cannot prove that those girls are doing anything illegal yet. But I will. I am also concerned for Sansa. She won't last under these conditions very long, Sansa's eyes are that of a cornered wolf. She is either going to dash away or attack someone soon." Bronn looked up at Bob. "Gilly Craster lives up at the school, right? Works for Kevan and is having a relationship with Harold, right? Well, those girls love to talk, the younger ones at least. They all told me of their sister that was living away but they couldn't wait to visit with her. The looks on their faces don't seem like they want to wish their sister a happy birthday. I sent you that file on Gilly so you are aware that she killed all those babies, toddlers and little sisters before she ran. Tell Kevan and Harold this, I think those girls will murder Gilly the first chance they get. You might want to make sure to keep her away from those girls." Bob gave a truly freezing but thrilled smile. "Thank you for telling me that. I will be sure to pass that along."  

Jeyne sat on the couch, on her side as to not bother her aching tailbone and Raff sat at his desk. "Jeyne, whatever your pouting over, if you don't tell me, I cannot help you with it. We can't sit here and stare at each other for forty minutes, it wastes my time and yours." Jeyne shot him a quick glare then stood up. "Okay, I will show you why I am so mad." Raff cursed as the girl suddenly came over the desk. He shoved himself and chair back hard and fast but she wasn't after him, she went for the desk instead. "Hey! That is a locked private drawer, young lady!" It wasn't though, Jeyne had broken the lock on it earlier when she sneaked in early before her therapy session. Jeyne pulled out her files and Raff's notes on her including information from publishers and movie makers. She threw it all on top of Raff before heading back to the couch. "Give me detention for picking a lock. I took nothing, just looked. I can't understand all of it or read all of it. But I know what you did. What Unella did. Ramsay, I hate him, but he told me the truth and you all told me lies!" Raff stared at the mess of papers then he looked over at the rude, angry feral. He has been dealing with two brats all night long and things have only been piling upon him with Unella on part time. The fears of Qyburn coming, Arya was triggering the hell out of him with her memories. Raff is overtired, overworked, overwhelmed and under-compensated. His best friend is on suspension so he has no one to share his troubles, no one to humor him out of his dark mood.

Eyes narrowing, he stood up and yanked open the top drawer of his desk to pull out the long flexible rod. Jeyne gave a soft growl but it was her eyes, they showed tears, betrayal. It was the only thing that kept Raff from striding over and just beating whatever part of her he could reach. Taking a deep breath, Raff tried to keep his voice steady. "You have no right to go through my personal things. You are not allowed to pick locks. Those things are bad, very bad and detention isn't enough. Hands or feet, Jeyne?" The girl didn't react however he expected her to. Jeyne stood up slowly, her face was so full of indignation, her body was trembling, not in fear of the punishment, no it trembled in pure helpless frustration. Jeyne's chin went up, in spite of her fracture, her back went straight as it could, her shoulders went back. Her voice was all Bolton, it was Roose, it was Ramsay, it was Jeyne at her genetic purest, her mimicry of their blended voices was pitch perfect. "Are you quite sure that a rod like that is enough, Nurse? I am sure you can do better. How about a nice thick wooden baton? Break that over my back? Or would you like another sturdier weapon to break on me? Why don't you whip me, rip apart a whirlygig man? Hell, why stop there? If you hit or hurt me long enough maybe I won't annoy you with my questions. So you do not have to talk about why you fucked me over."

Raff dropped his mouth open for a second as his brain just processed what she said, how she said it. Jeyne smirked and held out both hands, her eyes looked like Cersei, Roose, Ramsay. Part of Raff's mind was telling, screaming for him to calm down. It tried to tell him to pay attention to this new behavior, not just the challenge she was giving him. But he was so tired, so stressed and that little drugged bitch was bringing up too much shit in Raff's own past. Bob had told him to bring it to Harold but Raff can't do that, Harold and Bob were too fucking creepy for him to speak of those things. Raff delivered two harsh blows to each hand while Jeyne flinched but bit her lip. He stared at her and Jeyne forced herself to keep eye contact. Another two strikes. "That is for sneaking to look at personal things of mine. You are getting two more on each hand for picking the lock." Jeyne dared to continue to smirk and stare at him, even though her hands were inflamed, even though Raff could see how hard it was for her to maintain the eye contact. "Lying Nurse. Lying Head Shrink. Ramsay was right, he was right and I am a fool in his eyes now. They all see me that way. Broken, weak Jeyne, stupid feral. Dumber washed brain pretend Person  And I know what you really are now. I know the truth." The last two strikes on each palm were hard enough to leave purple lines and Jeyne cried out at the last strike.

Gregor watched as Damon shucked the corn. "Well, your face can't get any longer or you'll shuck your chin along with the corn. Let's get it out, boy. Theon died, head caved in by a very sick duckling. What are your feelings on it? You look like a shitload of feelings have landed on your broad shoulders. So let's hear it." Damon couldn't tell everything, Gregor was good for him but Ramsay says he isn't. Damon has to figure out what he can share, what he can get help with. Gregor sighed as the boy remained silent, ripping at the ears of corn. "I know that Arya's gum was taken by Joff and Ramsay. I know you all watched the live reality show of why drugs are bad for you. You all helped keep the girl sick, you think it's your fault that she killed Theon and hurt Joff. Am I close?" Damon started to cry and smash the corn. Gregor nodded and let the boy rage. "It was so fucking stupid! I didn't know she would do that! No one knew that would happen. What if Theon haunts me? His ghost always scaring me because we bullied Arya and she snapped? Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

Joff unlocked the door while Ramsay stayed far enough away to be a look out. The boy wrinkled his nose at the stench in the room, Joff was delighted to see the state of his wife. Arya's hair was spiky with sweat and vomit, her chin stained with her bile, lips shredded, eyes wild. She was restrained on the bed by her wrists and ankles, the bedding tossed away. The smock Arya wore had ridden up, it was stained with every bodily fluid Joff could recognize. He could see she was wearing an adult diaper, an I.V. was in her ankle just above the restraint. Joff entered the doorway and leaned in, holding his nose. "You are disgusting, fucking look at you. Wifey, you really fucked up this time. Does it hurt, are you getting used to the stink in here? What do you think Kevan will do to you for killing someone? Course, you might die here, a slow detoxing death." Arya looked at Joff and the curving of the bloody, dehydrated lips gave him a chill. Her voice was ragged, wild but it was clear.

"I remember shit now. Do you know what I can remember, hubby? I remember how you would blush at having to perform in front of so many summer guests. You didn't mind if it was mommy you were playing with too much. You made happy sounds for her when she used her hands and mouth on you. When she would let you climb up and use your tiny hard pecker to fuck mommy, making her moan, calling you her little lion cub. You would cry when she let Olenna play with her little lion. A few times beloved mommy let Karstark or Oberyn play with you, those special guest occasions. You screamed like a stuck pig and begged mommy to save you. They would fuck you hard, you would scream for mommy to help. And she was too busy making my sister lick her pussy to help you, Joff. I remember while Karstark took your ass, Oberyn stuck his cock in your mouth to shut you up. Because your MOTHER looked up from my sister's little head between her legs to speak to Oberyn. She said that her little lion might need something to suck on to keep his little cub cries, instead of his pathetic attempt to roar. Do you remember that too, Joff?"

Ramsay was just frozen, his jaw dropped, hearing Arya just ripping apart Joff with her memories. He came to life just in time. Joff tried to run into the room, he was going to kill her, smash her head in, smother her, anything to shut her up. To not hear those filthy lies, not true, not true and Ramsay had to put a hand over Joff's mouth to keep him from screaming at Arya. The girl started to howl with laughed, her feet pattered hard on the sheet. "Hey, Ramsay, want to hear what I remember about YOU?" Ramsay gave Arya a deadly look and responded as he dragged Joff out of the room. "No thanks, I was there and already remember. Some of us don't have to fuck ourselves up in order to deal with our pasts. How's that working for you?" Ramsay slammed the door shut, tossed the keys on the counter and shoved Joff into his room. Ramsay closed the door behind him and led Joff to his bed. Fuck, that was amazing and incredibly useful. However, Joff is about to blow a gasket and Ramsay needs to calm him. He needs to make sure that the staff doesn't know Joff has heard anything. Joff's eyes were blazing, haunted and he was hyperventilating, nearly whining that it was all lies.

Grabbing Joff's face, Ramsay leaned close and started to whisper in a soothing voice. "Your wife is a fucking cunt and a pathetic junkie turned raving lunatic. But Joff, she turned a raving lunatic because of what she is remembering. She was chewing the drugged gum to forget her past. Target wasn't lying to you, Joff. I won't lie to you either. The time she told you of, with those men, I was there too. They used me and you. Your mother and Kevan paid good money for Qyburn to erase those memories. They are going to come back now, you'll have nightmares or flashbacks. You need to not panic or run to staff about it or you'll be back in Qyburn's hands. We need to remember what happened to us and start to create our revenge. The past is terrible to remember, I know that, but Joff, use it. Use it for us to take them all down."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More music:  
> Polliver: I Can't Dance by Genises  
> Raff: I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred/My Songs Know What You Did in The Dark by Fall Out Boy  
> Myranda & Jeyne: Mean by Taylor Swift  
> Sansa & Arya: HeadStrong by Trapt  
> (The songs for the girl duos just shows their mentalities at this time in the story)


	157. Triggers

It took Ramsay some time to calm Joff down enough to leave the room. He finally found the right thing to make the idiot pull his ass together. "Listen, do you want to make Target's fucking life miserable or even get to be the one to end her? Want to hunt the pretty whore with me and Sidebitch? Then you need to knock off your tears and raging right now. Because the second Raff or Unella see you like this, you'll be with Target getting your mind scrambled. You'll get fucked up and forget everything. A blank slate might not want to hunt or get revenge on his newly blanked out wife." Joff wiped his eyes and nose, trying to stop shaking. Ramsay smiled and whispered, "That's it, good. I want you to try this little trick a friend of mine used. Every time you start to think of losing control and freaking over your past, I want you to do this. I want you to picture what you are going to do to wifey. What you will do to the whore and others that have wronged you. I have a plan, an idea I want to share with you. I can only do that if you get the hell out of here. So try and act as fucking normal as you can so they will release you today, okay?"

Jeyne refused to speak to Raff after the discipline. Raff just began to pick up his papers and spoke sharply. "I am willing to discuss with you about the journals I keep about you. But you will be calm and you will not give me attitude. Yes, I keep extensive notes on you and I was hoping to create a book or even a movie about you. Because your case is extraordinary, Jeyne. Curing a child raised as a feral is rare, a feral child is rare. But working with you, I saw your potential, then I saw past that to the person inside of you. So yes, I was writing a book on you but that doesn't mean I don't care about you. It doesn't mean I betrayed you. I understand why you feel that way, we can talk about that." But she wouldn't speak, she just crouched on the couch and stared out the window. Her sore and bruised hands were curled against her chest. Sighing, Raff slammed the newly filled drawer shut and stared at her. "Jeyne, crouching like that is going to make your tailbone worse. Please pick a better position." No response and no movement. Raff saw the pain in her eyes and a bitter kind of hurt that had nothing to do with her tailbone or hands.

Raff walked over and sat on the couch next to Jeyne. "Jeynie, I am sorry that you are feeling hurt. I never intended to cause you any harm by writing about you. It's a story of a brave little girl who managed to survive abuse and became a lovely good Person. What's wrong with that?" Jeyne whipped around and Raff saw the angry tears running down her face. "Because it's MY story! I can tell my OWN story! You and the doctor can't just tell MY story! I was my story! If am a Person, a Person Gets Asked. But who cares what a feral thinks about others telling her story." Jeyne stood up and glared at Raff, who remained on the couch. She inched over until her knees touched his and growled out, "I want to leave now." Raff shook his head and frowned at her. "We still have twenty minutes left. Sit down. I do think you are a Person. But you are a minor, that means you aren't old enough for me to need your permission. I only needed your father or Kevan's permission. Kevan didn't give his permission so the story is over anyway. Maybe you will be the one to write your own story. I hope so."

Jeyne sat down but heard the patronizing tone, Ramsay mimics it to her and tells her it's Raff's way of thinking she is adorable but dumb. "I am very angry with you. With Unella, with staff, with Kevan. Very mad. I don't like Ramsay being right. I don't like being a fool. I trusted you." Jeyne burst into full tears then and hugged herself. Raff stroked her back and softly tried to soothe her. "I am sorry that you are so upset. I never meant you to be hurt, sweetie. I don't think Ramsay is right on much. And the things he is right on, he tells you only to upset you. He twists things around, Jeyne. We didn't write these books to make fun of you or to steal your story from you. We only thought of the miracle you are becoming and wanted to share it. Ramsay also was wrong about some other things. The whole staff does care for you and there is no student that has ever received as much attention as you have. At first we all saw the challenge you were, then we saw past it to the real girl inside. It became personal to all of us then. Once you started to join us in the fight for the Person in you, we were past impressed, we wanted nothing more than to help you." Jeyne stared out the window and listened but did not speak again during therapy.

Raff gave Joff an examination after Jeyne's time was up. The girl was storming out just as Unella was coming out of her office. Jeyne gave Unella a dirty look as she slammed out of the clinic. Unella told Ramsay he could leave to get ready for lunch. Ramsay flew and Unella sighed, shaking her head, going into Joff's room. The doctor and nurse determined that Joff could go back to the dorms. Joff's medications were adjusted to add painkillers. Gregor was hailed to help Joff get back to the dorms in time to eat with the other students. Raff and Unella went to visit Arya. The girl screamed and struggled as they examined her. Unella spoke to Raff. "I just got a rather distressing call. Qyburn and his nurse were murdered. We are on our own with the girl's treatment. I know her mind needs a scrubbing but her physical health comes first. So we are going to detox her then we'll see what she really remembers. Maybe there won't be a need after all." Raff was relieved that Qyburn was dead but that means Arya won't shut the fuck up. Unella continued. "I want her on a morphine drip, we are going to wean it down to phenobarbital." Raff scowled but nodded and prepared the medication. Unella sat next to the girl and tried to call her name softly. Arya turned to stare at her. "Arya? Do you know who I am?" Arya spat out, "The fucking doctor, that is the fucking nurse and my fucking head is full of fucking." She started to laugh jaggedly and Raff twitched.

Unella patted Arya's sweaty fist. "I know you are in terrible pain. I know you are remembering things you aren't able to deal with while in such pain. We are going to help your pain, get you feeling better and then we will help you with those memories." Arya let out another bray of laughter, that sent vomit and spittle everywhere. "Help me? You are going to help me? Detox me, yeah. But you don't want to HELP me with my memories. You want to call a freak scientist over to scramble my head so I won't remember anymore. That doesn't help me! It didn't help that first time, did it?" Unella gave a small smile to Arya. The doctor had been secretly thrilled to hear about the deaths. "Qyburn isn't coming to mess with your head, young lady. He is dead and his nurse is too." Arya paused at that. "Are you going to scramble my brains?" Unella shrugged. "Well, I would like to get you through the detoxing first, then we shall see. If it is making you worse to remember, it might be an option to remove some memories. However, if your sober brain decides it can handle the memories then we shall simply help you manage them. Harold will be visiting you in an hour. By then the morphine should have you feeling a bit steadier physically." Arya pulled at her restraints. "When do these come off me?" Unella replied, "As soon as we are sure you won't hurt yourself or someone else." Raff administered the first dose of the powerful opiate into the I.V. as Unella left the room. He smiled nastily at Arya and commented, "Junkies are violent, unpredictable and untrustworthy. Get used to the restraints."

Arya looked at Raff and as the morphine kicked in, her voice became soft and slurred, but he heard her. "Olenna liked golden boys best, like you. Cersei loved golden boys and redheaded girls best. Walder, Craster, my, my," Arya cackled briefly, "MY MOTHER preferred sad little dark haired kids. Like me, Jon, Rickon. My mom loved to hurt Jon after MY FATHER pretended he wasn't hurting Sansa and Jon both! No one got hurt like Jeyne, oh gods, I saw that." Cackling, Arya tried to scratch her eyes out but she couldn't reach her face with the restraints. Raff shoved her down onto the pillows. "Let the medication work, okay? Try not to talk for a while, try to sleep, you need to sleep." Arya shut her eyes and he breathed a sigh of relief. He started his notes on her clipboard but Arya started to speak again, though she lay still as the opiate started to soothe her body. "They would film it. They would rip her shit stained rags off, it took at least three of them every time. They never raped or molested her, Roose wouldn't let them. They released dogs on her, to bite at her, to watch her fight them off. Sometimes they would beat her for fun, if Qyburn said I couldn't take anymore, if they broke all of us, they turned on her. She was a screamer and a fighter. I was so jealous of her back then. To just not understand why, to just go into my head and ignore, forget it all. Jeyne doesn't remember, does she? Does she know? Everyone here, all of us, right? Some were for sex, some were for pain, some lucky assholes got to do both like Jon and Rickon. Oh gods, will I remember how they died? I don't want to remember, I already know, deep down and I can't-"

Raff walked over to her and slammed his hand over her mouth. "Shut up. I can't hear anymore of this. Shut up. Go to sleep." Arya struggled but Raff kept his hand firmly over her mouth until the medication made her eyes flutter shut. He felt a twitch in his left eye and cursed. Locking her door, Raff left Arya to rest and he headed to lunch. Catching a glimpse of his face in the clinic door window, Raff scowled. His usually handsome features were drawn with lack of sleep and stress. Raff knew it wasn't just the extra work and sleeping in the clinic, he can't sleep anyway because of the damned nightmares. Remembering her past, Arya is triggering the hell out of him and it's not her fault, logically he knows this. Raff needed to talk or find a release of some sort and he knows it. He is inches from following Polliver into a suspension. Raff is truly afraid of hurting a student, he was so close to smothering Arya and he wished to hell he knew a good fucking therapist or doctor to talk to.

 Lancel opened the car door and held out his hand. Sansa handed him a perfectly manicured hand and she gracefully stood up. Dreadfort was a place both remember and wish they didn't. However, this version of the Dreadfort estates looked different. But in their heads, they saw right through the lovely gardens and marble fountains. The elaborate bird feeders, the wandering ducks and one goose that eyed them nastily, it couldn't cover up their memories. They smiled brightly as they walked up the newly paved driveway to the mansion. It used to be all black but now there was color. The main color was a light gray but with pink accents. The stone stairs were replaced with pink painted wood, there was a wrap around porch now. Double doors that were black with heavy brass knockers were now glass and had lovely etchings of flowers. The Boltons welcomed them in warmly and both managed to enter without a flinch.

Walda served tea in what she called her newly decorated living room, Roose had made a gentle joke. "She says that every two or three months. That is how long it takes her to decide we need to decorate again. Then my peaceful home is assaulted by designers trying to lure my wife out of my money." Blushing, Walda had swatted Roose's arm lightly as she rang for a servant. A young man came in with a very elaborate tea service and Walda thanked him kindly for serving it. "Normally, I would give you the tea myself, but my stomach is getting a little too big for any grace." Roose and Lancel smiled and Sansa wanted to behead the two of them while asking why Roose couldn't serve the fucking tea. Instead she nodded and looked around the room. "This is such a cozy space! I love how feminine and maternal it all is, Walda." In truth, Sansa thought the room was a nightmare trap that was stealing her very air. The entire room was a pink color chart. A dark pink rug, lighter pink walls and a touch of rose upon the ceiling. The Tiffany lamps had pink bulbs and were rosy themselves. The overstuffed velvety furniture matched the walls in color.

The pink was overwhelming but Sansa could have handled that with ease. But there was worse offense to her eyes that just made her wish for Loras back, so she could have someone to weep with. Curios and delicate shelves, all gleaming chestnut everywhere full of figurines of cats, every kind of cat doing every kind of thing. Other larger shelves contained porcelain dolls that stared at her with dead but judging eyes. Just relive the eyes of the horror of the ceramic children with cold eyes there were ceramic clowns all grinning maniacally in between every few dolls. A few pictures were scattered on the walls. Their wedding day, two pictures of Ramsay as a child and one of Damon as a child. There were also pictures that Walda must have taken of them at the school. Sansa noticed that Damon smiled in all the pictures, Ramsay always kept a straight face. There were no childhood pictures of Jeyne hung up. Only two school pictures, Jeyne grinning, trying her best Person. There were also framed pictures of birds, of cats and butterflies.

The worst offense came next to Sansa's horror. Cats. Real fucking cats. Sansa despises cats, she is terrified of them, disgusted by them. A quick glance at Lancel's face let her know he didn't know. Lancel wouldn't ever force her to be near a cat, he KNOWS why, but Sansa had to deal with it. He never made her go near cats or dogs, he had assured her that Roose would never have reason to show them his damned kennels. Sansa and Lancel sat stiffly, frozen smiles as six cats, all floated through the room, leaping wherever they wanted to go. Roose smirked at the couple as he sipped his tea and they smiled, wishing him to hell. He knew why Sansa hated cats, he knew damned well why the Order kids hated pets and he was going to enjoy this. 

Myranda only slept for a hour, long enough for Varys to get some work done and return with new fresh soup and tea. Varys nagged at her gently until she ate the entire bowl of soup. "There! Tea and soup has restored your color. Now, I would like you to recall our last conversation to restore your spirits. I have packed the items I told you I would give you. Before you say anything, I will inform Bob that anything I give you, is yours. It goes with you and it will stay with you at school and you keep it on you whenever you leave school as well. Don't worry about Bob or Harold on this, I am going to deal with that. I won't say a word of what you've told me or what we have planned for you to do. But I will handle it, trust me. This little locked box is yours to keep. I do things a little differently than your mentors do. Everyone of my workers has their own locked box, just like this one. Because they can protect you at the school, they assume you have no need for such defenses. You and I know there is nowhere safe enough for a whore to be without their own weaponry. We can't shoot guns or run about with blades, can we? So we make these boxes instead. Trust me that everything you need is in here."

There was a knock at the door and Varys went to unlock it, to see Bob. "Ah, it must have been a productive meeting! You were gone most of the day." Bob entered the room and looked to see Myranda first. She was sitting on the couch, sipping tea, wrapped in a blanket. He turned back to Varys and spoke in a hushed tone. "Qyburn and his assistant are dead. Slaughtered in a pattern that I recognized, that Bronn and Bri recognized. Craster girls are on their little bloody missions again. I have to head back to the school early. It's not safe for Myranda. Anyone from the Order or the school is a target for those girls. In fact, you might in danger, have you thought of that? Those girls might see you the way they saw Qyburn or Jaime." Varys waved a dismissive hand at his brother. "Silly, boy. Of course they would kill me if they could. But they can't reach me, they cannot get near me. I have more protection than you do. I want to talk with you before you leave, in private." Bob sighed and nodded. "How is Myranda?" Varys pursed his lips. "She will heal and be fine. The doctor had to do a little stitching, thanks to your Roose Bolton version of sodomy. She is battered, aching and these are the pain pills she needs if you want her to be able to walk and sit."

Bob winced and took the medication, slipping it into his pocket. "Damn. I didn't mean to hurt her that badly. Guess tonight would have been a bad idea anyway if she is injured." Varys leaned a little closer. "Did this experiment of yours work the way you needed it to?" Bob nodded. "Yep. She is mine. I know that much." Varys shut his eyes and tried to keep his temper. "Alright then. Why don't we let Myranda rest in your room and watch the TV while we come back here to chat?" Bob headed towards Myranda, who instantly stood up, taking off the blanket. She peeked up at him then lowered her eyes, waiting. He could see her fear, she was stiff with pain and she was struggling to keep composure. Bob smiled warmly at her and put one hand gently on her neck. Myranda didn't flinch but her pulse pounded faster against his hand. "You've been a good girl while I was gone?" Myranda gave him her crooked grin and her voice was sweet and soft. "Yes, Bob. Varys and his doctor were very kind to help me." Bob kissed her forehead and felt her relax a little. It was a familiar gesture he does when he is pleased with her, has always done it. "I am sorry that I hurt you that way, sweet girl. It won't happen again, you understand the rules now, don't you?" Myranda nodded and shuddered. "Yes, I do."

Smiling at her, Bob put his arm around the slight shoulders and he started to lead her towards the door. "Varys and I need to chat. I am going to tuck you in bed to rest and watch the TV. There has been a change in our plans. We must leave for the school after I speak with Varys." Myranda sucked in her breath then her wide eyed stare stunned both men. Varys spoke first. "Oh gods, sweetheart, you aren't being killed! That was not a code for destroying such a wonderful girl. Bob, you are an idiot to scare her that way." Myranda did something that Bob didn't expect, but Varys did. With a pale face, ghostly but for the bruise and the large eyes, Myranda clutched at Bob's suit jacket with timid but panicked fists, pressing close. "Please, Bob, I am your good girl." Bob smoothed down Myranda's hair, leaned close and whispered to her. "Calm down, sweet girl. I am not killing you, I'm keeping you. We are going back to the school and you'll still be mine. We will take time here soon but no matter where you are, you are mine." Myranda nodded and whispered back. "I am yours, Bob. And I know my new rules."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tyrion: Serious by Alice Cooper  
> Sleeper: A View To Kill  
> Stannis: Once In A Lifetime by Talking Heads  
> Gregor: Kid Ego by Extreme


	158. Boxed In

Bob began to walk Myranda down the hallway and saw she was holding something. "What is that?" Myranda showed him the small black box. "Varys gave it to me, he said he would talk to you about it. I can give it back if you want." A voice floated down to them. "I gave that to her, Bob. We shall talk it over if you wish when you come back but she keeps it. At school and wherever she goes." Bob wasn't thrilled but on the other hand, he know Varys puts very useful things in those boxes. "Keep it then. But we shall look inside of it when we get inside the room and decide what might not go back to school." Myranda didn't seem thrilled but she nodded. "Thank you, Bob." He smiled at her and hugged her as they walked down the hall towards the elevator. Inside their room, Bob and Myranda sat on the edge of the bed as Bob opened the box. He stirred things around, Myranda peeking over his shoulder. "Have you already seen these items?" Myranda looked and pointed at a few items. "I didn't see inside the box but I saw some of these things. Those ones Varys showed me earlier today, we talked about how to use them for defense. I, I would like to use those if I needed to. I am yours now and I don't ever want to be anything but your good girl. One that still has an intact throat, please." The smirk was back but it has changed, it has a submissive tilt to it. Bob smiled, he loved her sass and didn't want her to lose it. This was going better than he expected and that made Bob decide almost everything in the box could stay. Myranda did have a point, she should have the right to defend herself.

He stroked her neck then her cheek, gently touching the bruised one, making her wince slightly and whimper. "I love your pretty white throat, so like a delicate swan. I love your pretty face, even your bruises are pretty." He enjoyed watching the apprehension grow in her eyes at his last comment. Bob needed to calm himself down, he didn't have time to play. No time to scare her and play with her, if Bob didn't appear in Varys's office soon, he would show up. He stopped grinning and frowned deeply as he saw other things in the box. Grabbing a small cardboard box, he thrust it towards Myranda's startled face. She had to back up to focus and see a small supply of the morning after pill. Bob felt so darkly outraged, he could barely keep his voice from anything but the most menacing growl. He was in a predator stance over Myranda now, forcing her onto her back. "Did you take any of these pills today?" Myranda's face was drained of color and she responded fast. "I didn't! take any of those pills, only painkillers! I swear it, Bob!" He scanned her face and her eyes and saw she was truthful. Bob sat back down and took a second to feel the tense feelings to go away. He smiled and pulled Myranda back into a sitting position. "I'm sorry that I scared you, sweet girl. Varys shouldn't have put these in here. I don't want you ever using that unless I say so." His sweet girl nodded and Bob was calm enough to take out the female and male condoms, contraceptive foam, along with a few packs of spermicide jelly. Myranda was confused by this.

"Bob? Last night when you wanted to use...bare skin? I thought it was because you just wanted to feel more. Is it, is it something else?" Bob picked up all of the items he took out and put them in the trash. "You are not using any type of contraceptive because you are only having sex with me. If you become pregnant, Kevan cannot send you out on jobs. And according to his own rules, we would have to marry. A wife that is my very own sweet girl, my own pet. You would never have to worry about your throat being slit, my love, I would always know I had you. You know your rules and if you upset me or make mistakes, it's only a hunt and you are very good at those. I never kill or maim during hunts, sweet girl. See how careful I am to try and keep you safe, Myranda?" Myranda smiled but her eyes glistened with tears and Bob tilted his head. "There is no reason to cry, don't you want to be with me, have me keep you safe?" Before Bob could start to feel upset, Myranda sniffed and looked down. "If that happens, I am scared that Kevan will put you and me in a circle. What if he really hurts us or banishes us?" Smiling with warmth, he hugged her tightly to his chest and kissed her head. "I am happy that you care that much, honey. But it would be worth it to me but I wouldn't want him to ever hurt you. I will take all the blame if it comes to that. But I don't want you to worry, I will take care of you, of everything."

Bob went into Myranda's pocketbook after he let her go and rifled though it. She looked slightly offended and Bob understood. Females do not like others in their pocketbooks. But he was only looking for one thing and found it rather fast, bothering nothing else. Holding the small plastic rectangle up, Bob spoke firmly. "No more birth control pills. Let Unella continue to give them to you but you hand them to me later on." Myranda nodded. Bob flushed the pills down the toilet while Myranda watched. "There, all done with that. You may keep your box and all the rest of the items. And as a bonus, I won't even ask you what you need such defense against at school." Blushing, she nodded. "Thank you very much. I am grateful, Bob." Shutting off the bathroom light, Bob headed towards the freshly made bed and turned one side down. "Let's get you out of your clothes and into the bed. I'll tuck you in and leave you with a remote control, find a movie and rest. I will go see Varys and maybe we will have a small bit of time to ourselves before we leave." Bob walked towards her and Myranda began to undress. "I'm going to leave you two pain pills and some water for when you need it. You probably should take it before I return." Bob's suggestive tone got through and she nodded. "Yes, Bob. I'll take it soon because I really am starting to hurt again. When you get back, please, the stitches make me really sore. The doctor said I can't-"

Bob watched her face go nearly blank in panicked terror then she flung herself on the ground in front of of him. Groveling, shaking, he could see in her eyes the memory of his anger from last night. Fast learner that she was, like any good prey, she went low before the predator and something in him responded pleasantly to this. "Please, I am so sorry. I will use better words, please!" Bob enjoyed the lovely pet extend a graceful arm with a pleading hand, those large doe eyes begging for mercy. He crouched down and lifted her chin gently and spoke in an affectionate and soothing tone. "Hush, it's alright, my good girl. I do not want you to use those words to me if it contradicts my orders or needs. Using them other ways like telling me what the doctor said is always fine, honey. I loved your reaction, that is a such a smart, good and safe reaction. If I had been upset, going to the ground is your best way of getting my mercy. But I am not upset right now and you have not done anything wrong." Bob picked his girl up and gently tucked her into the bed. "I love you, my sweet girl. I will be back very soon." Myranda smiled and responded right after he kissed her deeply. "I love you, too."

What Bob didn't see was after he left the room how Myranda sat up and began to punch the bedding in a silent pale storm of frustrated rage.

Damon was a bit less gloomy during lunch but Joff and Jeyne were worse, way worse. Ramsay was in a quandary, trying to tamper down Joff's outrage while wanting to bring Jeyne's forth. "Joff, you have got to breathe, son. This isn't the right moment to go spouting shit off, do you want to be with wifey, in restraints until someone scrubs your head for you? Because that is what's going to happen. And if you set off others," Ramsay deliberately peeked at Jeyne and Damon before looking back at Joff. "If you set others off that aren't ready to remember, they will scrub us all. Because if all the students start raving about the Order, it will be a line to brainwashing instead of a line to the med counter. Tonight we will have time to talk more about it all and then we can plan out how to tell the others, okay?" Joff looked close to how he was that time the staff dragged him off for a few days in a rubber room and Ramsay was concerned. He saw Damon start to talk to Jeyne and wished he could coach him ahead of time. Ramsay can tell by Jeyne's attitude that his stories were proven correct and she is so close to being a useful dog sister. Joff started to poke himself with his fork and Ramsay sighed, wrestling the silverware from him.

Jeyne sat so that two chairs remained between herself and Damon. He leaned over and poked her playfully with his spoon. Stiffly, she snapped, "Spoon is for your jello, not for poking Persons." Damon moved to the next seat so he was next to Jeyne and nudged her hard enough that she almost fell until he hauled her back into her seat. "Dammit, you are small! Listen, are you still mad at me? Come on, I am sorry I pinned you down, I just wanted you to listen and not run away. Aww, smile for me! You can't be mad at me too long, I am your brother forever and your buddy, pal, friend, homework partner, classmate, a fellow duckling, uh..." Jeyne giggled as he struggled to list more. "I am not mad at you. I am angry. It's not at you, Damon." He looked just like his usual cheerful kind self that Jeyne relented. "I still don't like Ramsay. He was right. I saw Raff's files. He did this for it." Damon winced at the swollen red hands that she had been hiding in her lap, ignoring her lunch. "Damn, that must really hurt. What an asshole. Want me to feed you?" Jeyne shook her head. "I am not hungry. Why eat if I am not hungry?" Damon nodded but Hot Pie came by and leaned down to speak with Jeyne. "Hey, are you feeling sick to your stomach or something? You didn't eat breakfast, you didn't eat your dinner last night and you aren't eating now. You have to have food in you. If your stomach is bothering you, I could make you some soup and toast?"

Jeyne shook her head. "I am not hungry. Why eat if I am not hungry?" Hot Pie's voice was sad but firm. "Because not eating is not healthy for you. If you don't eat, I have to put that in my report to Unella and the rest of the staff, you know that. Can you just take a few bites of what's on your tray? Maybe the salad or the cheeseburger? A few bites is all I need to see." Jeyne shook her head. "I am not hungry. Why eat if I am not hungry?" The cook sighed and shook his head. "Okay, Jeyne." Damon gave Ramsay a look of concern but Ramsay was busy with worrying about Joff losing his mind in front of Hot Pie. The cook was heading over towards Joff now, he saw that Joff looked pale and sweaty. Damon leaned closer to Jeyne and spoke softly. "Jeyne, the doctor will put a feeding tube up your nose or something. You have to eat. Upset or not, you have to eat. You can die by not eating, you know." Jeyne turned and stared up at Damon's concerned face. "I am not hungry. Why eat if I am not hungry?" Standing up, she started to hobble away but Damon grabbed her arm. "It's still lunch, we aren't allowed to leave yet. If you go, the cook is gonna tell on you." Jeyne gave a small bark of laughter. "What will they do? Give me more detention? Beat my hands or feet? Break things over me? Who cares? You don't know how much I can take, Damon."

Ramsay saw the cook heading for them and he got desperate. Leaning over the table he hissed at Joff, "Are you going to be taken by a fucking COOK to the clinic for brainwashing? My gods, your mother was a cunt of the highest order, but she could handle tricking a damned cook, never mind a whole fucking world! Are you her son or not, are you a Lannister or not?" Hot Pie was assured by Joff that he was just in a good deal of pain but fine. The cook suggested that Joff go see the clinic as soon as lunch ended. "I will send a text letting them know you need more pain medication, that I could see how you were struggling." Joff thanked Hot Pie for that and for the extra treats he has been receiving. Hot PIe left and Ramsay gave Joff an approving smile. "Look at that. A Lannister rises. You not only convinced him you weren't losing your fucking mind but got extra painkillers out of it! He feels guilty about what happened to you and SuperD, because he saw Target's addiction. The cook already brings you treats, now he gets you better meds, you already have a staff toady all to yourself! Let's concentrate on these wins, these good small things for now, Joff." The golden moron nodded and his smile was not a nice one. "Good thing we didn't cook the cook." Joff gave a small giggle that made Ramsay squirm, thinking of leeches. "This whole place, all of them left out there, I want to burn it all fucking down. I hate them. I fucking hate them." Joff's face was determined in it's newfound cold insanity and Ramsay nodded. "I feel the same. I want us all to feel that way."

Polliver sighed when a knock came at his door. Between helping Jeyne when she was in the clinic raving, Hot Pie all last night crying over the kids, this morning with Jeyne, Polliver believes he sees less of the others when he is on duty. Opening the door, Polliver let Raff in. "Shouldn't you be at lunch?" Raff ripped Polliver's fridge door open and pulled out a beer. "This is my lunch today. I have no fucking therapist to see. Unella can't help me, no fucking way am I telling her SHIT. So being my best friend, you are IT. You have to deal with my fucking ranting before I accidentally on purpose kill your damned duckling!" Rolling his eyes at the dramatics, Polliver drawled out, "Better toss me a beer too." Raff screamed and paced while Polliver drank and watched from the couch. He listened and said nothing until Raff was done. "You all done?" Raff threw himself into the arm chair and glared at Polliver. "Asshole, did you hear anything I fucking said at all? I can't take the fucking memories, the nightmares and then she just rants, adding more shit to my head that I don't need in there!" Polliver nodded. "Oh, I heard you. I did. Let me show you something." Raff warily watched as Polliver started to remove his shirt and pull down his jeans. "Uh, Polly, that isn't the kind of bro love I have for you. I mean, I'm flattered, I'm hot and a catch usually. But feeling and looking like this, it's nice to know someone still appreciates me but, you aren't my type. Even with surgery, you'd make a fucking ugly ass woman."

 Scowling, Polliver acted offended. "I am a fucking catch and I may not be much to look at but I bet I could make you squeal like a girl. But that isn't it, I don't want you to fuck my precious body, I want you to look at it." Raff sucked his breath in at the amount of damage done. "Holy shit, the twins would barf then rush you off to their skin lab to "fix" you!"  Polliver grinned. "Why do you think I never let them see me in shorts or without a shirt no matter how hot it is? So whip scars, burns, cuts, you can see where some bit until they nearly tore off chunks. You guys in the rich families were luckier than us poor fucks. My dad just shared me out for the beating part, not the fucking. I was jealous of you rich fancy little pricks who at least got some pleasure out of it, even if you didn't want to feel it. It happened, I can't change that. But I can't spend my time freaking out over it either. I can't give those douche-bags the power to still mess with me. They might have had the use of my body, but not my head, not my mind. That's all mine and I will be damned to let them have it. I almost lost it there for a bit, but I am steady again. You can't let them win, Raff. The second you give in to these past things, they win."

Roose and Lancel soon left the ladies to tea and walked on the wrap around porch. They did a fair amount of small talk, Roose told Lancel of the renovations done and Lancel did the same. They spoke of being newly married, they spoke of their wives. Lancel finally could take no more and got to the point of his visit. "I have come to ask a rather personal favor of you, Roose." With a smirk, Roose leaned against his porch railing, gazing out on the newly renovated dog kennels. "Have you seen my new kennels yet? They are still empty, of course. Walda wanted to fill the damned thing with abused dogs. I have had enough abused animals go through my kennels. Not sure what breeds I wish to have yet." Lancel didn't flinch but internally he screamed. He refuses to respond to any taunting. "I am not impressed by kennels or animals in general. Can we discuss the favor I want to ask of you?" Roose looked out towards the kennels still as he responded in a distant voice. "My finances, my very children and my business dealings have all been taken down or controlled by the Lannisters. And here is the king of Kings Landing asking a favor of the lowly lord? I am flattered, truly." 

Walda gave Sansa more tea and petted a grey long haired cat with brilliant sapphire eyes. It stared at Sansa while the pudgy hand petted it's silky fur and she shuddered. "Did you have a good visit with Ramsay, Damon and Jeyne?" Sansa didn't give a shit about that, she just needed to keep this horrific visit going while Lancel spoke with Roose. It was illogical to worry about Lancel being out back alone with Roose but there it was. She might not love her husband the way she should, but as her leader, Sansa was as protective as any fucking Craster bitch. Walda rambled on about how they were doing and what she left them while that damned cat stared at her without blinking once. When Walda ran out of words on that subject, Sansa asked how the nursery plans for the baby were going. She mindlessly sipped tea while Walda petted the little creature and spoke of colors, patterns and teddy bear motifs. Sansa tried not to stare at the damned cat. It wasn't just the staring or Walda's relentless petting. Something was very off about the cat, all of the cats. Sansa's irrational fear of them couldn't let her see past her terror to find the wrongness.

Lancel drew himself as tall as he could be and he was as regal as any Lannister should be. "I wish to make a purchase from Oberyn Martell. He will not speak with me of it since it isn't of a normal business connection. I need your patronage to do so." Roose looked intrigued then, he stood up straighter and seemed to try and leech truth with his eyes. "You are asking for my patronage into the Order? The only way you may purchase from the order is to be in it. You know that, don't you? Didn't Petyr explain all those rules to you way back when? You understand what you are asking? Lannister or not, you will not be able to control this group. It belongs to Oberyn, he makes our rules now. That means, whether or not you get your purchase, you belong and must offer at least one of your children up. Does Sansa agree with this?" Lancel smiled politely and asked gently, "Did Walda agree to it?" Roose said nothing but gave an icy stare and Lancel nodded. "That is what I thought. So since your wife doesn't know, does it matter to you if mine does? Besides, members are still allowed to use substitutes, if they are considered acceptable enough, aren't they?" Roose nodded. Lancel smiled. "If you give me your patronage, help me get Bran and Robin back and I'll help you with your kennels. I have at least two girls that would be perfect for you."

Roose snorted. "I can't believe I had fallen for it. That whole charity act you had going for so long that your father raved about. I should have known the real reason why you took in Craster's girls. Have you actually trained a few towards my tastes? I should have seen it, just like your uncle Tywin. You knew exactly what to create and how to bide your time. I think Oberyn might just have a fight ahead of him someday from you for leader." Lancel smiled. "I truly hope so. For now, I want to return Sansa's brother and cousin to keep her faith in me while I join and offer my lovely girls. I have at least two that not only take pain as well as Arya did for you, but mine were taught to enjoy it. Others I have made towards Oberyn's taste in exchange for the two boys." Roose gave a small spark of dark interest in his eyes. "I am going to take this leap of faith in you, Lancel. I will give you my partonage and help you get the boys back. Not sure what condition they will be in, it might not be worth it. Oberyn is notoriously loving and generous to his very pretty boys and girls. The ugly, fat, too thin, or handicapped, not so much. Oberyn let that poor fat Tarly boy he was sold get put into a snuff film. Who knows what has happened to those other two? But I will help you. But I want those two girls as soon as Orberyn allows you into the Order. Even if he won't agree to the sale of the boys." Lancel smiled. "Agreed." They shook hands as the sun turned the sky pink and the kennels appeared to be black.

Sansa finally registered what it was. The cats had no nails, no teeth, not a single cat had any defense, not a single one could bite or scratch. Walda's sharp eyes watched Sansa's face then she gave a tiny smile. "It took sometime for me to enjoy cats again, Sansa. I know you are still afraid of them, aren't you? Most of the Order's children are. It's alright, sweetie, no need to become so pale. You know, the only way to heal from such things, is to talk it out, deal with it head on." Sansa held her teacup so her hands wouldn't shake. Walda had a blank yet sweet look on her face and her hand on the cat has moved. It was no longer lovingly petting the cat, it was now pressing hard on the cat's head. The cat was squirming as Walda put down her teacup with a graceful motion. Her other hand circled the furry neck and dug her manicured nails in hard until blood began to stain the fur. The cat yowled and twisted, used it's paws to batter at the woman's swollen stomach. Walda ignored the thrashing and howling, speaking in a cheerful, maternal tone, as her face was as blank as the moon.

"Olenna raised her cats large and mean. It was really the most unique punishment when you think about it. Though I wonder, what was worse? Wearing a small cage over our little heads so our faces and eyes weren't hurt, how stupid we looked and felt in them? She would put me in that little cage and set those cats on me and I would twist, scream and try to hurt them back. But they were so fast. Scratched and bit just enough for patching but not for serious injuries but the even worse part, was knowing they all watched and would laugh. I hated that the most." Walda smiled at Sansa, who wanted to scream at those vacant eyes. Slamming the cat suddenly on the table, using all her weight to crush the cat's head with both hands, while it squealed and thrashed. Walda's voice was strained due to her physical exertions but it was cheerful. "I talked it all out with Roose when my father sold me to him. I love my husband, he understands my needs, I have forgiven him his sins. And he forgives mine. He suggested the cats as therapy and I find it works quite well."

Sansa was frozen as the cat slowly died, something thin and awful coming from it's ears and mouth. The head flattened with a crunch that was like a toddler crushing a hard cookie next to the ear. Walda smiled, tossing the dead cat into a nearby flower patterned wastebasket with a thump. "It's almost time for me to redecorate again." Sansa sipped her now cold tea so Walda wouldn't see her hands shake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why I wrote this story and who it's for. ::evil grin::  
> Orgy For One by Ninja Sex Party  
> Walda: Mad Hatter by Melanie Martinez


	159. Broken Busted Bitches

Gregor went to get the children and raised his brows when Hot Pie got in front of him on purpose. Of course, the boy did try to stay out of striking and stomping distance. Amused, Gregor also noticed that Hot Pie chose an area that had no plastic trays within reach. "Jeyne hasn't eaten since lunch yesterday. She said she wasn't sick, just not hungry then she walked out of the cafeteria. Damon tried to get her to stay and I did warn her that I would tell you. I already texted Raff and Unella that Jeyne isn't eating." Gregor nodded. "Thank you for being useful. Next time the second any student leaves the cafeteria without permission, tell someone right away. We are only on the other side of the room." Hot Pie wrestled with himself while Gregor waited to see how stupid the newbie was. "Yes, Sir, sorry." Gregor gave him an approving beam, like a proud Nanny and Hot Pie walked away fast, humiliated but proud of his own self control.

Turning, Gregor encountered Unella, who briefly looked up at him before trying to walk around him. "Where are you going? I want to talk to you." A freezing look at her husband, Unella's every word was a challenge. "I am going to the clinic. Raff is at Polliver's and needs another fifteen minutes. I will check on Arya and if you would grab Jeyne for me, she and I will have a quick talk. Depending on that talk, when Raff returns, we will tube feed her by force if need be. I won't tolerate an eating disorder." Gregor shook his head. "Sounds like a tantrum, not an eating disorder. Did Raff tell you why she was so upset earlier?" Unella gave a sound of frustration. "No! He was in a fucking mood and didn't say a thing except he might have overreacted to her temper. That Arya was driving him crazy and he took it out on Jeyne. Raff said he needed to see Polliver and would explain it all later. I would like to know why that girl always seems to be the punching bag for bad tempered staff!" Gregor saw that Unella was getting emotional and since it could be any emotion, he had to calm her. There were students and staff still in the cafeteria that Gregor must protect from the angry stomach from hell.

Putting a hand on each shoulder, Gregor started to drag her towards the back door, calling behind him, "Ducklings will line up outside the dorm house, I will meet you there." Unella scowled but hissed to stop dragging her, she can walk. They heard a faint laughter as the boys headed onto the dirt pathway and Joff's scathing hiss, "Looks like Cuntella is just as hard to tame as my wifey. I wonder if all wives need to be beaten down for the stupid cunts they are? Like, do you think Oscar needs to be-ACK!" The boys never even saw them coming. Damon and Ramsay nearly leaped out of their skin, thrown to either side of the bushes by Gregor, away from Joff. The boy screamed like a startled little girl when that white stomach came at him, hard as a mountain, large as one, it smashed into Joff, sending him sailing into the dirt. "What did you call me, young man? I would like you to repeat everything you just said, but do it to my face this time." Joff saw Unella's stern face just above the huge stomach that seemed to be moving restlessly, as if whatever was inside wanted to burst out to taste him. It was almost a relief when Gregor loomed above him and the large hand clutched his throat, lifting him into the air.

Joff was no longer feeling anything similar to relief as the man's face was in his. The growl was so low and serious that Joff felt his bladder attempt to release. A piece of him way down below, inside his murky swampland of a mind, was shrieking in offense that this freakish giant should be allowed to do such things. "Princess, did I hear you insult MY WIFE? If you were even halfway to being a full grown male adult, I would carefully break every bone in your body and bury you alive. You are so lucky to be just a sniveling, fucked up little boy duckling that Nanny and the good Doctor must shelter, love and care for. That's why you are going to only scream apologies until Unella is satisfied with it. You are even more lucky that I will do the discipline and not her. Just ask Ramsay how fun medical punishments can be." Damon and Ramsay winced in sympathy as it was discovered that Gregor's strap was no less painful than being whacked by Polliver's baton. Joff screamed his apologies to Unella and she let Gregor give him five good hits across his bare ass before she nodded for him to stop. Just those five strikes were going to bruise Joff for some time.   

Unella entered Arya's room to find the girl sitting calmly, not pulling against her restraints, just staring out the window. "I am glad to see you are doing better." Arya didn't even look over, just muttered, "I need more morphine, it's not enough, I hurt." Unella nodded and spoke in a nice but patronizing tone that made the girl give an ugly smirk. "I imagine you do feel you need more medication. We are not making the morphine dose any higher, young lady. In fact, I am decreasing it in increments staring tomorrow morning. We will do it very slowly and replace it with another medication that will help you. I cannot make it painless, sorry. It's going to be better than without the medication, much better and safer, but it will still be discomforting." Arya let the doctor take her pulse and check her heart, lungs and eyes. When Unella moved the light out of the way, Arya still was staring into her eyes. The ugly smirk grew bigger then the girl spoke in a soft, flat voice that had a tinge of utter cold revulsion.

"I remember you now. I remember you and Gregor, too. I remember you patching us up. I remember Sansa speaking to you. She asked you why you helped these monsters hurting us, why you didn't report them, help us. You weren't part of the Order, just Qyburn's damned assistant. You never answered her. One time Damon begged you to please just give Jeyne something to help her pain, to stop her crying, you told him that painkillers were expensive and only used for priority children. I only saw you when it was a rough party or a branding session but you were this cold bitch who just pretended nothing was wrong. How could you do that? I heard you were in here for what you did to sick babies and toddlers at Qyburn's clinic. What a catch for Gregor, huh? Because I remember him too. He wasn't a Nanny then. Tywin didn't show to the parties much, but anytime he did, he had Gregor with him. Gregor watched and did nothing, just like you. How can you have babies? Are you going to give them to the Order or just train them into it like-" The shock of pain knocked Arya's head sideways and she giggled, touching the blood on her lip. "Holy fuck, you pack a punch, doc!"

Unella's eyes were colder than ever as they pinned the girl in their gaze, rubbing her sore hand. "That is enough. You want the truth? Yes, I was a young newly graduated doctor and Qyburn pretty much paid for every cent of it. Except it was actually the Order's money and that trapped me as much as anyone else. To be honest, I loved Qyburn's ideas and works so I felt it was worth it at the time. I never said I was loving or merciful woman, Arya. But I hated what they were doing, I despised it but I had no choice either. If I was even suspected of trying to get help, they would have killed me. I am a practical person, I did what I could to help and then I helped myself. I came to the school to escape the other things I've done in Qyburn's name and I was freed from the Order by Kevan. As for Gregor, his family was in the lower caste of the Order. Do you think he had anymore choices than you did? You don't think he served his own time as a punching bag? And if you think you were the whipping boy for Sansa's good behavior, who do you think was Gregor's whipping boy so he didn't murder all those around him? Gregor took it so they wouldn't hurt Sandor as much. It took Gregor some time to become Tywin's right hand man to get Sandor released from the Order and transferred to the school."

Arya said nothing, Unella sat down heavily in a chair next to the subdued girl.  Wiping away a tear that seemed to sneak up on her, Arya spoke. "I remember more and more and it hurts worse than the body pain. I remember and I feel it all again. I see, smell, feel and hear it. It's like, I just have to see a person and it sparks, I have to say what I see. I am so scared, I am angry, I feel fucking insane and I have to escape it or just keep seeing it. I don't know what to do, part of me just wants my gum back. Part of me wants to kill everyone, most of me just wants to die and take my sister with me. I know that everyone was involved. I know most didn't want to be, but that doesn't matter, getting revenge, getting rid of my pain matters. What matters most is how badly I want my gum and how much worse I want my mind back." Unella nodded and folded her hands over her large stomach.

"We have two options ahead of us, Arya. I can do what Qyburn taught me and what Kevan wants, which is to take away your memories again. Or I can let you keep them, you can learn to accept them and work with us to manage your Post Traumatic Stress and other issues. I would like to stop this cycle, I think every time you are scrubbed, you go searching for answers you don't have. You end up paranoid, aggressive and on drugs or alcohol. It isn't working for you. You want everyone to see you as this bad ass bitch. I say that it's time to prove that. Take on these memories and it is going to be the biggest fight of your life, perhaps. But it's certainly what a bad ass would do. Otherwise, I am afraid you will always be a coward, hiding under narcotics." Unella looked at Arya without pity or even a shred of mercy. For some reason, that made Arya feel better. The doctor took a deep breath and stood up, holding her stomach. "I am going to leave the decision up to you." With a tired look on her face, Arya faced the window again. "I want to keep myself. Under these damned memories and this fucking detoxing is me, the me I can't find. I'm scared but yeah, I gotta do it." Unella nodded then gave the slightest of smirks. "Don't worry, Arya. I am pretty sure underneath it all you are still an asshole." Arya laughed and responded, "I hope so."  

Raff was just leaving Polliver's cabin when Gregor ran into him. "Jeyne decided to leave lunch early, since she apparently gave up eating yesterday. Have you seen her?" Raff shook his head. "No, I was with Polly. Last I saw Jeyne was in therapy and she wasn't too happy with me when she left. Ramsay told her about the books Unella and I worked on. He told her we all just wanted to use her. Polly spoke with her first and he thought it worked. Jeyne broke into my office and read my personal files on her, the journals and more before our therapy session. She threw her findings at me and I reacted badly. I beat her hands with the rod before I tried to explain about the books. She wouldn't speak to me and left the second I let her." Gregor stared at Raff like he sprouted three heads and then whacked him. "What the fuck did you do such a bonehead thing for?" Raff rubbed his head and glared at Gregor. "I am dealing with fucking Trauma Bubblegum! I am overworked, beyond fucking tired and freaking out a bit. That's why I came to see Polly instead of going to lunch!"

 Gregor found Jeyne dancing in the cornfield with the whirlygig man. "Here you are! Nanny was worried that you starved to death or left lunch early to take a little jaunt over to FourHeads. But no, you just wanted to go dancing?" She didn't even turn around, just kept dancing. "I hear you are angry. Ramsay told you about the books the medical staff were making on you. Raff wasn't feeling his best and hurt you instead of talking to you. Well, I am sure you noticed that our nurse is more looks than brains. Uh oh, am I getting the silent treatment too? That is a problem, duckling. If you don't talk this out with me, Unella will sail straight past chatting to a feeding tube. You can't want that, you remember what that feels like." Jeyne went dead still and Gregor stopped walking any closer as he tried to judge the danger level. Her body had just froze mid dance. "And is this a new yoga pose for us to try, Jeyne? What should we call it? Praying Mantis On One Leg?" Jeyne's voice came then and it was cold. "I am waiting for you to finish the threats and insults. So I can dance in peace." Jeyne's mimicry of Roose's voice was spot on.

Gregor burst out with a small chuckle and started to go closer, but slower, hands swinging at his sides. "Oh ho, I see. Well, please accept my most heartfelt apologies if you thought I was threatening or insulting you. See, I thought I was concerned about you and trying humor to put you at ease. Thank you for pointing out that I am no more than a bully, just a sadist wandering around looking for a dancing girl to bother." Jeyne went back to dancing, but she had one eye on his movements and Gregor walked around her and the whirlygig man, keeping just out of her personal space. "Hard to go away in your head with me around. I won't leave, kiddo. I am just going to hang around until you talk with me. I am glad you chose to come here to calm down instead of hurting yourself or another. We both know you could have taken that rod and shoved it up Raff's ass, right? Why didn't you, Jeyne? You have a right to be pissed at him, I even agree with you on that! You could have taken those papers and crammed them into his skull. Why didn't you? Huh? You could rip that pretty face apart, why didn't you, Jeyne?"

"A Person doesn't attack other Persons." Gregor nodded and watched Jeyne twirl. "Right. And did you suddenly turn from a savage feral to a responsible and safe Person all by yourself? Or by the students making it happen?" Jeyne gave a growl and didn't answer, but her dance was off now, her mind trying to work in spite of herself. Gregor smiled and came slightly closer in his strolling around the girl, his voice persistent. "Nah, it took help for you to change, you needed way bigger help you than you or any kids could give. It took all of us, the whole staff and plenty of hard work from you. Do you remember what I said to you the day I shaved your head? I told you that I don't care if you love or hate us? I meant that, Jeyne. You have heard me say that to every student here. My job is to help you change into a better Person. That's what I do, that's what we all do. Now, I will admit that I have enjoyed being able to have fun with you, to find teaching you is a joy. But if you decide you don't like any of us anymore, that is fine. You will still learn, obey and respect us. You will still learn and grow because I don't give up, none of us will give up on you, even if you give up on us."

Gilly walked over to Ramsay as he crowed in triumph. "YES!!! Gilly? Can you take a picture of this and send it to Target? When she stops raving, shitting and puking, I want her to see that I finished the Murder Hotel." Gilly smiled. "Impressive work, Ramsay. Now that you've finished that model, I have some new ones for you to choose from." Ramsay rolled his eyes and sneered. "I don't want to make damned birdhouses and shit. The only reason I did the stupid model was it wasn't some stupid model car or shit, I built it because it was a damned slaughter house. Can't be many more of those floating around." Sitting across from Ramsay with a box, Gilly glowed. "You are right, models like that are quite unique, I did try to find more. So since I found nothing appropriate, I chose a different route. These are plans I got from Harold for some rather unique traps he has heard of or replicated in the past. He drew up the blueprints and Gregor was happy to supply the items needed. So pick a blueprint and let's see what kind of trap you can create. I am sure Arya will love these when she comes out of the clinic. Make sure not to do all of them on her, save a few." That last sentence alone sent Ramsay right into the box, muttering.

Joff whined over and over for a trip to the clinic for pain medication. Gilly sighed and responded for the fifteenth time with a brilliant smile. "Your medications are scheduled. The nurse has told you the times to go receive your medication. This isn't that time. I can send for a bag of ice or a pillow for your very sore bottom? Because the way you wave that cast around, I doubt its your arm bugging you." Joff swore and kicked over the painting that Damon was working on. "Asshole! I was almost done and you ruined it!" Damon went to swing at Joff and froze when Gilly slipped in front of Joff, staring down Damon. "I don't like fighting in my classes. Debates, arguments and discussions may happen. Swearing, horseplay, I don't mind that, I am a very tolerant person. But I will not tolerate violence." Gilly wasn't even half Damon's size but the boy looked away and flushed. "I'm sorry." Gilly smiled, patting his arm. "Good job keeping that temper and I thank you kindly for your apology. Why don't you see if your painting can be fixed?" But Damon shook his head. "It sucked anyway." He threw it into a wastebasket that Gilly provided for craft waste. Joff and Damon decided to play cards. Gilly waited until the boys were fully caught up in their game before she took the painting out of the trash. One quick look was enough. Gilly slipped the painting into her over loaded briefcase.

"It's MEAN! AND NOT FAIR AND YOU ARE ALL MEAN! JUST TAKE A FERAL A FREAK A SIDESHOW FREAK AND SEE IF YOU CAN TAME IT! MAKE A BOOK OR A MOVIE ABOUT DOG GIRL BECOMING PERSON! STEALING MY STORY! JUST LAUGHING AT THE STUPID DOG GIRL!" Gregor let the girl rage, both of them circling the whirlygig man now. "Oh boy, Jeyne, do you think you've been FUCKED OVER? Oh gawds, sweetheart, better call the moral or ethical police, I guess. Golly, can't imagine being FUCKED OVER, it must be just AWFUL, darling. Jeyne, this is what it means to be a Person instead of a feral. Learning that the world will NEVER be fair to you. It's not fair to anyone. Every Person in this school has been FUCKED OVER, every staff and student has been hurt and feels betrayed. Every Person feels things, all these emotions that a feral doesn't have to deal with. You have to decide if you want to go hide with Tickler in the damned woods and bite anyone who comes close and make life easier for yourself. Or you can decide to learn how to sort out these feelings with us, you can learn how to be a stronger Person." Jeyne howled and turned to start punching at her whirlygig man. "Ramsay was right! I hate that! I hate him! I am a fool, they all know I am a fool, they laugh at me, tell me I fall for it like the dog I am, dog tricks for a dog sister."

Gregor clapped his hands dramatically against his face. "Oh no! Did the boys tease you, girl? Did someone laugh at you? Get used to that, it happens. And what did you do when they teased you? Did you rip or bite pieces off them, chase them on all fours while they screamed? Did you get the nail gun and attack them? No. You did what a fucking PERSON does. You walked away and shrugged it off. Yeah, maybe you might get mad and hit someone with a shoe or swear at them. But you don't act the feral with them anymore, do you? Someday, no one will KNOW that you once were feral. That is what I want to see. It is what you should want to see. So be angry, be fucking ripshit at those boys and at us, if it helps you. Sure. Then take that fucking anger and PROVE EVERY FUCKING ONE OF US WRONG!" Jeyne howled and rushed at Gregor but he was ready for it.

"Use your fists, Jeyne! Remember your lessons, and come at me. I am going to take one for the team, I am Raff, Unella, hell, come on, give it your all, girl!" Jeyne grimaced, grunting, she contained the fury to her fists. No matter how hard or how fast she was, those huge meaty hands were there to take the blow. By the time Jeyne tired out, Gregor's hands were red and swollen. Collapsing on the ground, Jeyne panted, wiping sweat out of her eyes. Gregor sat down next to her. "Better?" Jeyne nodded. "Yeah. Still mad but better. Guess what I can do really good? It's a talent!" Arching an eyebrow, Gregor asked, "Oh, whats this new talent?" Jeyne proudly lifted her chin. "I can game really really good. Polliver was impressed and Hot Pie wants to game against me. I will win." Gregor smiled back and patted the sweaty girl's back. "Good for you. I bet you will beat Hot Pie. Tell me when this competition is and I will be there to bet on you." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs for This Point In Our Story:  
> CultKids: Safety Dance by Men Without Hats  
> Arya: Voices by Disturbed  
> Unella and Gilly: Funhouse by Pink  
> Jeyne: Please Don't Leave Me by Pink  
> 


	160. Don't Speak

Gregor used his sore hands to text the staff as he headed with Jeyne towards Gilly and the boys. Gilly smiled with honest happiness to see Jeyne, even if the girl seemed sullen and clearly has been through some exertion. Gregor boomed out cheerfully for all to hear. "Gilly! Boys! I have wonderful news! Tonight will NOT be our usual boring Saturday night! Tonight we will have a death match of epic proportions and I am allowing all to bet, students and teachers alike. Now of course not all you boys have money, so you'll have to bet with other kinds of currency. I am sure Gilly can help you come up with ideas for that. Tonight we shall all meet in the gaming cabin. We shall drink, snack and scream as we watch Jeyne demolish Hot Pie in every game Polliver owns. And Jeyne says that she is willing to take on any other challengers as well." Gilly cheered for Jeyne and turned to the boys. "Oh, I have some great ideas of how you can join the bet." Joff groaned. "I don't care if the cook or the feral have a gaming fight. I don't care about either of them so why would I waste my own time on a bet?" Damon grinned up at Jeyne. "You will win! I'll bet on you, sis!" Ramsay smirked and shrugged. "I'll see who I bet for. Not sure yet, but I will bet."

Gregor kept a hold of Jeyne's shoulder as he stared hard at Joff. "Anyone who doesn't bet, doesn't go. They will remain in the dorm under restriction since no one will be around to keep an eye out." Joff threw his cards down with a sound of annoyance. "Fine. I will bet on the cook to win. I like him better." Grinning, Gregor turned to Gilly. "Jeyne is going to see Hot Pie, challenge him then he is going trash talk her while she has something to eat. After, Jeyne is going to rest that tailbone in the dorm until suppertime." As they walked towards the cafeteria, Gregor leaned down and gave an loud whisper with an over-dramatic look of suffering. "Girl, do your hands hurt as bad as mine do?" Jeyne gave a reluctant giggle and nodded. They compared hands and even though Jeyne's hands looked incredibly tiny next to Gregor's, both had red swollen hands. Hot Pie was happy to accept the challenge. While Hot Pie quickly threw a sandwich together for Jeyne, he trash talked her. Jeyne gave it back but it was funny to see it come from a small sweaty girl sitting with her giant counselor, both of them with their hands deep in bowls of ice.

Harold was waiting at the gate and the second Bob stopped the car, he had Myranda's door open. He helped her out and gave a critical fast check over. Thick foundation hid the bruises in the waning sunlight but he saw them. On her face and around her neck were a few bruises that made Harold fear what was under Myranda's clothing. Myranda had asked Bob on the way home how she should act around Harold. Bob had given her a creepy smile and responded lightly, "Harold understands you are mine, he has Gilly. I trust him, I trust you with him and Varys, always. You may respond to Harold the same way you always do. Except for one thing. If he tells you to do something that contradicts my orders, my wishes always come first." Myranda smiled at Harold and tried to not flinch at his touch as he gave her a quick hug. Harold could tell Myranda had no wish to be touched even as she hugged him back lightly. "I am glad to see you, sweet girl. We are going to the clinic and then you may go rest in your room." Bob got out, retrieved their bags and asked, "Who is at the clinic?" Harold noticed how the second Bob moved or spoke, Myranda had an eye and ear out for him.

"Unella just left to go rest in hellhouse. It's only Raff. What did you do that you don't want Unella to see?" Bob snorted. "I would just rather deal with Raff, because I can scare him. Let's go, Myranda." Pulling fast out of Harold's embrace, Myranda followed after Bob without a word. Harold followed them to the clinic and locked the door after they all entered. Raff was sitting in his office and came out, stretching, waking from a small doze. "Back early? I can text Unella." Bob smiled. "That won't be needed. Why wake poor pregnant Unella when you are right there to do it?" Raff wanted to snap that it wasn't part of his job but even half asleep, he could see Bob's tense stance. He also had heard Harold lock the door. This woke Raff up more than coffee and he stared harder at the girl, seeing what he didn't before. "What happened?" Bob stepped closer to Raff. "Take Myranda into the examination room and give her whatever treatment she needs. Now." Raff did the examination while Myranda stared at the ceiling, her face a mask of lying indifference. Bob and Harold both stayed out of the way against the wall but in the examination room. Harold's face grew sterner as he saw the girl's injuries. Raff finally just threw up his hands and yelled at Bob. "Who the fuck was her client, The Incredible Hulk?" Harold gritted out, "More like an animal attack."

Bob said nothing but he did feel a twinge of guilt. Perhaps he was a tad too hard on his sweet girl, but she had to understand. He is confident it won't happen again, she knows better than to make him have to hurt her like that now. Raff winced as he tried to gently check on her stitches. Harold started to stroke Myranda's hair while one tear tracked down and she bit her own lip. Raff shook his head as he finished and added notes for new medications. "I can see why you didn't want Unella to see this. Both her and Kevan are going to have questions once they see the report, you know." Bob was holding Raff's throat, slamming him into the wall, smiling hard into the handsome face. "You aren't going to put any of this in your report. You will report that nothing unusual was seen." Raff struggled to speak and Bob lessened his grip. "Won't matter. The bruises on her neck, the one on her face can't be always hidden under that foundation. Someone will see it and Unella might still see her." Bob smiled and turned to look at Myranda, who was letting Harold help her dress. "Sweet girl? What happens if a staff member sees your bruising or Unella forces an examination on you?"

Myranda responded fast in a near robotic voice. "It was the boys, they beat me. If Unella examines me, they raped me too. I didn't want to be a snitch and the boys scare me, they threatened to do worse if I told on them. I will refuse to tell which boys." Bob smiled. "See? All good, right, Raff?" With great reluctance, Raff agreed and Bob dropped him.

 Heading back to the house with Bob after escorting Myranda to the dorm, Harold was furious. He was relieved that Bob didn't kill or maim Myranda but she looked exactly how they would look after their damned Da was done with them. That was bothering Harold on so many levels that he was nearly speechless. "We need to talk. I spoke to Varys and thought I was prepared to talk with you, but I'm not. It is taking all my self control not to beat you into the dirt for what you just did to her. You KNOW what you just role played, don't you? I saw the patterns on her body, I remember damned well what it looks like to be hunted." Bob kept walking but responded in a firm voice. "I was as careful as I promised you and Varys that I would be. I broke no bones, there was no maiming or killing, was there? How else was I going to get Myranda to really understand? She had learn that she was mine and what that means for her. I had to teach her so she can be safe from my worse parts. Don't act outraged, you knew damned well what would happen at the very least and this is the very least I could have done."

Harold tightened his fists then let out a rush of air in self disgust. "Fine, yes. It wasn't as bad as I was afraid it would be and yes, I expected something like this. It still isn't pleasant for me. But instead of fixing your obsession, Varys told me some shit that makes me feel like we just made things worse." Bob smiled. "Myranda understands what I want now. The other stuff that is worrying you, it has to wait until after I see Kevan. You saw everything I sent you, you'll have to be there in case Kevan decides to kill the messenger. Let's deal with that first because if Kevan decides to murder me, you won't have to worry about my obsessions anymore."

Kevan sat silently, his eyes were growing storms but he listened, he looked at the pictures Bronn and Bri had sent. Bob spoke in a polite but clear voice, he showed everything about the girls, how they are trained by Lancel. What Bronn suspected would happen, what the girls have already done. He explained the possible danger that Sansa might be in if she wasn't a full participant of her husband's work. Harold watched Kevan twirl his golden pen and sit back after Bob was done speaking. "You are telling me that my son is the leader of a cult that consists of murderous girls. That they plan to kill The Order and then possibly attack the school. Even with the somewhat reliable pictures you brought me, it is hard for me to swallow this." Bob and Harold said nothing but their frustration was palpable. "Sir, I may not care for the detectives personally, but I will stand by their work. They are excellent at what they do and I trust what they tell me."

Kevan shook his head and waved at the reports as if to make them disappear. He stood up and started to pace. The twins stayed seating, not speaking, just waiting and hoping that Kevan won't stick his head back in the sand. "No. I can't believe that Lancel is doing that. He would never, he doesn't even remember-" A trill of his desk phone paused him, as the twins were hiding their upset. Kevan picked it up. "Hello? Doran? Well, Sir, what a surprise. What reason could you ever have to call me?" The polite tone didn't cover his disdain of the man, the twins could see Kevan's lips turn into a sneer. Harold and Bob looked at each other, why would the Martells call? Kevan turned pale, paler and seemed to age a thousand years as he clutched at the desk to stay standing. The twins stood up in alarm, afraid the man was about to have a heart attack. "Is this a joke? A sick, tasteless joke? Doran, don't you accept his application! It's just Roose trying to strike at me and you know it! Lancel doesn't understand what he's doing, don't-Well, then rip it up! Tell him you changed your mind! Doran?"

Kevan set the phone down with a thud and sat down with stiff jerky movements. "My son just joined the Order. Doran couldn't wait to gloat over it, Roose gave him patronage. Doran said Lancel signed, he read the contracts, he understood and joined. Same as Walda, Sansa doesn't know. Oh gods, my boy couldn't have really understood or they blackmailed him with something." Bob shook his head and decided he had to get the stubborn old man to understand. "No, Sir. If Lancel joined it was part of this take down. Think of it, he has no children yet and Sansa didn't sign or join. It's because Lancel already has girls, ones he can offer, that can infiltrate and kill. I am all for them taking down the Order, hell, I would watch them all burn! But when the slaughter is over, Sir, Lancel will take them here. He will come after the ones that knew and did nothing. The ones that made everyone forget, thinking it would fix things. The ones who don't remember but are damaged because of it."

With a roar, Kevan swept everything off his desk and stood up so abruptly that the twins jumped back. Hard glittering eyes pinned them in place and Kevan strode forth until he was in front of them. "I want the school secure. I want those fences checked, electrified, traps in place and working. I want this entire school secured, do you hear me? No one comes in, no one leaves. For now, our girl shall mentor with you in any other way you wish, but no clients. I want no one leaving this school unless I give permission for it. I want mandatory defense classes for all staff to be held several times a week. I cannot do anything for Sansa, she is on her own. Anyone that isn't already here is on their own. I want another search of the property, I know Harold believes he found all the gum, but check again. Not just for the gum, for, anything else from Petyr's time here. And I want Arya's scrubbing to be done as soon as Unella feels it's safe to do so. In fact, I want Raff to interview each child, any who are having memories, flashbacks, I want scrubbed again. Get moving and get my orders done."

The twins marched off and Bob hissed, "Our girl? MY girl...at least she won't be seeing any clients. We are just going to scrub everyone down and hide our heads in the sand until Lancel and his horde crash against our gates. He just makes us bury our heads in the sand, he can't fucking see the danger!" Harold punched his Bob's arm. "Don't ever talk like that where he might hear you. Trying to die so young, Bob? He is doing something and sees what's going on." Bob spun around and stared at his brother while shoving him. "He won't help anyone not in here, right? Varys, our brother is out there and he is most certainly on their little fucking death list. Do you want to see him die or be denied protection at the school because of Kevan? Our own brother who spent his entire youth trying to keep us safe? Do we desert him for Kevan? A line might get drawn, Harold. At least for me. I don't know where the hell your loyalties lie anymore." Grimly, Harold spoke in a hushed tone. "Well, that is what I am worried about too. Where the fuck your loyalties are, Bob?" The man seemed as if he would attack his twin and Harold was braced for it.

Gilly started to go through the room and halted at the tense danger in the air. She froze and looked over at the twins as she clutched her briefcase. "Is something wrong, gentlemen? I can make some restorative tea if you wish?" Harold shook his head and spoke fast. "Gilly, please leave us be. Thank you." Gilly nodded and kept walking towards the staircase but Bob suddenly lunged in front of her. Harold came closer and growled a warning. "Bob, don't. This has nothing to do with her, don't take out your anger at me on Gilly." Bob stared into Gilly's fearless eyes, the tank was refusing to give him any reaction except that fucking smile. He grinned at her in a way that would have sent Myranda to the ground, groveling. But not the Gilly Tank, this bitch of a wall that is stealing Bob's twin. "Gilly, your sisters want to murder you. Bronn gave me the information to pass along. They will try to invite you for a visit and you won't return from it. Stay away from them." Bob turned to Harold. "I am loyal to my brothers first. What about you, asshole?" Bob stormed away leaving Gilly to stare as Harold chased after him.

Jeyne was happy that Myranda was home. She heard her moving around her room and Jeyne went over to start the bubble bath for Myranda. "Hi, I got stuff to tell you, bath is almost ready!" Myranda opened her door in response to Jeyne's holler and shook her head. "Not tonight, hon. Thank you, but I have some stitches that can't be soaked. How about I take a nice hot shower with every single body wash you can find me? I want to hear all your news while I shower." Cheerfully, Jeyne found all the body wash bottles and set up a hot shower for her friend. Myranda tried to drop her robe as she slipped behind the curtain so Jeyne wouldn't see her body. Jeyne was too busy chatting to notice anything wrong. Myranda was always pale, quiet and sometimes had a few minor injuries when she came home. Like when she sees clients like Pycelle, she has striped bruises or red marks. Jeyne told Myranda about the bet, the challenge in the gaming cabin. She did mention that Ramsay tried to tell her bad things about the staff. "The bad things were true but not really bad, like he made it sound. I boxed Gregor over it."

Myranda burst into laughter over that. "I wish I saw you beat on Gregor! Well, at least I get to watch you kick Hot Pie's ass tonight. I am looking forward to it." Jeyne heard Myranda getting ready to turn off the water and she grabbed the thick towel. Not thinking anything of it, it wasn't unusual, Jeyne slid open the curtains as Myranda reached for the faucet and Jeyne gasped. Her eyes widened as they took in the bruising, scratches and the bite marks. A few lines from a whip and some light burn marks. Jeyne's eyes began to burn as she saw certain bruising. Myranda sighed and gave a small smirk. "Don't freak out, it's not that big of a deal, I have looked worse and you know it." Jeyne shook her head, no, this was different. Staring at two particular bruises, Jeyne gritted her teeth. "No. Not the same at all. Not a client. No stitches, where are they?" Myranda winced and tried for a humorous tone. "Let's just say I don't want to get a spanking anytime soon. Don't worry, I heal fast. And it was just a client so let it go. I won't see that person again, okay?"

Jeyne gave a bitter laugh. "You are lying to me. Why? I can see who did it. You were hunted. I KNOW hunts. You were hunted, marked and bled. And I can see which predator took you. You are scared of him, not like before, it's different, I see it in your eyes." Grabbing the small face, Myranda smiled. "A little bit but I am going to be fine. I have this. Okay? Just don't freak over it. Listen, in a way that I really can't explain, it gives me better protection than ever." Jeyne looked dubious but Myranda smiled. "I got something out of it. A way to keep the boys off me. That counts for something, right? I want you to let this go, Jeyne. I mean it." Jeyne nodded and thought to herself that sometimes it's better if a Person lies. "I will let it go."

Tyrion and Stannis were readying the gaming room for the night's festivities. Stannis had done small bit of grumbling over the idea of everyone just cramming inside the gaming cabin. Gregor hadn't even asked first! But Tyrion set about getting Stannis pleasantly buzzed as they moved furniture about, carefully moving their gaming table to a corner. "Cover it with a sheet or a trash bag. I don't trust anyone that might be touching food or drink! You know Hot Pie will bring something and those barbaric children never use napkins!" Tyrion heartily agreed and they threw a plaid blanket over it. Tyrion rolled his eyes as Stannis worried that Hot Pie should be this encouraged back into the world of gaming and betting. Tyrion snorted. "Will that lead him back to drugs too? Calm down, it's nice to have something to do. I am betting on the boy to win, I have seen him play, he has never lost a game except once. And that wasn't his fault, Polliver was so sick of losing to him, he punched him. Hot Pie's character died before he came to."

Stannis paused and almost unwillingly said, "I bet on Jeyne winning. I heard Polliver boasting of her to both Hot Pie and Raff. He sounded very confident and I could see how her predator reflexes along with that Bolton hunger would let her win." This caused an argument as they finished moving furniture around and it ended with them in front of the gaming system. "How does this work, where is the manual?" Stannis frowned mightily as he tried to understand why there was no literature handy on it. Tyrion fumbled around with the game still in the system and yelled, "Ha! Now, get your controller, let's look at the tutorial. This can't be that hard to understand. Look, it's got dragons and, what the hell is that?"

It took only twenty minutes of drinking and gaming. Stannis frowned. "Why are we still hunting rats? Where are the damned dragons that movie clip showed us? I don't understand this, why are we chasing rats, did I just see a tiger man?" Tyrion cleared his throat and asked uneasily, "Did you notice that after I killed that large beetle, it's come back. Or maybe it's the son or the wife, but I think it's following me."

Polliver was napping when his cell phone rang. He fumbled around for it. "'Ello?" He cleared his throat and heard Tyrion yelling in the background, "Sweet gods, I am sorry, I am sorry to your family, I beg your forgiveness, just stop chasing me, it's maddening! Kill me then, chew on my bones! Ahh!" Stannis yelled loud enough for Polliver to wince. "Polliver, you must help me! I can't save Tyrion because I am stuck, I cannot move at all! Please, you must come as fast as you can! We are in the gaming cabin, hurry, man!"

Polliver was fogged with sleep and even though nothing made sense, he understood that it was urgent. Throwing on his socks and shoes, Polliver nearly killed himself to stagger to the gaming cabin. He stared with disbelief as Stannis pointed out on the screen how he was somehow stuck inside a tree. Tyrion was nearly weeping as his character was stalked by a large slow beetle. They couldn't understand why Polliver invited them both to do a terrible act upon each other. Then the cold merciless man left without even telling them how to get out of their predicaments!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Craster Girls: Daughters Of Darkness by Halestorm  
> Myranda vs. Boys (aka Bloodhound Gang): You Call Me A Bitch Like It's A Bad Thing by Halestorm  
> Gregor: I Won't Back Down by Tom Petty  
> Kevan, Harold and Bob: Don't Speak by No Doubt  
> Sleeper(s): Still Alive by Portal 2 Soundtrack (so many clues, come on, you KNOW)  
> Unella and Gilly: Fight Song by Rachel Platten


	161. Short Circuit

The students were given time to themselves after supper. "Everyone will meet in the gaming cabin in two hours. I will be counting heads." Harold had offered to patrol the grounds, so Gregor could take a break. He went home to shower and nap before coming back for the competition. Unella had insisted that she would come to see it. "I can only sleep and lay there watching my stomach move for so long. I would go to the opening of a convenience store right now. I'm going to watch the competition." They argued over it briefly during supper then he had let it go. Gregor was too drained to care one way or another and needed to regain energy. Using all his years of training, Gregor managed to sneak quietly inside and up the stairs, if Unella was asleep and stayed that way, he might get some peace. He showered and dropped into the bed without ever noticing Unella wasn't there. As he started to drift off he made yet another discovery about the house. That voices in the kitchen can be heard through the heat vent. His eyes popped wide open, large and bloodshot as he sat up fast.

Unella shoved the picture back to Gilly and sipped her tea. "It's only a matter of time before they all recover the memories. I think this will give it that one good push it needs to come naturally. If our plan doesn't work, I'll resort to adding medications to ramp their minds up. I'd rather not go that route, Raff will notice and question. I am still trying to figure out what to do if Kevan discovers I am not scrubbing heads. I don't care much if he punishes me but I care that he might just have the twins do the scrubbing. They cannot do it as well, but they were partially trained by Qyburn to do it, at least Bob was. I can't imagine how it would further impair the children. I prefer this route we've chosen, much more subtle." Gregor appeared like an angry overtired gorilla in the doorway, he looked ready to go on a jungle rampage. Gilly smiled at him and asked if he would like a cup of tea, while Unella shut her eyes and groaned.

Pointing an finger at Unella, Gregor he crooked it and said in a polite, ever so gentle voice, that was only ruined by the murderous rage on his widely grinning face, "Wife, would you come over here for a second? Just wanna quick chat, dearest." Gilly said that didn't sound like a very good idea but Unella stood up, facing her husband, her own face full of defiance with almost hidden fear in her eyes. "He can't hurt me, Gilly. I'm pregnant." As she started towards him, Gregor reached for her and growled out, "Actually, only your stomach is holding those babies. The rest of you I can hurt all I want. I'm thinking of having a domestic since I'm clearly not getting a fucking nap!" 

Bob decided to join Harold on his patrols since staying at the house meant being near the Tank or Kevan. Even the Tank wasn't taking any chances and keeping a silent distance from the increasingly stormy presence of Kevan. Bob stopped at the clinic to see Raff and inquire about Arya. "How is she doing?" Raff shrugged. "Better. Not screaming traumatic memories in everyone's face anymore. The medication has allowed her to deal with the memories and detox pain. She is no longer restrained, calm and hostile as usual. Still looks like hell and far too sick to be anywhere but here yet." Bob nodded and asked, "Does Unella have a start date yet for the scrubbing?" Raff shook his head. "No. I think she wanted to see if Arya would deal with the memories first. It would be therapeutic. Arya has enough problems with her identity. To scrub her again, it's just going to restart her cycle of drugs and the identity disorder gets worse."

With a sigh, Bob replied, "Kevan wants the girl scrubbed as soon as it can be done. He also wants you to see if any of the others are remembering things, if so, they get scrubbed too. Kevan ordered our defenses to be raised, we are on a permanent lock down. No one goes in or out. All deliveries that come in will have to be approved by Kevan himself." Raff smirked. "I have no control over the scrubbing shit. You have to take that up with Unella. If you wake her up now, Gregor will kill you. She plans on coming to the game competition, he was hoping she would sleep right through it. Why are we on lock down now? More cannibals coming?" Bob shook his head. "Worse. Little girls that like to murder anyone over their height." He left, leaving Raff to stare after him. Raff jumped up and spread his arms. "What the hell? Why do you always leave me with cryptic statements or strange headlines that make no sense? Hey! Tell me!" 

Bob had thought about visiting Arya and decided he wasn't in the right frame of mind yet. He was tense, that was the last thing Arya needed while in such a vulnerable state was to have a stressed person near her. Bob headed towards the dorm house, looking for his brother. Harold didn't agree with Bob on anything to do with Myranda right now, in fact, he was nearly delirious with worry and rage over a possible pregnancy. Telling Gilly that she was in danger from her sisters was the only thing keeping Harold from further argument with Bob. They had agreed to let the subject go for now. Bob decided he would go to the gaming competition tonight, Harold and Gilly were going along with the rest of staff and students. That meant his sweet girl will be there and seeing her will probably restore his mood. Bob didn't see Harold but thought he might be inside the dorm house, checking on the kids.

Jeyne was standing on the porch but he didn't see her in the gloom, no one has bothered to turn on the porch light yet. He was nearly upon her before he registered there was a person in his way of the door. Bob had been too upset, too many thoughts swirling in his head, that can be the only reason his instinct didn't warn him that she was there. Those instincts were on high alert now due to the stillness, the position and look of Jeyne. Her voice was a low growl full of dominance and threat. "You are a Bad Person. Just like Ramsay, smooth word predators wanting to hunt." Bob tilted his head and smiled, staying still. Jeyne was standing straight, her hands curled at her sides, chin up but those eyes were all feral and full of an alpha dominance that Bob had to fight not to react to. She was careful not to look directly into the sunglasses. My gods, she is trying not to look at me because if she does, it's going to be an alpha challenge, Bob respected that. And took his sunglasses off just to set her off because his own crazy was bouncing off hers. Bob needed to take control of this, of both of them and fast.  "Did Myranda say something to you, Jeyne?" She shook her head. "No. I saw and I know. She lied to me, said a client." Bob lied easily. "It was a client. It was my fault for picking a bad person, for not protecting her better. I am sorry that my sweet girl was hurt."

Giving a quick laugh that sounded way too much like a bark, Jeyne stepped closer to Bob, her every movement deliberate, meant to menace, to dominate and steal his space. Bob refused to give space, in fact, it was too soon after he was hunting for this. He reacted, he wrestled deep inside himself to not react the alpha dominant and possibly set her off. "Liar. You hunted her. Marked, bled, hurt her. It wasn't a Person thing to do, Bob. Not Person at all." Bob's smile grew wide and sharp but his voice tried to sound calm and simply authoritarian. "I don't like your attitude or words, young lady. You need to step back, go inside and calm yourself." Jeyne's eyes slowly rose to meet his dead on and Bob felt a jolt of actual trepidation go through him. Her smile grew into a cutting, snarling thing. "We do not waste precious expensive medications on those that aren't high society." It was a perfect mimic of Unella's voice. Jeyne's next words were in her own voice, but a predatory one. "I remember hunts. Do not hunt her or I will hunt you." Jeyne gave a smile that made Bob want to punch her.

Bob's hands formed into fists and he spoke in a harsh whisper. "I don't care what you fucking remember, girl. I will see it erased from your head. Do not threaten me, Jeyne." Looking at the ring on his right fist, Jeyne looked up to meet his eyes again. "Three bruises with that ring mark. You hunted and hurt her. Scared her. Leave her alone." Bob leaned close down, letting his eyes glare into hers. "I am going to personally wipe your fucking head and peel your mind like an onion. You will go back to feral, I wonder if you can climb out of that savage bitch again, I doubt it. If you speak a single fucking word to anyone about anything, I'm going to do just that when I wipe your head, do you hear me? You'll shit and piss down your leg, barking, gibbering and the staff will give up on you. Or maybe I should just hunt you? I can have Meryn say it was him when they find you." Jeyne glared into Bob's eyes and the slight fear and tremendous anger in her made him nearly drool, both were too far gone to stop now. "Please, hunt me, Bob. I really, really want you to hunt ME." Jeyne grinned fiercely and took one more step closer so they were touching noses. "Hunt me, Bob. Please."

They had no idea they had an audience, Ramsay stayed silent in the hallway, listening, the impulsive chaos in him feeding. He sat just in the tiny corner where they keep their rubber boots and raincoats. He enjoys the feeling of rubber and plastic, the crackling and squeaking always reminds him of his father in a rare good way. Ramsay listened and thrilled to the predators clashing. The alpha in him wanted to go join in, the rest of him wanted to take the electric chaotic feel and roll in it like a blanket. Joff has been driving him mad and he came to his comfort space not knowing he would get an extra little thrill to distract him. Joff keeps remembering shit and pouring it all over Ramsay. "Hey, at least you were Mommy's Little Golden Lion! I was the Little Fucking Bastard, hey, what did I say?" Joff had gone to vomit and Ramsay had escaped. Now he sat listening to the fight and had an angel on one shoulder, a devil on the other. Lancel's voice told him to intervene and bolster his relations with Jeyne by standing with her. Sansa's voice coaxed him to let the little bitch get hunted by Bob and then she was no longer a problem. His leader whispered that that if Jeyne dies ravaged by a staff member, she cannot burn. His lover reminds him that either way it makes her a martyr they can use. Poor feral killed by a teacher after the others tried to cure her and got so close. The chance was gone before Ramsay could decide.

"Jeyne? Bob? Hey, Harold asked for me to stop by and hang out for a bit. He got a text from Gregor and will be back soon. I didn't know he texted you too, Bob." Hot Pie climbed the stairs carefully. In spite of his cheerful, innocent tone, his eyes showed that he saw the two were threatening each other over something. Jeyne turned to smile at Hot Pie at the same time he did. "I was looking for Harold, but found Jeyne instead. I was wishing her well on the competition tonight. I am betting on you to win, Hot Pie, but I wanted to be kind and let her know that she should be proud. How many ferals can hold a controller, much less process a game?" Hot Pie looked shocked that such a cruel thing would be said in front of Jeyne but the girl just smiled. "I am good at games. All kinds of games." There was a wealth of meaning and Bob responded with a light laugh. "I bet you are. Maybe I will play a game with you, Jeyne." Hot Pie was concerned when Jeyne looked Bob dead in the eye as he was raising his sunglasses. "Challenge accepted." Bob seemed almost about to lunge as Jeyne turned and went inside the dorm house. Hot Pie quickly followed her inside, saying, "I have things here, Bob. See you at the gaming cabin. Thank you for betting on me."

Bob walked away, deciding to go for a walk in the woods to calm down. As much as he wanted to hunt that bitch and rip her to shreds, it wasn't prudent to do so. Unless she pushed him, she DID challenge him, that fucking tiny dog cunt DARED but it was a moot point. Bob breathed slowly of the crisp air and knew he was going to personally see to her mind swiping. Bob smirked. Hoped the girl did win all her games with Hot Pie because by the time he finished fucking with her head, she will never be able to hold a controller again.

When Gregor started to choke Unella, Gilly had shoved the picture Damon drew into his face. "This is a memory. They are all remembering, all of them. Let them, it's all we are trying to do! We aren't disloyal, we are trying to help the students, just like you do!" Gregor glanced at the picture and released Unella's neck to shove her aside and take the picture.  He stared at it in disgust then threw it onto the table. Roughly grabbing each of the women, he slung them into chairs. He gave Unella a bottle of water and an ice pack that he slapped against her sore throat. "I am texting Harold. Gilly, don't you fucking talk or move! Tank or not, I am a mountain and can fucking crush you. Not dealing with two lunatic women, only one of you is my crazy to handle." Rolling her eyes, Gilly sipped her tea and spoke lightly. "Harold is my boyfriend not my keeper. He can say whatever he wants and it will not change my course one bit. Unella is your wife, not your property, she can do as she likes. Would you like some restorative tea?" Gregor snorted in horror. "Hell, no! I don't want any of your poison and I don't want you sharing it with Unella. The tea or your talk."

He got himself a beer and took Unella's tea cup which was half full and threw the entire thing into the trash. Unella stared at him with mean eyes as he sat down on the other side of her, using his foot to pull Unella's chair away from Gilly. It was an impressive feat considering the size of Unella but he managed it. "Are you even understanding what we are trying to do? You won't even listen to logic? Because I won't stop what I am doing just because you don't like it, so you might as well listen." Gregor shook his head stubbornly. "When Harold gets here, we can both listen. We wait. This bullshit is above my fucking pay grade and if I suffer, Harold can suffer too." True to his word, Gregor sat and stared with hostile anger at Gilly. Unella filled the time by calling him an ogre, a barbarian, moron, gorilla, dickhead, and worse. She told him he was being childish, that he was wasting his time and Harold's over something that they can't change. Gregor switched to looking at Unella when she said that and she flinched slightly at the look in his eye. "Oh, you would be amazed at how persuasive I can be in changing your mind if I needed to, dear wife." Unella gave up trying to talk and he went back to staring at Gilly, who kept smiling back.

Harold knocked on the door and Unella glared at Gregor. "Should I let him in or just continue to watch the staring contest?" Gregor gestured. "Go let him in. I am not taking my eye off the Tank, until her general gets here." Unella gave him a disgusted look and headed towards their front door. Gilly finally stopped smiling to lean over the table, the rage shining through now. "I don't belong to anyone, no one owns me, no one will tell me what to do. A gun to my head and I would still try and do as I wanted until the bullet passed through my brain." Gregor let out a laugh and shook his head, his eyes gone dark in cheerful malice. "You are a fucking piece of work, lady. I have a mind to bring some of your tea to the lab, to Raff. What would I find in it? I won't let you talk my wife into danger. Gods knows, you've managed to fuck up the twins, think I can't see that? Do you really like that creepster twin or are you just collecting a collector in hopes of adding him to your army? You need an army doctor, go find another one, whether I like it or not, this one is mine." If one could murder with a look, Gregor would have been turned to ash. "I don't care what you think of me. I don't care what Bob thinks of me. I have never cared for anyone as much as I care for Harold. This isn't about Harold or you. It's about saving children. And by all means, bring the entire pot of tea to Raff."

Harold entered the kitchen to see Gilly trying to murder Gregor with her eyes. Gregor was giving a similar look back which confused the hell out of him. He thought Gilly and Gregor got along well. The text was strange enough to send him there after asking Hot Pie to take over. The Tank is conspiring with my wife. Get here. That was enough to send him flying. Unella let him in and the mutinous look on her face worried him. Unella sat in her chair and Harold frowned, walking over to Gilly. "Stop glaring at her, Gregor. Gilly, what's going on?" Harold sat down next to her, his back against the wall. Gregor stopped staring at Gilly and smiled merrily and spoke as if bestowing a gift. "Now we will hear about your revolution."  Harold listened as did Gregor without saying a single word. Their frowns got deeper but they remained silent. Gilly showed them everything in her briefcase. All the art therapies, the different things she asked the students to work on all had a theme. Gilly had asked them to not think of what to make or do, just let their minds and hands work. Every piece of work, from clay to paint to anything in between had a memory attached to it.

"Remember that I showed you the trap house Ramsay finished? I had handed him the markers and told him to put what he thought the walls would have scrawled on them. I told him that he couldn't think it through, victims have to scrawl their thoughts fast, so hurry and pretend you are a victim. You saw the things he wrote on those walls. All memories, he even scrawled, Daddy, please stop! He did write things that I am sure his victims said in the other rooms. But that one room was him screaming at his father. The first time Damon drew a picture during art therapy, it was him and Ramsay hunting a girl. The next time he sketched a group of dogs and a girl chasing a young boy. Look at this, it is crude but you see that is Jeyne, don't you? Here is the latest one. It is clearly a pack of children chasing, hunting another child. Tell me that isn't Jeyne on all fours, Damon and Arya on two legs chasing Ramsay? That is clearly Petyr in the background with a little girl with red hair. We know that Arya already has most of her memories back and that seems to actually be helping her sanity. Imagine that. All of them are remembering, we need to help them to deal with the memories. This cycle has to end. Look at how it affected others, it drives them crazy or drives them to violence all their lives. The four of us have had horrible pasts or terrible childhoods but here we are, alive, messed up but not broken. I want that for these children, Unella wants that for these children."

Gilly sat back and let Unella speak of how the continual brainwashing affects them. Harold waited until both women had nothing further to add. "No. It's already too late. Kevan has ordered any student that recalls anything to be scrubbed." Gregor sat back, relieved and triumphant. But both men were confused when the ladies shared a glance then burst out laughing. The men shared a glance then, not understand this behavior in the least. Gilly put a hand over Harold's and looked at him with a smile that let him know she loved him as much as he already loved her. "I wasn't asking you, Harold. I was telling you. This is what I am doing." Unella smiled at Gregor, who growled in warning already shaking his head as she started to nod her own. "I will not scrub them. I will awaken them. I am willing to take the chance along with Gilly. The cycle ends here. Before my children are born here, I will make sure there are no secrets that can hurt them. I will salt the fucking earth if I have to."  

Kevan studied the reports and the pictures as he drank a glass of wine. He picked up his phone and put it down four times. It took two slugs of harder stuff before Kevan picked up the phone and threw it across the room. He couldn't call Lancel, what would he do, beg the boy to change his mind about joining the Order? Or ask if he happens to lead a cult of murderous molested girls to kill them all? And what else could he do but keep himself and his students, his employees, all safe? He can't bring himself to call a hit upon his own son, he can't. Kevan just needed to think, to come up with a plan to save his son. Until he can do that, he must rely on what he always done. Scrub the children, lock the place down and wait for the storms to pass by. Those girls cannot get inside and as much as it pains him, Kevan will not be able to ever allow his son back inside. At least not until a solution is found. He just needs to think.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeyne Vs. Bob: You're Going Down by Sick Puppies  
> Kevan: Sticking It To Myself by Jonathan Coulton  
> Ramsay: Enough's Enough by Alice Cooper


	162. Little Girls

At Casterly Rock, which Sansa secretly has dubbed Crasterly Rock, everything was designed by the Craster girls and Lancel. King's Landing was Sansa's domain. So here was Sansa, stuck in the nightmare fantasy country palace of hell. Some redesigning had been done while she was with Lancel at the meetings in the city. They had made her an "Lady's Office" so she would have a place like Lancel had his study. Sansa already had been given a tiny parlor full of glass toad figurines and full of antique furniture too uncomfortable to sit on. No books, computers or even a television set. Was she supposed to stare at the damned figurines for hours? 

There was a tea room that had already existed. So a lady's office was the next lovely contribution to her marriage by the damned girls. Sansa was speechless, staring at it and Lancel had tears in his eyes, trying so hard not to laugh at Sansa's ire. It looked like an upscale crafts store. Did they think that high society women acted like Martha Stewart? Didn't they understand that high society women HIRED women like Martha Stewart? There was a delicate white and gold desk with a matching stool. A princess phone sat upon it along with old fashioned correspondence kits. There was a small table nearly with an actual typewriter on it. Lancel started a fake coughing fit and Sansa turned to smile at the ladies.

"Thank you so much. This is truly wonderful, you all took so much care, I only hope I can learn enough to use most of it." The girls didn't even seem to catch the insult embedded but Lancel did. He choked so much that Clara ran to bring him water. Sansa had thought Kevan would surely have called by now but not a word. She figured he would at least attempt to talk his son out of the Order. Lancel wasn't surprised at all. "Sweetheart, my father will go reeling, he might even drink. He will send the twins to make sure everything is secure and any children scrubbed. It's what he does. He hides from bad things even though the bad things are always with him, one way or another."

Sansa had wondered, "What if Doran didn't bother to actually call like he told you he would? Maybe he didn't really want to gloat, just sort of see what your reaction to it was." Lancel had shaken his head. "No, Doran hates my father with a passion. He couldn't wait to call him, I assure you. My father won't interfere in any of our plans. He also won't really believe we could or would come for him and the school, not until we do."

Now she sat here in this stupid craft room trying to create a basket for Walda's baby shower. She had no urge to ever see that woman or that place again, even Crasterly Rock was better than that. Sansa was making a gold and pink threaded ribbon basket made of smooth wood that pinched her fingers several times. Lancel had nearly fallen over at the amount of fancy items Sansa had ordered to fill the damned thing with. "I can't go back there, Lancel. This will make up for skipping the event." Lancel sighed and kissed her head before his fingers found their way around her neck, gently."I hate them, too. I can't stand letting my two youngest girls go to Roose."

Sansa turned stiff and growled out, "Arya was one year younger than Sarah is now. And she didn't have the benefit of knowing how to defend herself." Lancel arched an eyebrow and then gave a small smirk as his fingers tightened painfully. "Either you are jealous of my little girls or maybe you suddenly have rediscovered tender feelings for Arya?" Sansa bristled and tried to not wince under those fingers digging into her nerves. "I am sorry. It's hard for me to have the same feeling for your girls as you do. I know they like me, I know they are trying and I know they are important to you."

Lancel had left and Sansa ignored the pain in her neck as she wrestled the basket into submission with ribbons. The monstrosity was complete and Sansa stared at it. "My mother would beat my back with a curtain rod and make me redo it. Cersei would have blackballed me from Kings Landing society and Olenna would have fucked me with it." A gasp let her know she wasn't alone and that she was speaking to herself out loud again. "Oh, forgive me, I didn't see you enter. Or maybe I just didn't hear you knock?" That barb got through, both Clara and Belinda flushing.

"We are sorry, we should not have entered, we will knock next time. It's just, we are very worried for our younger sisters. Do you have a moment to chat? We could fix that basket for you, if you'd like? While we chat?" Sansa could smell the nervous fear coming from them and decided that was more exciting than a basket. "Please, shut the door and chat away. If you truly don't mind fixing this atrocity of a basket, I am still learning. But I am learning even if it's slowly. Someday I will get the hang of it, then you'll all have to suffer my baskets everywhere." Sansa spoke lightly with a small smile as she sat on her stool and folded her hands.

Belinda started to undo the ribbons with deft fingers as Clara started to speak. "Our smallest sisters, they must go and deal with Roose Bolton. I am nervous that they won't be in a position to kill him right away. If they have to wait until the right opportunity, if something goes wrong. What will he do to them? Lancel only said that you have a little sister that Roose enjoyed." Sansa's hands dug nails into soft palms and her smile grew sweeter but very concerned.

"Yes, it's true. If you are asking what will happen to the girls, I can reassure you they won't sexually molested. At least if he treats them like he treated my sister. Roose liked to give pain to little kids that could offer challenge back. My sister, my brothers, Rickon and Jon. Roose's own boys. He would not only beat, burn, whip and scar them, he hunted them. He taught them to hunt each other. Roose has a daughter that his first wife turned feral. She hunted and too pain well too."

The women paled and even though they were both older than Sansa, they had the eyes of children. Shocked ones and Sansa bit her lip not to laugh at them. "Do you think, maybe Lancel could use an older girl? It's just, we aren't questioning him, we are just concerned. Maybe you could talk to him? Please?" Sansa smiled kindly and exclaimed, "Oh, of course I will! But his mind is very set, I will do my very best for you." Sansa felt Cersei, Cat and Olenna fill her head with sweet poison. Then after the women left, she felt ashamed. At least a bit.

Snarling at herself, hating feeling conflicted, Sansa stared hard at the basket. "I'll send that off and begin to see if I can play a few games of my own." Sansa was satisfied enough at the thoughts that she started to touch herself after locking the damned door. Stifling a moan, Sansa thought of the ways she could see each girl have a bloody end, she was nearly there. At the pinnacle of her pleasure, another picture hit her head. Climaxing, Sansa found herself sobbing for two little girls she knew once. Girls that still could feel for others and fought to save those that cannot be saved. 

Roose and Walda sat in the dining room as usual during supper. Each on an end of the table, delicate china serving dishes between them. The servants quietly served the last meal of the day and retired to the kitchen. At first they ate in companionable silence, then Walda gave a few light details on the baby shower her sisters were throwing her. "Since the kennels are done, I will be installing two females. I suggest you keep your distance from the kennels as to not upset yourself unduly. Of course, they will be kept locked up and I made sure it's all soundproof."

Walda went pale and her fork dropped from nerveless chubby fingers. "I, I thought you were getting real dogs. That is why you destroyed the old kennel." Roose looked amused and raised his eyebrows. "Dear? Oh, sweet silly girl of mine. Did you fool yourself into believing that I left the Order or no longer participated? That is on you, wife, I never told you that, you simply assumed it. This won't touch you, this doesn't have to do with you. Just stay away from the kennels. Enjoy your cats and I will enjoy my puppies, so to speak."

Walda spoke in a firm voice. "I will not donate any child to the Order. I cannot help your poor victims but I will not see my child touched by you or the Order." Roose looked further amused and glanced at her stomach then her eyes. "Then we are in agreement for now. You ignore my kennels and I will ignore donating our baby to the Order." The voice was soft and sweet as Roose took a bite of his ham. "If I ever even think you might donate my baby to the Order, I will smother it and burn the house down while you sleep in the flames."

Roose swallowed hard and gasped out, "What did you say?" Walda smiled at him lovingly. "I asked how you liked the ham?"

Sansa waited until she had given Lancel the best oral of his life before speaking about the girls. How Belinda and Carla are concerned about possible flaws in Lancel's plan. Sansa begged Lancel sweetly not to let the women know she told on them. "They told me in confidence, they are just worried for their youngest sisters. They just don't believe you could have trained them well enough or that the plan is carefully thought out to protect those girls. I tried to remind them that you know best, I hope it was enough. Lancel, are you upset, honey?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Craster Girls: Wannabe by Spice Girls  
> Walda and Sansa: Part Of Me by Katy Perry  
> Roose and Lancel: Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous by Good Charlotte


	163. Take On Me

Games were played and wars were waged.

In the gaming cabin and at the Hellhouse, battles raged, voices shook like thunder. In the gaming house, Jeyne was piled with cushions sitting sideways, next to Hot Pie, who was leaning forward, both with fierce snarls on their faces. In the Hellhouse, Harold and Gregor loomed over Gilly and Unella, the voices leaving reasonable tones behind. In the gaming house cheers resounded, everyone invested, sitting, standing, crowding and Hot Pie and Jeyne fought in silence. Hellhouse, fists slammed into tables, counters and walls, the only roaring, jeering people were the four engaged in verbal combat.

"You can say no as my superior, you can say no as my boyfriend. Gregor can say no as Unella's husband. Not a single bit of that matters. The children will not be scrubbed. We are going to awaken them. We aren't going to let Bob scrub them either. We simply can allow him to assume that Unella will do it. We are moving the meeting up to tomorrow considering Kevan's lock down and orders."

Harold stared at Gilly, at his most intimidating and coldly sneered, "You are asking me to lie to Bob and Kevan? My own twin and the man who is pretty much my father figure?"  Gilly shrugged. "To be honest, I wasn't going to tell you until we had begun. I knew this would be your reaction. I am not asking you to lie, I am asking you to simply say nothing. If they ask, answer however you like, Harold. I don't own you or tell you what to do."

Myranda was truly understanding the meaning of a rock and a hard place. If she was too close to Raff or Polliver, it would anger Bob. If she was too close to the boys, it made them try to start leering at her, taunting her. That angered her and Bob. If she was too close to Bob, it was too new and it might show on her face to others. That would anger Bob. Myranda chose to try and insert herself between Tyrion and Stannis. A peek over at Bob let her know that it was a good choice. She sat cross legged between the two professors chairs and cheered on Jeyne. Every now and then Polliver would bring over drinks and snacks for everyone but the professors got nervous over a mess. They would leap about, grabbing paper towels, muttering about animals at their feed. Polliver would lean over the couch, grinning and pour energy drinks or soda into Jeyne and Hot Pie's mouths, followed by some Cheetos and Sour Patch Kids. He said it would keep them pepped up.

"You are a selfish, cruel, sick woman, you know that? Had I known you would be this much trouble, I would have just said fuck it! I would have taken a DEATH SENTENCE AND HAPPILY LET THEM MURDER ME AND DIE THRILLED KNOWING THAT QYBURN PROBABLY KIDNAPPED YOU AND MADE YOU A LAB PROJECT! Have you considered what Kevan would do to US? No crazy doctors to attack you but the law might be interested if he banished us! Or maybe he can just hand us over to the twins! Have you thought of how bad Harold will feel every time he has to see all of us as furniture?"

Unella rolled her eyes at the angry giant. "You aren't even logical. Why would Kevan murder a pregnant woman? He won't murder you because you are not part of this. Our marriage has nothing to do with this, get that through your thick fucking skull, would you?" Gregor grabbed his head in a way that suggested if he had hair, it would all be ripped out. "WOMAN, THE MARRIAGE AND KIDS MAKES IT HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH BOTH OF US! WE ARE TOGETHER, IN HELLISH HOLY MATRIMONY, WITH TWIN DEMONS ON THE WAY SO YES, WHATEVER THE FUCK ONE OF US DOES, IT MATTERS TO THE OTHER!"

Harold paced and spun around to lose his composure. "How can you do this to me? Bob warned me you had ulterior motives! That you just wanted something, that you didn't truly care about me! I-" Gilly's hand smacked his face hard enough to knock his sunglasses sideways. "Don't you DARE say that to me! I love you and I want a life with you if we all survive but I can't give up my mission for you! And for your information, I was already dating you when Unella and I came up with our plans! This had NOTHING to do with you and me, this is about ME, HER AND THIS IS ABOUT SAVING THEM! I will take on Bob myself if need be, I will take on Kevan. You walk away, you go hide your head in the sand with the gorilla, your damned twin and leader!"

Harold lunged and had Gilly pressed up against the wall. "I let Bob have Myranda for you. I allowed him to hunt, rape, own and possibly murder or impregnate that sixteen year old, just for you. I am asking, begging you to stop this right now. If you love me then you won't put me in this position, Gilly." Gregor had been about to retry strangling his wife into compliance. Now he stepped away from her and tilted his head as if he were hard of hearing. "You let Bob become a male Olenna and released him on my students? You let him hunt that girl?" Gregor looked as if he were debating on killing Harold or perhaps all three of them. Roaring, he kicked a cabinet hard enough to put a hole through it. "How the fuck am I going to be on your side now, Harold?"

Stannis and Tyrion's eyes were no longer on the games nor the cheering crowd. Both saw nothing but clumsy hands dragging chips through dips that dribbled, soda cans leaving rings everywhere. Beer bottles were not even properly put in the correct bins when finished! They leaped about with napkins then followed up with a bottle of cleaning wipes but it was hopeless. It reached the summit of their collected patience when Raff reheated the loaded nachos Hot Pie had made for tonight. Hot Pie was racing with a dump truck full of prostitutes, trying hard to swipe Jeyne off the road but her rickshaw and the jeering goat were quicker. The cook smelled the food and yelled, "Please, nacho me!"

His mouth opened wide and Polliver grabbed a large corn tortilla just piled high with vegetables and cheese that was longing to stain something. Stannis had leapt to his feet and announced, "We are calling a break time! A halftime to eat and drink OUTSIDE! We have a table and some chairs out back, we never took down those party lights. It will be a fun little break. What do you mean you cannot just pause the thing?" The ensuing argument over not being able to pause the race caused both Hot Pie and Jeyne to crash over a cliff. To the horror of Stannis, everyone got angry at him for the double loss and THREW their napkins at him!

When everyone spilled outside to eat and chatter at the two competitors, Polliver nudged Raff. "Three ducklings are swiping drinks, gonna get themselves blasted if they can. If Gregor were here, he would make them pay for that. Gilly would have some sort of tea that would make them shit it out or something. I am off duty, so all I can do is report the bad behavior to another staff member." Polliver fluttered his eyelashes up at Raff while he smiled with mocking innocence. Raff shoved Polliver's head away and chugged his own beer. "Fuck no. I still have to deal with Arya and sleep in the fucking clinic again. Dealing with exorcist girl is enough for me, thanks. You want to report their drinking, go tell it to Bob while he whacks off mentally to the inside of Myranda or go tell it to the Professors of Cleanliness."

Polliver looked away and whispered, "What the fuck is up with Myranda and Bob? Hot Pie saw Jeyne and Bob in a fucking stand off about her. He didn't catch much else than that." Raff smirked. "I can only tell you that its not good and we are to stay away from her. That is a message directly from Bob." Taking a sip of his own beer, Polliver muttered, "Girl already made it clear to me that she wasn't doing anymore favors anyway. Tell me he isn't having an affair with a student, please." Raff gave a small laugh. "No, it isn't anything as nice as an affair.  And because it's Bob, we can't stop it." Polliver shook his head and frowned. "Not sure I can tolerate that once I am back on duty. My purple hair duckling needs to be protected, one way or another. It's my job, dammit."

Raff waved his hand airily as he stole Tyrion's freshly made drink, ignoring the cursing professor. "I could give a flying fuck anymore. I am too fucking busy and unappreciated for me to care about-" He turned and stared at Polliver. "Jeyne faced off with Bob over it? Did they mention hunting?" Polliver nodded. "See, this is why I am concerned. Do you take fucking cryptic lessons with Bob or something? Yes, Hot Pie said Jeyne told Bob she wanted to play games and something about them hunting. Jeyne wouldn't talk to Hot Pie about it afterwards and he didn't say anything to Myranda." Raff looked nervous and he drank fast. "Our creepster is hunting Myranda and now Jeyne has challenged him to hunt her. Myranda might not live through too many more of Bob's hunts. But if Jeyne is challenging, only one of them will come back alive. Fuck. And how do we prevent that?"

Harold and Gregor sat at the table with their heads in their hands. Unella brought Gregor a beer and Gilly made Harold a cup of restorative tea. Gilly hid her incredible hurt and fear of losing Harold and remained resolute. Gregor muttered, "You fucking cocksucking albino creepster pimp motherfucker. I never liked what you two did with that girl, I was against it but knew to keep my mouth shut. If I asked Unella to examine Myranda, what would she find?" Harold cleared his throat and tilted his head slightly. "It would have caused her some alarm. Extensive anal stitching, bruising, burns, think of those hunts. He hunted her a few times and claimed her as his own, he has been obsessed with her for some time now. This was a way for him to not try and kill Gilly, to keep him from outright killing Myranda. It was stupid, Varys and I see that now."

Unella swore and paced the room in frustration. Gilly stared down at Harold and coldly spoke. "I asked you not to do that. You told me it had nothing to do with us. You lied to me. You lied and that is fine somehow, yet I ask you simply to say nothing and that is the bigger deal?" Gregor raised his head to look at Harold. "So Bob continues a nice little Order tradition on school grounds. Nice. What a great mentor you are, Harold. So glad Myranda found trustworthy staff." Unella slammed her fist down on the table. "This is why we have to do this! Myranda deserves better, they all do. We all do and Kevan can't scrub all of us. Even with the help of Bob."

Gilly walked over to Harold and covered his hand with her own. "I want you with me on this. You feel bad about Myranda, I can see it. Fix it, help me fix it all. Or at least don't try and stop me." Harold took a deep shuddering breath and squeezed her hand. "Listen, Bob and I disagree on Myranda and maybe about you, it's true. But he reminded me earlier today, we three brothers stand together first, before even Kevan. I won't try and stop you, but let me try to speak with him about this. He is just as angry at Kevan's reaction, he doesn't like the orders either. He agrees with you that just scrubbing heads and locking down won't fix things." Unella gave a tiny shiver. "I am not sure I can get past his predatory skills upon the students to agree with him on anything. Even if Bob would agree with us."

Smiling at the doctor, Gilly patted the woman's shoulder as she sat down next to Harold. "Thank you. For understanding and supporting me. For not trying to stop me. If you think Bob can look past his and our flaws to either join or not actively stop us, then I trust you.  I am upset at what he's done, just like the Cleganes are. But once everything is out there, when Kevan has no choice but to face all of us and make this place a true good school, we can address what Bob did. I am sure that you and Varys can find a way for him to take his hunts and victims far from here." Unella pursed her lips and sternly muttered that she didn't think that was much better. Gregor's large hand curled around her entire face except her eyes and squeezed. "Shut the fuck up, woman and take your damned win!" Unella licked Gregor's hand and he pulled away with a grimace. "You are going to owe me a win, wifey. Just remember that." Her stomach grew four hand like bumps that all seemed to agree or at least applaud their father's effort. 

Jeyne and Hot Pie were rejuvenated by fresh air, trash talk and snacks. They played several more games, this time they were yelling and cursing as much as everyone else. In the end, Jeyne beat Hot Pie at every game but two. She was declared the winner and Hot Pie took it with good grace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gilly and Harold: 1950 by King Princess  
> Bob: Feel It Still by Portugal  
> Cleganes: Bad Romance by Lady Gaga


	164. Eye Of The Tiger

Breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Blink. Twitch. This was the extent of Arya, this was all she was, a breathing, blinking twitching thing. It made her angry, it made her laugh and want to cry all at once. Arya screamed into the air, drew in a breath and tried another scream. It didn't satisfy and it didn't stop the emotions. Didn't change the pain in her body or mind. Her system has spent too long being numb, it had no idea how to process the discomfort of detox or the sudden flood of memories and emotions. Even with mild painkillers and sedatives flowing into her bloodstream, it was misery, it was horror and it was reaching an apex of intolerance for her.  Arya's skin tried to crawl off her body, her flesh was cold, clammy and sweaty, she was chilled to the core and yet she felt so hot that an egg might fry on her hand. Arya paced, she lay curled tight in the blankets on the bed, she stared out the window and hid in the shadowy corners to beat her fists and feet against the wall.

Dragging her fucking I.V. stand with her, she resented the damned thing. Twice Arya thought of ripping the needle out and plunging it into other parts of her. Just to create a more manageable kind of pain then thought of Theon. No, nothing  is bad enough yet to hurt herself, or worse, do what Loras did. Not yet, that is an uneasy thought that is resting in the lowest cobwebs of her mind. Underneath the swirling memories swirling, jagged pictures and clips sent from her brain matter, every bit feeling like a blade cutting through the core of her. It's mostly back now, there was very little that she didn't remember. The few things that remain blurred won't for very long, Arya has a feeling that she was doing the blocking, not her organic matter. Something felt too earth shattering, too much to know and Arya couldn't bring herself to see it. She could see the molestation of others, she could see her own abuse at the hands of chuckling sadists. Even Walder's candy, her parents cruel indifference to it all, her siblings torment, she could see it all.

Sansa and her mother each gave her their truths as they had seen it in the past. Now Arya can see it for herself, from a point of view of a scared child. Her sister was love and hate, resentment, torment and comfort all at once. Sansa had helped keep her from their mother's wrath, yes, she could understand that. But her sister isolated her from their siblings, from having friends out of school. Sansa tried to protect Arya from Walder and the others that would molest her but then drugged Arya to bring her to others. Sometimes it was in punishment for things Sansa did, but most of the time it was simply her turn for torment. Every other word out of Sansa's mouth was designed by Petyr, by Cersei or by Olenna. Sansa spoke the truth the same way they all did, she manipulated and played her sister just like Ramsay had done to Damon. She remembers that too. Arya sees more just beyond these things but drops her shields hard, afraid to see anymore.

Harold had come to see Arya earlier and had brought some things with him. He handed her a cold smoothie that Hot Pie had made for her. "I was told by Hot Pie that from his personal experience, very cold and very sweet things are helpful for someone trying to kick. With Varys it was coffee with lots of cream and sugar and chocolate bars. Sounds awful but whatever will help you, dear." Harold also had brought supplies from Gilly. Markers and crayons, a journal and a sketchbook. "If you choose to use these, it might help you recall things or it might even help you relieve yourself of some of this turmoil inside you." Arya had thanked him dully but told him she didn't think anything could help her. "I am scared. I am pathetically fucking scared to see what's there. I have to, I know it, but I'm afraid whatever it is, it will somehow kill me." Harold had leaned forward in the chair, his elbows resting on his knees.

"Do you think I was nicknamed Collector because of my amazing leaf collections, dear? We are all monsters here. It is what we are, it is what we had to turn into. Here is something that you must remember. That none of it was your fault. None of it. You had no choices, you were a little girl, you had no choices. What was done to you, what you were made to do, not a single bit of it is your fault. Only the present and the future is on you. Once you remember it all, you can deal with it. Between myself, Bob and Raff, we will help you handle it. Then you can be responsible for your own self, you'll have the whole rest of your life to create." Arya hasn't had any other visitors besides a distracted doctor and a rather tense, grumpy nurse. Now it was just her in here, everyone watching a gaming showdown between the cook and Jeyne. She would have liked to see that, gaming was a hobby of her brothers, she played some games too. Mainly with them. Jon and Rickon and DON'T THINK OF THAT!

Arya dove for the paper and crayons, drawing mindlessly, not looking at the colors, not paying attention to the movement of her hand. The paper was splotched with tears and a bit of drool as her grin stretched until it was hard to tell if it was a smile or a silent scream. Seeing Jon and Rickon in crude crayon form made her give a jagged screech and she ripped the paper up into tiny pieces. That wasn't enough and she had to stomp on the paper and swipe it under the bed. Her fucking traitorous hand was already grabbing the journal and markers and Arya couldn't believe she was in a war with her own body parts. Her head shook back and forth, sweaty, greasy hair whipping hard, her face a grimace. Hissing curses and yelling no wasn't having any effect at all. One hand held the journal, the other the marker. The legs rebelled next and forced her to the ground. Arya rocked back and forth, head whipping side to side and her hand wrote, slashed bleeding words like ripping her open. Each slash on paper was through her heart, soul and mind. She kept her eyes tightly shut and whispered, denied it, refuted, rejected.   

Then her eyes flew open as the book hit her face over and over from her disobedient hands. "FINE! SHOW ME!" Arya stared at the scrawls which looked somehow like screaming accusing, oh gods, what she did. What she was, this is what I am. She started to laugh and pound the floor with her fists. And stopped. Just...stopped. Wide eyes and that curved grin were frozen, it was an ugly china doll, it was that puppet girl, that thing that she started as. The memories finally flooded in and she was still, she was not breathing, turning blue. A sudden inhale. Exhale. Breathe through it, pretend it's a bad drug trip and let's play dead. Doesn't work this time. Arya shuddered, called herself a pussy then allowed the past to drown. She curled on the floor, twitching, breathing, the book next to her hand, the words blazing out at her.

Hunter, Wolf, Killer. The Order Hunting Pack. Killed your own brothers. You are the Wolf.

_Arya mainly hung with Damon. Ramsay was an asshole and a jealous prick. Even though he knew how much Arya hated his father, even her receiving the sadist's attentions drove him crazy. As they grew older, during vacations, holidays and summers spent in the clutches of the Order, they were still young kids and found friendships, comfort among each other. Sansa was very close to Ramsay and they both took on Loras. It didn't seem so much friendship with Loras as they saw him as a sad project to save. Arya and Damon became friends since their own siblings were constantly using them as look outs. They were resentful of their positions as near servants to their siblings as well as their whipping boys. Damon would steal liquor and Arya would steal drugs through out the parties. Ramsay and Sansa would be furious at them. Arya remembers one time Sansa crying in rage to Ramsay and Loras. "It's not right! She is nine years old, he is eleven and look at them!" The outrage and frustration was real but couldn't be helped. It was the only way that Arya could tolerate living. Damon stopped doing as much due to Ramsay's influence but Sansa couldn't help Arya. No matter the lecture or punishment from Sansa or adults, Arya was lost to addiction. Damon would help supply her as much as he could._

_Finally, out of sheer concern for Arya's life or some bullshit like that, Sansa had told Petyr. Roose and Petyr stood over her as she knelt on her knees. And that bitch was right there, Sansa stood next to Petyr with such a sad, scared, regretful look on her face. Like a pretty princess standing next to a dark wizard and a darker knight. Arya had that thought just before Roose's soft voice cut through her. "It is a unique thing. Addiction in a such a small child, Qyburn would love to study that, don't you think, Petyr?" Sansa had gasped and pleaded, "Please, I told you so you could help her. Don't send her  Qyburn, he will turn her into something like Jeyne!" Roose didn't like that and his eyes turned to ice as Petyr had given Sansa a tiny glance of disapproval. Roose kicked Arya in the face, knocking her to the kennel dirt. She grabbed her swelling mouth and blood pooled in her palm. Roose crouched down to pin her with his gaze. "I will make a deal with you, little girl. I'll give you the drugs you want but you'll have to give me what I want." Arya ignored the moan from her sister and looked up Roose. "You already have everything. There isn't anything you can't do to me, I know that." Her eyes widened and she asked with horror, "Do you want sex from me? It's the only thing left. If I have to, for the drugs I will."_

_Roose had laughed along with Petyr as Sansa fumed. "No dearest. You can keep your purity intact. It's something I've been teaching Ramsay and I'd like to teach you and Damon. It's similar to the talents my little beast has. I want you to learn how to hunt, I want you to learn how to hurt others like I hurt you. I want you to bring me back injured or dead creatures, just like she does. But you aren't a savage puppy, you are a little wolf pup." Sansa was mentored and shadowed by Petyr, Roose became Arya's teacher. It helped that she wasn't alone in it, Damon and Ramsay were often there. And Arya always had her drugs which both Roose and Petyr held for her. When Arya pleased Roose in any way, she got extra, if she displeased him, she got less. Arya was never sure what made Sansa so loyal to Petyr but she knew what made her and the others become loyal to Roose. Damon and Ramsay were his sons, he used his affection, his attention as the weapon over their heads. For Arya, he supplied her and that made him a deity in her eyes. They would hunt animals, wound, skin and bring the meat for barbecues. Most of the time it was just the three of them with arrows and knives, on occasion hunting rifles. That was fine, that was fun but it got so dark, so fast but at least the fucking drugs were good._

_If Arya was sky high, it wasn't a big deal to have Roose filming her and Damon torturing other new children for him. As long as they got what they needed to give them a rush, the two would whip, brand and cut flesh, ignored tears. It got worse, Arya kicking some poor nameless child to their knees and forcing them to beg for water from Jeyne's dirty dog dish. Giggling when Roose convinced Damon to rape the girl. Arya flayed her back, that tiny bit of tender flesh while Damon's face was a bestial pleasure mask and WHAT THE FUCK DID THEY DO?_

_Olenna had called for a special meeting during one of the vacations. It was not usual for the adults to all have a big meeting that involved the children. All of the kids sat on Roose's patio cement as the adults all sat in lawn chairs. The adults were very serious and that scared the children. A child had tried to tell about the Order, a very naughty thing and the punishment must be severe. Arya remembers receiving extra drugs from Roose. It all seemed unreal, like a dream, a nightmare, it was thrilling and awful but Arya was laughing over the screaming boy as he ran from the hunting children. Jeyne had been howling, on all fours, attacking and releasing, so the bloody boy could keep running. Roose had encouraged them to take their time, to do anything they wished. Damon was amazing with a whip and he made the screaming boy dance. Arya put three arrows and a dagger into the boy before he finally couldn't run anymore or even crawl. And it had to be a dream, just a drug fueled little fantasy. Because Arya would never join Damon in holding the boy down for Ramsay. So he could rape the boy then flay him alive. Jeyne had crouched nearby just watching as they helped Ramsay slowly murder this boy. Arya wondered if she saw it as a dream too?_

_Arya and Damon saw each other out of school now. As friends and companions to their siblings. They didn't care for Lancel hanging around but they were used to be bullied by Sansa and Ramsay, it was easier to do as they were told. This was so imprinted in their brains by the Order, that even school and home life couldn't shake these things. Not when Ramsay and Sansa themselves were constant reminders of this. It didn't take the pair long, even with drugs and liquored up to see that Lancel was just like a Petyr or Roose or Cersie, just without the pain and molestation. Arya and Damon tried to give their opinions and were slammed hard for it. Everything Lancel said sounded good, too good and it made them suspicious but they could not change the minds of Ramsay and Sansa. Arya started to skip class, to get into fights with other kids, defy her parents. But she remained loyal to her sister even if Sansa was always angry with her. Lancel wanted something from Ramsay and Sansa, some proof of loyalty. That is what they told Damon and Arya one night. Both reeling drunk, celebrating being teenagers, celebrating anything that gave a reason to be fucked up. They had sat with their beloved siblings smiling down upon them._

_"We are supposed to sacrifice what matters most to us. To show our dedication. Arya, you are the most important person in my life, Damon is Ramsay's most important person. Do you understand? But we love you too much, we are loyal to you, we can't kill you. So you'll have to help me, Arya, help me since I am saving your life. I need two lives in order to add up to the one life I want to save. Can you understand that?" Just like a dream, it wasn't real, couldn't be. Except Arya remembers it clearly. She howled like a wolf, Damon laughed like a hyena, as they chased Jon and Rickon. Damon made Jon dance and Arya shot Rickon full of arrows as he ran. Stupid boy was too panicked to think to zig zag from the arrows. He was dead long before Jon was. Sansa didn't kill anyone, no, she was there, watching, encouraging but she just seemed to glow off the savagery of it. Jon was nearly dead and Ramsay pulled Damon off him. Sansa told Arya it had to be a family member that kills him. Arya had taken out her dagger and froze when Jon tried to plead with her. Sansa had come close and whispered, "Do you know why I chose them instead of Bran and Rob? Jon was planning an escape, from the Order and our family. He was taking only Rickon. Not you or me. No, even though he KNOWS what they do to you, to me, if our family members ran from the Order, he was going to leave us behind."_

Arya cackled into the charged air and her voice was dry as kennel dirt. "I slit his throat. I killed my brothers for her, for us, for them. Because I was their little wolf. Now I am my own wolf." Jumping to her feet, she stared out the window at the moon then wrenched the window open and let out a howl. A howl responded in the distance, then two more responded. A smile grew sharp on Arya's face, it was sideways, crooked and messed up just like her head. Arya laughed and pulled at her hair before sliding down the wall. "I am a killer wolf. And a wolf has no need for a fucking superstar." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arya: Bloodletting by Concrete Blonde/Brand New Day by Neil Patrick Harris  
> Damon and Arya: Wolves by Selena Gomez


	165. Hunting Moon

It was with relief that the professors saw everyone stagger out of the cabin onto the lawn like newborn field mice. They collared Polliver on his way to follow after the others. "Oh no, young sir! You helped create this disaster, you will stay behind to assist in cleaning it!" Hot Pie had laughed and pointed at Polliver when the man had scowled, caught. Raff left right after he congratulated Jeyne and teased the cook. Polliver wanted to ask Hot Pie to try and keep Myranda and Jeyne from Bob but how the hell was he going to do that? If Polliver and Raff couldn't do it then the runt of the staff won't be able to. It seemed like Bob and Hot Pie were leading the students towards the dorms. Polliver was dragged into the cabin, to be lectured while driven into a cleaning frenzy, all he could do was hope. Why the fuck was every person who stood a chance standing up to Bob, suddenly missing?

The boys were drunk off their asses somehow had convinced themselves they knew how to be ninjas. Jeyne and Myranda were laughing and taunting the boys as they kept falling on their asses while trying to deliver high kicks. Joff attempted to give a karate chop into Damon's broad chest which did nothing but make the large boy laugh then push Joff into Ramsay. Bob and Hot Pie kept the idiots moving towards the dorm house. "It's hopeless you know. If we let them go into the dorm house like that, they will trash it. Maybe we should let them run around the grass just before the cornfield for a bit. Let them get it out of their system." Hot Pie looked dubious at this plan but simply nodded. "Like how long should we let them hang out here? I'm tired and still have to wake early." Bob smirked. "No problem, head on to bed. I can keep an eye on them all. Don't worry about it." Hot Pie hesitated, this wasn't right at all. He wondered if Bob's target was Myranda or Jeyne or both. "Go, now." Hot Pie had no reason to stay and no way to tell Bob what to do. "Sure, thanks Bob. Have a good night."

The boys cheered when they heard they could run around the fields for a bit. Myranda looked scared and Jeyne became defensive. Hyped up on sugar and caffeine, Jeyne had the recklessness courage of the boys but the paranoid logic of sugar laden sobriety. Bob watched as the boys all staggered around and then he saw how the damned feral was wrapping herself around Myranda. He could see by his sweet girl's face that she didn't understand the challenge Jeyne was giving him. "Jeyne, let go of me, please. Come on, go run around with Damon or hey, isn't that the whirlygig man right over there! It's only a few rows of corn in, I am sure Bob won't mind. Just go on ahead, okay?" Bob gave his nicest smile. "Yes, I trust you, go on and dance with your buddy for a while." Jeyne wanted to, oh, to spin and twirl, she felt even faster than her balloon man tonight. But Jeyne knew the second she moved, Bob would have Myranda. He will let the boys roam and Jeyne dance so he can hurt Myranda in private. "No, thank you. I want to dance with Myranda. Let's dance!" Bob's smile thinned and Myranda shoved at Jeyne. "No, you are still too injured for that. You should either go dance while you have the chance to or head back to rest your tailbone."

Kevan smashed another framed picture and the cuts on his fist didn't even make him flinch. He was drunk, yes, as drunk as Tywin used to get. Tywin always got drunk when he had to perform for the Order. Whether as a victim or later as a perpetrator he could only do it if he was drunk. Sober, it was too horrifying to contemplate. Kevan stomped the pictures of his brother then cried out, "Why? We could have done so much together! We could have stuck together like my twins did! We could have brought down that fucking Order together if we tried, if you really had wanted to. Don't they understand what I'm trying to do, trying to save them. Ungrateful brats, ungrateful staff and students always, I try so hard!" Except maybe he could have tried harder, he could have tried a thousand other routes. But he was Tywin's brother, he was a Lannister. He couldn't betray or leave that sibling or name behind fully, he did as much as he could.

"Fuck them." With more emphasis, Kevan said again, "Fuck them." Except they were already fucked, he knew that. They were all fucked and Kevan knew it. Kevan ranted out loud and smashed his pictures of everyone he has known besides his wife and son. His words did not slur and he did not weave. Truthfully, he only drank two and a half glasses of his best wine, he was slightly buzzed but no more than that. It made him feel better, braver to pretend that he was drunk. Kevan slammed his fist into his own thigh. He liked to pretend, it helped, when he was a child, when the Order had them...it was so easy to pretend nothing was happening. He didn't have to hear them laugh when he cried and begged like a fucking baby. He wouldn't have to think of how they would twist every word, making the brothers accidentally offer each other up for the slaughter.

Kevan grabbed his son's picture, it was the latest one, his wedding photo. The couple looked perfect in spite of their surroundings. In a whisper, Kevan spoke to the smiling visage of his beloved son. "I'm sorry if it wasn't enough what I did. I tried to do better than let you pretend, I made it go away. Why didn't you say something about remembering? Did you WANT to remember all that horror?" But Kevan knew, he knew what his son might say, he knew what the twins wanted to say earlier. That it isn't saving if the damage was already done. It wasn't really saving them, but how could Kevan have saved them? Sure, there was a small group even back then, always a group that would try and save a few children being used by the Order. Most times the children would be caught and tortured to death as an example to the other kids. It was tradition to have the kids themselves do the killing. Kevan didn't want deaths on his hands, not of the very children he wished to help. So he did the best he thought he could do, right? He grabbed the bottle of wine and poured himself another drink. Hearing howling in the distance, Kevan shuddered and pulled the window curtain shut tightly.

Bob and Jeyne were staring at each other, Myranda caught in between them like a toy between two dogs, that is what she felt like. A howl suddenly ripped through the still air and suddenly everything seemed to change fast. Jeyne stopped looking at Bob, spun, her arms raising, her head flung back and she howled. It was piercing and it had a terrible longing to it. Myranda saw Ramsay and Damon fling their heads back, starting a howl as Jeyne's began to die down. This caused Bob to seem to go stiff and fight something within himself. Once he seemed to gain a modicum of control, some dark idea seemed to be in his eyes and it terrified Myranda. Joff was standing near Damon and Ramsay but lost his drunken smile at the howling. Now he turned pale, stumbling backwards moaning. Grabbing his head, Joff seemed to remember something awful.

Myranda gasped as Bob used the distraction to pull her against him. "Bob! I, I remember. Karl would have me work parties when I turned twelve, I saw them, all of them. Oh gods, they were whores without any pay, at least the hunters got something of out of it. Bob, they didn't even get paid? That pretty uppity bitch, Sansa, what they did to her, oh my gods, not even a dime for her trouble! She deserves that fucking house, the shiny husband and every fucking thing she can take for herself!" Bob laughed at the girl's outraged expression. "My sweet pretty girl with the mind of a calculating whore, you sound just like my brother Varys, you know. He said the same thing time and time again. For years, he had been indignant at how the Order would just suck up these children until they were husks to be forgotten. It bothered him greatly, as it bothers you. Poor dear, you have such a big heart and yet such a cold mind. Do you think of me as much as you think of getting paid for your troubles? You are mine now, there is no one to pay you for anything anymore. Just me. Do you feel you deserve more from me? Payment? What do you think you are owed, Myranda? And if you don't feel paid, are you going to fantasize of revenge on me, darling girl?"

Responding to the dangerous tone, to that undercurrent of greedy need, yearning for any excuse to hunt, to hurt, Myranda faced Bob and gently touched his chest with both palms. Her eyes showed submission, fear, obedience and Bob seemed to almost unwillingly respond to it. "I'm sorry, Bob. The memories hit me hard and I just reacted. Of course, you own me and owe me nothing. I would never use anything in Varys's box against you. I would never do anything to you, I am yours and I will never forget it. I will only use my tricks and weapons as a defense against anyone else who tries to mess with what is yours, I swear it. I love you, Bob." It was still true, even through fear and blistering hate, Myranda still loves Bob and she allows her voice and heart to show it. It appeases but inflames all at once. Fuck, can't have my cake and eat it too. Better to go have sex with him in the woods than be hunted across school grounds.

Bob doesn't care about the howling idiots, he wants to take Myranda out of sight. He wants to reward her, for keeping him from hunting. See, this was truly the perfect solution, Myranda uses her rules and wits to help him stay out of trouble. Bob starts to lead her towards the nearby grove. The next shouted words and magnetic taste in the air that Bob yearns for, it nearly caused him to lose control.  Myranda was looking back at the brewing danger but Bob didn't dare to look. "No. I know they are going to hunt. If I go near it, we will be hunting, sweet girl. Let's leave the danger of that behind, shall we?"

Jeyne had found herself on all fours, loping over to Damon. Her drunken brother made her giggle with the expressions on his face. He looked like someone had goosed him then a huge crescent moon appeared on his face. Damon jumped up and down for a second and screamed out, "HEY, ARYA! CAGED WOLF, YEAH! I GOT YOU, GIRL!" Damon's eyes went wide and he slammed hands on either side of his face and his mouth went into a large circle. Then he hulked out a bit and turned to stare at Joff with crueler eyes. "We hunted you. Do you remember that yet? Ha! You pissed your pants and cried like a fucking baby! You cowered under Arya and you couldn't even take a few strokes of my whip before collapsing to the ground. You were a terrible fucking hunt. Jeyne left a chunk out of your damned ass, is it still scarred up? Holy shit, tell ya, it was fucking worth the punishment from those cunts. To see have seen you like that. That is a crime, to make us forget fun things." Jeyne crept closer to Joff, who darted further backwards, sneering but his lips trembled.

"Fuck you! Fuck you both! Stay away from me! I get to hunt now, too! Don't you dare attack me!" Damon and Jeyne were side by side now, one on all fours, her limbs contorting, the large standing giant was nearly drooling in a terrible drunken excitement. Jeyne's entire body was shaking, jerky, as the caffeine, sugar and the instinct of a hunt all hitting her at once. Both starting a high pitched giggling that reminded Joff of hyenas. The alcohol content in his blood stream is all that could be the reason he pointed at them both and screamed, "It was one wolf, one dog and a fucking hyena! You all did it because you were fucking JEALOUS of ME! I remember, how they would beat you or have you hurt each other so you wouldn't get too close. Roose didn't want Jeyne's fucking tainted freak show next to his favorite male punching bag unless it was to entertain. You got blood and pain and I was a favorite to be desired. You were all jealous that you were only ugly, only fit for abuse, well, physical abuse...hey, get away! RAMSAY!" Joff fell on his ass as he screamed for Ramsay to help him. Jeyne had lunged forward, biting hard into the air with a bark.

Damon was laughing at him, walking, no, stalking forward. "Go on and run for us, Princess. I'll give you a head start. Jeyne, we have to be fair. A minute, boy, better get moving. Run, run, come on, get up and run." Damon's voice was lower, it was rougher and it was almost sensual.

Ramsay heard Lancel as he whispered into his mind, he needed to get control of the situation. Resist his own urges, impulses and do what is needed for the mission. Use this to his advantage, be the calm assertive alpha, get the control firmly established over them all. Sansa's voice was so much warmer, it wrapped around him tightly and made his breath catch. She urged him to howl, to join and maybe find a way to run to her. Slaughter them all, come to me, he heard it and saw it in the moon. Ramsay found himself crying and he smiled hard at the moon. He wanted to hunt, he wanted to run, find Sansa and keep going. Leave a crimson path behind them and fuck it all. Ramsay felt a spark, a shock and hugged his sudden gooseflesh. He couldn't help Joff, Ramsay was to busy trying to help himself. He flung his arms out and laughed up at the moon. He whispered fiercely, "I got her off the fucking drugs for you, she remembers who she is. I want to come for you, just send me a sign and I will. Or come to me soon, please, let's finish this and run. I miss you, fucking need you, love you."

Kevan sat in his recliner and sat at the television. It was showing that old seventies movie about robot slaves attacking the humans on some isolated fantasy island. He watched Yule Brenner ruthlessly murder and he swirled his wine glass. After a grisly scene of some tech and guests being murdered, Kevan put down his glass and picked up his golden pen. Twirling it slightly clumsily in his aching fingers, Kevan's eyes locked on his cell phone. One phone call and those girls could be dead, his own son could be dead. And Kevan sits, watches the slaughter on the screen and twirls his pen. If it came to that but it won't come to that, surely. He put down the pen and picked up his drink again. Now Kevan was trying to be drunk for real as he watches the fantastical sci fi rebellion.

Jeyne howled and lunged forward as Damon hollered for Joff to run while they still let him have his head start. Joff was backing up and still trying to get Ramsay's attention. "Please, Ramsay, stop them! What's wrong with you, why are you letting them do this?" Jeyne giggled and shook her head. "I am my own alpha now, Joff. He can't stop me, Damon can't stop me. No one can." Damon looked vaguely troubled for a moment. "Jeyne, we are a pack. All of us. Boltons and Arya. We were a pack." Jeyne gave Damon a quick almost dismissive glance as she growled out, "I am my own alpha. Joff, I am not waiting any longer. Run!" Damon chased after Jeyne who lunged again, causing Joff to shriek and disappear into the corn. Jeyne whooped and dove into the golden and green rows. Damon laughed and threw himself into the hunt. "Jeyne, remember, no maiming or killing! We could get in trouble!" A hyena laugh was the only response.

Joff ran, he started to dodge as he heard Jeyne dogging him, just to nearly run straight into Damon. The larger boy roared and punched him in the kidneys while screaming for the little pussy to run faster. Jeyne caught him next, diving out of the row diagonal to him, knocking him to the ground, snarling, biting just the tip of his nose before disappearing. Damon's mocking laughter was close and Joff found himself sobbing, crawling in misery. He found a rock and the next time that he heard Jeyne coming too close for comfort, he threw it at her. Jeyne cried out at the rock hitting her in the shoulder. Didn't stop her from lobbing the rock back, whacking him in his already bruised kidney. Damon came out of the row behind him and started to pretend to stomp on Joff, chanting for him to run, run, run. But Joff's arm was in agony, his cast was covered in dirt and actually fucking DENTED, his kidney was pulsing in an unpleasant way and he was scared, angry and tired. He moaned and puked out the huge quantities of nachos and vodka.

"EWWWWWW!" Jeyne gagged and Damon started to taunt Joff about being a lightweight drinker as well as a boring pussy hunt. Joff told them to go fuck themselves and with a lunge from Jeyne, the game was back on. Joff ran, heading out of the cornfield, hoping to find Bob or anyone. Jeyne tripped him and Joff whacked his nose on the dirt packed earth hard enough for it to bleed. He started to crawl forward, crying out for help, Jeyne and Damon cackling like hyenas, ready to close in the for the kill. Joff started to plead for them to not hurt him, to just back the fuck off now. They were over him now and he started to scurry backwards, watching them prepare to lunge with huge smiles. Joff frantically backed up faster, knowing it was no good. Jeyne launched as Joff found himself with his back pressed against a sudden barricade that wasn't there before. Jeyne had lunged and too late saw the barricade but couldn't abort her launching. Gregor aborted the flight mission by catching Jeyne and holding her at eye level.

"Excuse me, feral creature, I was looking for a young Person named Jeyne. I was also looking for a young lad named Damon but what do I see but a deranged hyena. What a disappointment." Jeyne squirmed and blushed. Damon had the decency to look almost ashamed of himself and Joff just tried to stop sobbing like a baby. "They hunted me! They re-broke my arm, broke my nose and were going to kill me! The cook and creepster twin disappeared and left us! They were going to kill me! I demand they have a circle punishment! I need the clinic and I want to speak with my great uncle! And Target is to blame too! She howled and set everyone off! She MADE them try and kill me! It was signal for it, I bet!" Gregor dropped Jeyne into one of his arms, so she dangled her feet and hands nearly touching. Gregor looked down at the whining boy and gave him the most sympathetic face.

"Poor Princess, did they give you some boo boos? Would you like Nanny Gregor to kiss them better for you, darling boy? Let's get to your feet and you can walk your delicate self to the clinic. A dent in your cast isn't a re-broken arm and your nose is swelling but not broken." With an exaggerated look of disgust, Gregor gave a loud sniff. "Boy, is that urine I smell? Did the bullies make you have pee pee pants? Yes, that is what I see. Nanny Gregor understands, sweet Princess. A little fear pee happens, don't worry, I won't tell a soul. Now get your ass to the clinic. I will meet you up there." Joff stormed off, bitching the whole way towards the clinic to take it out on the nurse. With his free hand, Gregor reached out and grabbed Damon by his ear. Squeezing the breath out of Jeyne as he carried her, firmly dragging Damon by his ear, Gregor walked over to the boy laying spreadeagled on the grass, staring up at the moon. "Death Row, I am glad you chose meditation rather than the hunt. I am out of hands, so my boot is going to kick your carcass all the way to your room if you don't get up." 

 Harold simply followed the heavy breathing. "This looks like some freakish nature porn, you know." His voice was casual as he observed Myranda laying over a fallen log and Bob taking her from behind. "Glad to see you aren't following in Olenna's footsteps after all, brother." Harold leaned against the tree nearby and looked up to stare at the moon. He lit a cigarette he got from Hot Pie and waited. Bob's voice, out of breath and trying to strain towards something that was clearly being aborted. "Harold? Fuck off, anywhere but here. Go away. Ten more fucking minutes, dammit." Harold smiled and continued to watch the moon as he smoked. "No. I'll just wait here for you to finish on up. I need to talk with you when you are done." Bob cursed and pulled away from Myranda, fixing his pants. Quickly, Myranda got up and fixed her clothing. Bob sighed and patted the sweet girl's hair. "Go to bed, sweetheart, Harold is determined to ruin our time together tonight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeyne: Don't Stop Me Now by Queen  
> Damon: Wild boys by Duran Duran  
> Kevan: The Kill (Bury Me) by Thirty Seconds To Mars  
> Students and Staff: Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival  
> Ramsay: I Would Walk 500 Miles by The Proclaimers  
> Myranda: The Killing Moon by Echo & the Bunnymen


	166. Lone Wolves

Raff set up Arya's last doses of medications for the night then entered her room. Flipping the light on, his eyes scanned the room. A journal, papers, crayons and markers were scattered everywhere. She was pressed up against the window, staring up at the moon, making small howls. "Was that you howling like a lunatic?" Arya answered without turning around. "I remember everything now, everything. I am a wolf." Raff nodded and entered the room carefully, keeping his distance. "Great. I am a tired overworked, overtired and underpaid nurse. Now, if you want your last dose of painkiller tonight, I need you to let me get your vitals. I need you to turn around and calmly sit on the bed, please." 

Tearing her eyes from the moon, Arya turned around and sighed, heading for the bed. Sitting calmly, Arya waited for Raff to approach her. Raff watched for signs of tensing but there weren't any so he came closer. The whole time he checked her vitals, Arya simply sat there, every limb was relaxed, only a small tremor from the detoxing. "Good. Ready for your last dose? Then I want you to pick up your mess before laying down for the night." Arya nodded and spoke in a rather sarcastic tone, it was her real voice and Raff smirked upon hearing it. "Yes, daddy. I will pick up my damned toys before nighty nights." Raff injected the medication and asked, "Feeling hungry yet?" Arya sat up straighter, fast. "Gods, I am!" It was as if she just realized that she was starving. "How did I not know I was hungry? Yes, can I get something to eat?"

With a real smile for the first time to the girl, Raff nodded. "Yeah, we don't have much but I can grab you some stuff. When you are hooked, you don't even notice things like hunger or nutrition. When you are detoxing, those first few worst days, you can't even think of eating. But once you are really getting clear, once you get past that worst hurdle, you suddenly notice, your body is dying for sustenance and you feel it. Wait until you smell and taste food, it's going to be the best thing you've ever had no matter what it is. By the way, glad to hear your real voice, wolf or not, you are still an asshole. I like it." With a wink at the shocked girl, Raff left the door open as he headed towards the small clinic kitchen. Arya stood up and leaned against the door, yelling out, "You forgot to shut and lock my door! I could wander anywhere, you know!" Dumping things onto a plastic tray, Raff called back, "You could. You can't get into the offices or med station without picking the locks. You can't leave the clinic with the I.V., I think someone might find that odd, don't you?"

Raff came out with a tray of meager offerings, but to Arya it looked amazing. Losing interest in wandering, Arya sat on her bed to attack the tray. An apple, a banana, a cup of lime jello, a cup of chocolate pudding, some crackers and a steaming hot cup of chicken broth. He added a corn muffin and a small candy bar he was saving for later. "Believe it or not, just these few things are going to fill you up. You are going to need to have small meals at extra times. But you're going to be like Unella was for a bit. We are all going to have to guard the kitchen with guns, just to keep you from eating everything. It will last for a few weeks." Arya grinned but couldn't stop eating to talk. Funny, Raff was an asshole but she kind of liked his attitude. She hated him before but now his personality was something she could understand. Forcing herself to pause in her eating, she asked, "Why are you nice to me suddenly? Why don't I want to punch your smirking face anymore?" 

Raff laughed. "You've been on drugs for a long time, you had trauma, a brain wipe and a sort of implanted personality disorder. You saw things very differently and being sober is the real you without all the masks and fog shielding you. This is the first time we have ever really met. From this moment forward, everything and everyone might seem different, you will have new eyes. Some of it will be scary or hard to deal with and I'm here for you, we all are. But I can tell you why you like me and though it pains me to admit it, it's not my looks. I bet you'll like Polliver too. See, you are an asshole, a prankster and a sneaky little shit and so am I. But before you had too much hostility and anger in it. Now, you are just a regular clever little asshole. We can appreciate where each other is coming from. It will be interesting to see how you react to the rest of the staff and the students. Now, if you find yourself unreasonably terrified of Unella and her alien stomach, it is entirely understandable. We all feel that way."

 "NURSE! HELP ME! I NEED HELP, WHERE THE FUCK IS ANYONE IN THIS SHITTY FUCKING FACILITY! I DEMAND MEDICAL ATTENTION! I WAS HUNTED, DAMMIT! MY ARM IS RE BROKEN, MY NOSE IS BROKEN!" Arya and Raff both startled at the sudden screeching. Raff shut his eyes then ran a hand through his long mane. "Fuck. Excuse me, I must go tend to the little Princess." Raff headed out of the room, shutting the door only halfway. Arya heard Joff yelling at the nurse and briefly had an urge to go all wolf on Joff. Calming herself by shoving chocolate pudding into her mouth, Arya decided she was too hungry to care. She was a wolf, but a weak one still. Arya shoved a piece of banana into her mouth along with the pudding.

"Joff, you can have an ice pack for your nose. I will reset your cast tomorrow, I am not dealing with it at this hour. Your arm is the same as it was, probably hurts from overexertion. I will send a text to staff that you were bullied. It will be addressed and I am sure Gregor is disciplining those involved already." Seething, Joff leaned forward on the examination table and growled out, "I was only worth a twenty minute examination? And you didn't even HEAR me about what happened!" Raff sighed. "Princess, twenty minutes is way longer than this even deserved. And how can I hear your story when all you do is scream, swear and threaten? How about we discuss that you are clearly drunk? Which is why I won't give you anything more than two Tylenol for your pains." Joff turned red with frustration. "They hunted me, not bullied, HUNTED me! Feral and Sidebitch, like fucking animals, feral and hyena and it's that wolf cunt's FAULT! She howled and set them on me!"

Raff wasn't thrilled to hear Jeyne's behavior but he gave Joff a calm deadpan look. "Very well, Jeyne and Damon will be disciplined and will apologize to you. You and I can discuss all of this during therapy tomorrow morning. Arya was here in the clinic, a howl out a window means nothing. The howl probably triggered memories, right? That's not in her control." Joff continued to bitch as Raff helped him put his shirt back on. He gasped and pointed. "Get that fucking wolf away from me! If you let her hunt and kill me, you'll be given to the Tickler! I am a Lannister, dammit!" Raff turned to see Arya standing in the doorway, holding her I.V. stand, calm and looking far too amused. "What's wrong, husband? Did you get hunted, did you say that? Poor thing. Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Not up to it, yet. Just heard you and wanted to make sure that my dearest husband was okay. Princess, is that pee that I smell?" Raff rolled his eyes as Joff started to accuse Arya of setting the others on him. "If you two want marriage counseling, can we do it during daylight hours?"

After Bob took a moment to threaten Meryn, who had been jerking off to his time with Myranda in the shadows, he and Harold headed off to talk. Harold didn't take them inside the house, instead they walked the grounds. Bob stayed silent as Harold explained what Gilly and Unella planned to do. How he and Gregor have agreed to aid them, to help them keep it from Kevan. "You want me to willingly and knowingly defy my orders from Kevan. You want us to all have a mutiny." Harold stayed quiet for a second then he gave a firm nod. "Yes, I guess this is what this is. You said it yourself, this isn't working, Kevan's way isn't working, it never did. It's time to end this, it's time to make this school a real place for the students. To really heal them and teach them. If we all do it together, Kevan can't stop us all, he has to listen, to change."

Bob put his hands in his pockets and strolled slower. "You were willing to let me have Myranda in secret so you could have Gilly. What are you willing to offer me to do this? I know, they all know about me and Myranda, I can tell. I don't give a fuck what they think. Only what Kevan would think and do. If I help you all, I want Myranda to be mine publicly. I will marry her to make it look decent and use a cabin, I don't care. If we take down Kevan or make him change things with us, that is what I want for myself. You get Gilly and I get my pet." Harold stared at the moon and stopped walking for a moment. Bob laughed in a sharp painful way. "No, you can't offer me that, can you? Because they don't approve, Gilly doesn't approve and plans to stop my relationship as soon as the mutiny is done. She will take you and my sweet girl from me. Is she planning a banishment for me? Will you be the one to tell me?" 

 The credits rolled to the movie and as the screen faded to black, Kevan saw himself briefly in the screen. A pathetic drunk old man crying pathetic tears down his long stupid face. He could have been Tywin or his own father if he only had rage to add to it. Nope, he wasn't that kind of drunk, but the impulsiveness and false courage of Tyrion came forth instead. Shaking a fist at the television as it switched to commercials, he snarled out, "I won't stand for that! I won't let anyone take out what I have made, not even you, son!" The woman trying to convince him he needed a new cat litter for a happy cat wasn't fazed in the least. Kevan grabbed his cell phone clumsily and hit a button without listening to the tiny shriek in the back of his head. "Hello?" Kevan staggered around the room then sloppily tried to explain.

"Lancel, you never knew, never understood, never knew. I should have told you, I will tell you so you understand. But you can't come here ever again, you, Sansa, I don't care that you have a cult. I love you but I won't let you kill us. I won't let you in and I, I will have them all killed if you force me too, son. I love you but after you kill the Circle, it has to end. You cannot come here. Listen, I had NO choice, son. The only way I could run with you, was if I signed a contract. I had to keep silent, I had to fund and protect the Order. Those summers that I sent you to Uncle Tywin, only two! They had Tyrion and Cersei from Tywin, it should have been enough! Olenna was such a greedy cunt, she forced the issue and I tried to make sure it was only two summers for two weeks! But yes, I knew, but Qyburn had assured me that you would be scrubbed, you would never know. I didn't know that Olenna would prey on you when I was forced to let her hide here, I knew she would go after the others, I couldn't say anything.  But when I saw how she hurt you, I wanted you to forget it all again. And I did punish her as much as I could! I am so sorry, but that was the best I could do for us all. I love you, have your cult, destroy the damned Order but please, do not try and take away my school. Please don't make me have to kill all those little girls, that pretty wife or you, my precious son."

Kevan hung up and staggered to his chair. A new movie started and he watched it while pathetic tears ran down his long drunken face.

Tyrion hung up his own phone with a terrible grimace on his face. He grabbed a bottle and started to chug it. Grabbing onto a chair, head reeling, memories coming in a sickening kaleidoscope that caused him to vomit on his own shoes. This was distressing as Tyrion just finished cleaning up the gaming room. Moaning, Tyrion slumped into the puddle, he had meant to get a cleaning rag, clean his mess and go to his bedroom. Nope, his body has decided that the living room, in a puddle of warm but rapidly cooling vomit would be a better place to slumber. Out loud, he laughed at it all and announced to the empty dark cabin, "And now I understand why father said the rare times Uncle Kevan gets drunk, no one wants to be around him."

Tyrion's floor decided to be rude and spin as if to shake the man off the earth. Stubbornly, Tyrion clutched the coffee table leg and curled it. He felt rather clever at this and shut his eyes to try and sleep away the spinning ground. Shutting his eyes turned out to be a grave error in judgement as now his mind and those damned memories were spinning with him. Buried for so long, Tyrion had no interest in this, he didn't want to see any of it. He curled tighter and didn't even know that he spent most of his night sobbing in a child's voice and occasionally sucking his thumb. Tyrion woke twice to find he has pissed himself, thrown up more. But his head wouldn't stop, even once he tried to whack it into the side of couch. "It's not me anymore. It's all just old fucking news and I am NOT a freak, not some fucking freak to let dogs attack, to dress funny then make me dance around for the laughing adults. Ahh, fuck you, Kevan. Fuck you!"

Gregor didn't release Damon or Jeyne until they were inside the dorm house. He made Ramsay walk in front of him the whole way back and told everyone he wanted silence. He shoved the kids inside and shut the door behind him. He let the children line against the wall. Gregor pointed at Ramsay. "Death Row, go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow about your drinking habits." Ramsay sighed heavily and went inside his room. Jeyne and Damon both looked away when Gregor stared at them. "Well, I either saw two students bullying another one or I saw a feral and a former hunter of whores hunting down another victim. Which was it?" Jeyne spoke in a chipmunk burst of speed. "We heard the howl, we howled back. It just made us feel like we used to. Joff was there, we remembered hunting him. And we were having fun, not maiming or killing him!" Damon nodded and spoke in a slightly slurred voice. "Was just having fun. We were a pack once and he was used to it. Chased Princess before, didn't really hurt him, just scared him a little. That's all."

With a sudden cheerful look that made both students groan and feel a squirming in their stomachs, Gregor swept his arms out grandly. "Ahh, that clears it all up then! Arya howled, you howled back, it reminded you of hunting. You couldn't help it, the prey was there and you hunted. Since you weren't planning to maim or kill Joff, can I ask what you were doing when I got there? Because it looked to me like you were both about to land on the boy. You couldn't help yourselves though, right? Both of you are so weak headed, so controlled by your pasts that you decided to give up all control to it and attack the boy. What a pity. Of course, once you started to scare and chase and hurt your prey, well, it was really fun. Since it scared the boy, made him injured, made him piss and vomit out of sheer terror...it was even more exciting. Always is to bullies and predators that hurt weaker things than themselves. Both of you make me ashamed tonight. Raff will be equally ashamed when I tell him, Jeyne." The reality of what she had done hit Jeyne as she started to cry a bit and looked away, blinking. "I acted like a feral on purpose. I acted like a bully." Gregor nodded and gave Jeyne a grim face. "That is exactly what you did. I am glad you are crying about it because you should feel ashamed of yourself. You did worse than just let those who help you down, you let yourself down tonight. Go to bed, young lady. You need to sleep if you are going to try and look me and Raff in the eye tomorrow and explain yourself." Jeyne nodded and slowly headed towards the stairs, sniffing.

Gregor wasn't watching Jeyne walk away, even though he seemed to be. No, he was looking at Damon, at his eyes, his posture. The boy was drunk but this was the true Damon, the one that doesn't think he's being seen. This was the boy that came into this school buried deep up Ramsay's asshole. Gregor turned fast to stand over Damon, who dropped his eyes and squirmed slightly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that to Princess. I was being a bully and kind of hunting." Gregor sneered. "Stop lying, asshat. You aren't sorry, you are only ashamed that you got caught. Because Death Row would be ashamed of you for it. Let's talk a walk, hyena. Looks like the mentoring hasn't managed to get past that thick skull after all. So let's try another method. I call this stark raving fucking reality." Damon cursed when Gregor grabbed his swollen ear and dragged him out the door. Myranda was staggering up the steps and Gregor grabbed her to haul her the rest of the way. "Are you drunk too? Or do you need the clinic, Myranda?" She smiled at Gregor and chirped out, "Sober, just clumsy, Nanny Gregor. Sorry I am late, I will go right to bed." Her body filled with ice when the look on Gregor's face changed. He knew, she didn't know why or how, but he knew. "I don't need the clinic, please, can I just go to bed?" Gregor nodded. "Present yourself to Unella for an examination before breakfast tomorrow. Damon and Jeyne will be working the kitchen. If the girl is well enough to get into trouble, she is well enough to do her kitchen work."

Myranda agreed and ran up to her room as quick as she could. Hissing, seeing she had splinters in her breasts and stomach from the damned log, she started the shower. Heading back to her bedroom for the tweezers, she heard Jeyne sobbing. Knocking on the door, Myranda peeked inside to see Jeyne curled on top of the bed in dirty clothes, crying, covering her face. "Hey, come talk to me in the bathroom." Jeyne wouldn't move, so Myranda simply dragged her all the way into the bathroom. Dumping Jeyne onto the floor, she snapped with no sympathy when the girl cried out. "It's your own fault if that hurt your tailbone! You should have walked like a normal Person!" Jeyne sniffed and muttered, "I am not a Person, not really. Not sure I ever will be." Myranda winced as she began attempt to remove splinters while scrubbing her body. Peeking up, growling, Jeyne turned wide eyed, such a violent look in her eyes that Myranda jumped back, cowering. She has seen that exact look in Bob's eyes, that is what it was. Jeyne gasped and backed away, hugging herself. "Are you scared of me? Why are you scared of me? I would never hurt you, you are my best friend. I just got upset at what he did to you. I meant to protect you. I failed that, too." Myranda started to wash herself again. "I'm sorry, Jeyne. It's just, you got real scary there, it's a hunting, hurting, killing look. I know that look and don't need to see it everywhere I go. I don't feel like a whore anymore, just a fucking rabbit. Not enjoying this feeling, got to tell ya. It's getting real old, real fast."

Jeyne stood over at the sink and stared into the foggy mirror. She saw a blurred version of herself and that is what she was. A blur of two things trying hard to kill of each other. "I used the computer in the library. No Feral has ever been cured fully. What if I can't fully be a Person? But I never want to be a feral like I was before. Myranda? I think sometimes I have to hunt, I have to be a feral, an alpha. But when I do that, do I lose my Person?" Myranda was trying to get the damned tree out of her flesh and hollered out, "Someday, we will leave this hellhole and we can be whoever we want to be!" Jeyne laughed. "That is such a lie. We don't get to leave, not for real. If we leave, it's only because they let us, to do what they want. They won't let you be anything else. Or me. If I make it to Person or stay Feral, they will always rule me. I can't live out there, we can't anyway. We don't know how. Did you see the kids in FourHeads? They were nothing like us. If we talked to them, they would be disgusted or scared. Or maybe they would tease and bully us."  Myranda ripped the curtain open, and lunged out, spraying water all over Jeyne. The girl squealed when Myranda tossed her into the shower and turned the water cold. "There. If I was scared of you, I wouldn't dare to try that, would I? Now stop with your fucking depressing talking and tell it to the therapist tomorrow!"

Damon was confused when they went towards the cornfield. Harold and Bob were in a discussion, walking past and Gregor hollered out to them. "Harold? Where was our buddy while the hunt was happening, again?" At first Damon thought Gregor was referring to Bob but Harold just pointed and yelled back, "I'd say fourth row down from there." Gregor nodded and they continued onward. Gregor pulled Damon through the corn and stopped where they had been chasing Joff. "Now, show me exactly where most of the action was going down. As if I can't tell by the ruined rows you'll be dealing with." Damon sighed and pointed out where he and Jeyne had chased the boy. Gregor then dragged Damon to where Harold had indicated. He positioned Damon and asked, "Can you clearly see where you all were?" The boy nodded, confused and irritated. With a jolly smile, Gregor patted his broad shoulder, then leaned close to give a juicy whisper into the swollen ear. "Do you know who was standing here watching you all? The Tickler."

Damon jerked back and turned white, nearly fainting in terror. He looked around wildly then threw up. Gregor simply waited through the boy's panic. "Oh yes, he loves hunts too. How could he not show up for such a naughty juicy thing like that! Would he have taken you? Maybe. But do you know who he was reaching for when I saved your pathetic asses? He was watching and reaching for your sister. Jeyne was the one attacking, the one about to rip that boy apart. What do you think the Tickler would do to Jeyne? Do you think she could revert back to a Person after being with the Tickler?" Now the reality of it seems to be seeping in. The part of putting himself and his sister in danger and the part where Damon almost watched his nightmare steal his sister.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arya: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield  
> Bob: Shattered Dreams by Johnny Hates Jazz  
> Joff: It's Not Me, It's You by Skillet  
> Tyrion: This Is The New Shit by Marilyn Manson  
> Jeyne, Damon, Myranda: Such A Loser by Garfunkel and Oates (approved by Gregor)


	167. Learning To Socialize

Gilly was scrambling eggs for breakfast when Bob entered the kitchen, coming up behind her. She forced herself not to tense as he just stood there behind her, not speaking, not touching her. Her grip tightened on the heavy skillet but spoke in a pleasant polite voice. "Good morning, Bob. How can I help you? There is fresh brewed coffee on the counter if you want it. I am rather busy and will need you to self serve it, please." A hand started to play with her braid and Gilly heard his soft silky voice, an undercurrent of something rough and ugly in it. "I had a very interesting discussion with my brother last night. I have terms of my own if you want my assistance or my blindness. I'm sure that you and Harold are planning to marry and have a litter of children. Well, I have dreams of marriage too. Think on it. But you should let me know before your plans today, otherwise Kevan will be attending them." Bob let go of her braid and sauntered out of the room, tossing over his shoulder, "Remember, nothing comes for free, there's always a price. You should know that. What is one sacrifice compared to all the others you'll save? Oh, one last thing, Tank. I love my brother, am loyal to him. I will make sure if this all blows up, that he is the only one that Kevan doesn't point at. Count on that."

Unella put on her white coat and went to see if Raff was back from grabbing his first coffee of the day. A firm hand was pushing on her stomach, Unella gave way in sudden fear and disgust. Bob entered her office and slammed the door shut behind him. "I left a message with Gilly. Now let me give a similar one to you. I want Myranda, I want to marry her for appearances sake, we shall take a cabin. I want your support in it or you'd better start scrubbing minds." Unella lifted her chin and stared at him with revulsion and hatred. "Not since the day that girl came here did I approve of you whoring her out. But this is so much worse, can't you see that? I am examining her in an hour, I will give an answer after that." Bob growled and started to approach the doctor, who did something she has never done in her life. She let out a scream that tore through the clinic and the air outside the open window. It wasn't so much a scream of fear as a roar of maternal rage. This only made Bob head for her faster, as if to shut her up. This made Unella do another first. She grabbed the windowsill from behind, leaned back hard and kicked at Bob as hard as she could with her stomach in her way. Bob cursed loudly as her foot caught him on the shin. Just in case Unella didn't have enough new experiences this morning, another happened. Gregor came crashing THROUGH the office door like an angry version of the Kool Aid man and she found herself laughing hysterically, pointing. 

Stannis knelt next to Tyrion and prayed to the gods in thanks that the dwarf only made this mess in his own cabin. When Tyrion hadn't shown up for their usual morning orange juice and coffee before heading to breakfast, Stannis tried to call and text with no results. Now he shook his head, frowned and shook the man, trying to wake him. It was no use so Stannis stood up and began to clean the mess around him. Tyrion moaned and vomited, began to choke on it as he stupidly rolled onto his back. Stannis hurried to try and turn the man onto his side and get him to stay there causing Tyrion to vomit upon his leg. This caused Stannis to vomit on his other leg and a few moments later he texted the staff that the professors will not be available today. Citing a flu, Stannis wished the staff a good day and shut his phone off as well as Tyrion's. The next time Tyrion came out of his stupor, he was laying on his love seat, covered in blankets. Stannis was snoring, wearing one of Tyrion's bed sheets like a toga, curled up on the other couch. Tyrion managed to stagger up, get some painkillers, water and the remote control. He collapsed back on the couch and took his pills while flipping channels. There was a marathon of all the Lord Of The Rings movies. Tyrion fell asleep to the beginning of The Fellowship Of The Ring. Stannis woke up briefly somewhere near the end of The Two Towers and both finally woke up to try some light chicken broth around the time Return Of The King ended.

Hot Pie and Raff were slumped over the coffee station when the text came and both groaned in unison. "At least it's Sunday? Not a regular academic class day?" That was Hot Pie's offering causing Polliver to give a shit eating grin at them, fully enjoying everyone's pains. He was starting to join staff meals and wander his usual routines, staying away from the students but not the staff as of today. Too much of a shit show going on around the kids but Polliver can't work for one more week. He can't interfere but he will damned well be informed at least to what he'll be coming back to. But it was fun to watch the others go through what he does on a daily basis. Seeing Raff take on extra things was fun because when Gregor was busy and Sandor was dead, who did the nurse think took on all that? And Hot Pie seeing things from student to staff point of view was just plain a treat for the eyes. Polliver responded for Raff. "Naw, sweet summer boy, don't you remember a duckling Sunday? Is your brain already that short circuited? Activities included the professors. Each week they did some foolish ass thing that was half fun half educational. Every other week they switched it around. So, which one of you will be doing Stannis's nature hike? And who will be taking on Tyrion's drama class? Tyrion's is an hour before lunch, Stannis's is right after that." Polliver laughed at the explosion of Hot Pie and Raff.

Damon washed the stack of pots and pans while Jeyne stacked up the trays. "Hey, what we did last night? It was dangerous, the Tickler isn't worth a hunt. We can't do that again, Jeyne. It wasn't safe." Jeyne nodded and responded heavily. "It was also wrong. We bullied and attacked someone because he was there, because we knew we could. It was wrong. We should be ashamed. We could lose so much, we could lose our Persons." Damon shrugged. He wasn't sure he agreed on all of it and blurted out, "Joff is a prick. He is always mean to you, he bullies you and tries to get Ramsay to hurt you. If anyone deserves bullying back, it's him." Jeyne thought about it but still disagreed. "No. It's sinking to his level, past it. That is what Myranda said when I told her all about it last night after we showered. That Joff doesn't even deserve the respect of a Person's attention." Damon growled. "How does a whore know any better than your own brother?" Jeyne stiffened and slammed the trays hard onto the metal counter briefly shutting her eyes as the tremor of it hit her sore tailbone. "Myranda is my best friend! She is smart and know things too. Just not the same things you know. And don't you even think about having any hunts on her, you hear me?" Rolling his eyes at the Polliver tone mimic, Damon hissed, "Don't worry. I won't hunt anyone while that sick fuck is out there watching me! We can't hunt at all, not even if Ramsay wants us too, Jeyne. It's too dangerous." Jeyne rolled her eyes this time. "I don't listen to Ramsay, Damon. But I won't hunt. Unless I have to and that won't be with you or Ramsay."

Bob found himself dangling from Gregor's large fist, slamming against the wall hard enough for the window to rattle in it's frame. Gregor was looking over at his hysterically laughing wife, she didn't look injured, just insane. He turned to stare into Bob's face, starting to head towards a lilac color from the way Gregor's fist was squeezing his throat. "Were you threatening my wife? Did you discover that Gilly wouldn't respond well to threats so you came here? Now you have a crazy woman, good luck threatening that. Tell you what, why don't you try to intimidate me, Bob?" Gregor loosened his grip so the man could breathe. "Okay." Bob gasped out and Unella stopped laughing when she and Gregor heard the click of the gun. Pressing it against the bald head, Bob stared into Gregor's angry eyes. "Want your twins to have a daddy? Of course, after I blow your brains out, Kevan can't let that go. So I might as well go all the way. After I kill you, I'll go for Unella and oh yes, it will be a gut shot. Then whoever I see next and next until I have a bullet for myself. Want to take the chance I'm not bluffing, Gregor?" Unella looked scared finally and she spoke in a quiet tone. "Gregor, put him down. Please. We can talk this out." Gregor refused to lose eye contact with the lunatic as he slowly lowered him and let go. He stepped back, hands open, giving a jolly smile that never reached his eyes. Bob put his gun away as he backed out the door. "I get to keep her. I get to marry her for appearances. That is what I want from this. Let me know." He disappeared and Gregor cursed loudly, kicking a chair.

Unella started to giggle and Gregor yelled, "What the fuck new phase is this now? Can you not go through another fucked up hormonal shift while we have this shitshow to deal with? You talked me into this, you and Gilly dragged me and Harold into this, don't you dare lost it on me now!" Unella tried to stop laughing and grabbed Gregor's arm to pull herself straight. "It's another change but I can't fix that. Don't worry, I didn't lose any focus. But you looked just like the Kool Aid man when you smashed through the door or more like The Incredible Hulk," She started to giggle again then smothered it. "Oh gods, the door! Its not fixable. That was amazing though. Thank you. And thank you for not letting Bob decide whether he wants to shoot up the school or not today. We have to talk to Gilly and Harold about this. His offer is repulsive." Gregor was just staring at the babbling doctor, who didn't seem to be aware that she was feeling him up. Then he saw her eyes and his own widened. "Are you insane, woman?" Unella somberly said one last thing. "I think I'm planning on violating you." Gregor couldn't decide if he was a participant or a victim, but he had to get rid of the adrenaline rush as much as she did.

Raff entered the clinic and saw the shattered door. He paused, hearing terrible bestial sounds coming from the room. Did wild animals somehow get inside, was it wrestling deer being raped by a moose? He tentatively leaned to peek into the room. Giving a silent scream, Raff slapped his hands against his eyes and ran out of the clinic to collapse on the porch, curling up. Arya was leaning her head out the window, having popped the screen out a bit ago. "I have been listening to that for ten minutes now. I was about to run away into the cornfield, maybe remove my hearing forever with a sharp stick in the gardens. Or just head straight into the road and keep going until a truck runs me down. You look green, nurse, are you going to-oh, you are." A wavering middle finger extended towards Arya's grinning face as Raff continued to gag, forcing himself not to vomit his precious coffee. "My eyes! I can't stop seeing it. It was like, like if you gave otters bath salts and released them on an alligator! No, it was worse, as if warthogs mated with an flesh eating zombie. It was like seeing someone skin Bambi alive in front of a kindergarten class! I might never have sex again now."

Gilly came out to serve breakfast and paused. Harold was in his usual seat and Bob was just entering the room but there was no Kevan. "Should I wait, Sirs?" The twins looked at each other and Harold nodded. "I'll go see if he is on his way. Just hold off for a minute." Bob sat in his seat and stared down The Tank, who smiled back blandly as Harold headed upstairs. "I told the same message to your partner in crime, Gilly. Just so you know. Gregor knows my terms as well. Not that what Gregor or Harold really matter in this, do they? It's really you and Unella. Are you thinking to replace your employer, Tank?" Harold came into the room and looked slightly worried. "Kevan says he has the flu and to have meals without him. He will text you for a tray later, Gilly." Nodding, Gilly began to serve the men. Bob got coffee, Harold was served his tea and Bob smirked. "I had Raff analyze the tea for me, I so wanted to find something in it. Poison, suggestive medications, anything. I was sad to see it's a mix of calming herbs and a bit of honey." Gilly smiled brightly. "I can assure you, Bob, Harold isn't a person I want to poison. Your neck and throat look a bit bruised, Bob. Are you sure I can't offer you some tea, Bob? I can make you a special blend of your own, if you'd like?" Harold snapped out, "Do not bait him!" Bob smiled gently at Gilly. "Oh please, bait me. Challenge me, Tank, I dare you." Gilly leaned over the table, ignoring Harold. She leaned into Bob's personal space and whispered, "If I were still a girl, oh, how I would. But I am not prone to the childish, violent impulses of my past anymore. Have you thought of therapy for that?" Harold yanked Gilly out of the way just in time.

Hot Pie stared at Tyrion's drama plans for the day and sighed, staring at the kids. "We need to do one piece of a play or musical that you are all involved in. Let's go over our options." Joff was standing as far from the others as he could, near the door of the barn. Myranda and Jeyne were sitting on the makeshift stage and Ramsay was sitting in one of the folding chairs, Damon sitting nearby with crossed arms. Ramsay woke up to discover his pack has abandoned him out of sullen childish anger. Joff wouldn't speak to him and Jeyne fucking GROWLED at him when he tried to talk to Damon during breakfast. Myranda announced that if Hot Pie forced them to perform Our Town, she would jump off the roof of the barn to end the suffering. The rest of the class agreed. Sighing, Hot Pie asked for suggestions. "I Spit On Your Grave, the second half?" Joff and Damon sneered at Myranda. Ramsay chirped brightly, "How about we act out the first half of that movie instead?" Jeyne glared and yelled, "I saw that movie! Second half!"

Hot Pie wanted to cry and he slumped onto the stage. "You are all killing me. That is a movie. Has to be a play or musical." The girls yelled out Extremities, a play about a woman getting revenge upon a rapist killer. The boys in exchanged yelled out, "The Collector! A Clockwork Orange!" Hot Pie wished he brought something stronger than coffee. Is this why Tyrion drinks? "Okay, enough. I am going to read off the list and you all can vote on it. If you all can't agree on something, I will choose it. If you don't want to recite Our Town, you'd better shut up, hear this and vote." In the end, a musical piece was agreed upon. It didn't require the dulcet tones of the likes of Sansa or Loras, just a sense of humor and timing. They spent the entire hour actually finding themselves enjoying it. Hot Pie found himself actually encouraging and praising the kids as they worked together. It came out so well that Hot Pie secretly filmed it to show the staff later. He knew Gilly had so many project ideas, she would love to see this. It came out well enough that Hot Pie let the kids see his clip of it and they all seemed rather stunned and proud of their work. Happily, the cook dismissed the class to Gregor as he headed off to cook lunch. Hot Pie discovered a new passion, he wasn't sure what it was, but whatever he did with those kids today, it was satisfying. It was something to think upon as he began to cook.

Raff carried a long switch while they were dragged along a swampy part of the woods. "Uh, where are we going? How long until you admit we are lost, nurse?" Joff got a few sharp strikes with the switch for his words. It was true and they all knew it, Raff hadn't followed the map Stannis used. He thought he remembered the damned nature trail and he was quite wrong. Arya could have told them what happened. They had passed a small creek on the correct path when Raff had spied otters in the water and he had a memory of the awful thing in the clinic this morning. He freaked and dodged onto another path to get the hell away from the otters and his own pictures in head. Myranda spoke in a nervous tone. "There is a strange large toad that has been following us for awhile now. It's creeping me out." Damon was a nervous wreck and Jeyne's sympathy only made him shove her away, denying his fears. During lunch, Joff would only stare with hostility at Ramsay, Damon didn't even look at him. The girls kept their distance from all the boys at lunch. The camaraderie had only lasted until the students left that barn. Now Ramsay heard Sansa on his shoulder, agreeing with Lancel. Damon was scared of something, Ramsay had to help. Show Damon that he can be there for him, one hunt wasn't a huge deal, Damon will forgive him.

Ramsay dropped back from the group and touched Damon's arm, ignoring the fact that the large boy jumped at it. "Hey, just me. Listen, last night I fucked up and I know it. I should have stopped you from making that bad choice, I know it. I can only tell you I am sorry. The howling brought out memories and triggers for me to, you know. I kept thinking of how much I love Sansa, how I want to be there to take care of her instead of Lancel. It hurt and to be real honest, it made me cry like a stupid pussy. So I couldn't control myself, never mind control you or dog sister." Damon's features softened at that. "Yeah, I miss Sansa, too. She wouldn't have approved of the hunt. Jeyne and I aren't hunting anymore, not while we are here, way too dangerous. Tickler might be watching us right now. Ramsay, he was there last night, he was going to take Jeyne if Gregor didn't grab her first! I know what would happen to her. " Ramsay snorted, "Dog sister to dog meat? Nah, even the Tickler couldn't take down that sister of ours. Think back to what she took, what was done to her? Some of that shit was way more twisted than our own stuff. Yet she is here, surviving and climbing, right? Tickler would have been back in an hour with half a penis missing, begging staff to take Jeyne back."

By the time that Raff found a way out of the woods, they were all tired, muddy and grumpy but Ramsay had Damon on his side again. Gregor was waiting for them and he whacked Raff for being a full half hour late. "Well, ducklings, thanks to the nurse you only have forty five minutes of free time. Hit the showers first. I expect a line of ducklings in forty five minutes waiting for me. Do not make me late for my supper tonight, children." Ramsay waited until they showered then he cornered Joff inside the room. It took Ramsay the entire forty five minutes to deal with Joff's upset. First the boy complained, raged and whined over the injustice done to him, the betrayal of Ramsay. Ramsay told Joff that the trigger hit him differently, made him just too numb to move. He regretted that a hunt happened. Ramsay persuaded Damon to apologize to the little spoiled shit. Damon explained it wasn't even on purpose, just a trigger. He swore to never do it again, Ramsay swore to keep a better control on all them, including himself. It was almost enough but Joff was such an entitled fucker Ramsay had to sweeten the apology. "A broken arm doesn't stop someone from a hunt. Maybe you just need a smaller hunt of your own to feel better? Damon and I can be look outs so the Tickler and staff can't stop it. Still want the whore, Joff?"

Gilly and Harold sat with Gregor, Raff and Polliver for supper. The professors were still ill as was Kevan up at the house. This was a chance for them to chat so they chose to eat together with the staff. Gilly moaned as she devoured her meal. "He is amazing. Oh my gods, why isn't he installed at the house?" Polliver growled jokingly at Gilly. "No! You don't get him, no one does! I have almost chained him to that kitchen for such reasons!" Gregor cleared his throat and looked pointedly at Unella. Raff was not looking at either of them as he picked at his meal. His appetite was destroyed upon seeing the couple, even if they were fully clothed and back to normal. The doctor talked, looking at each of them. "After dinner, Gregor will bring the students back to the big barn. I would like everyone here to join us, please."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Professors and Kevan: The Lazy Song by Bruno Mars  
> Bob: Stayin' Alive by Bee Gees  
> The Cleganes: The Bad Touch by Bloodhound Gang  
> The Students: Gee, Officer Krupke by West Side Story (This is the scene/song they performed for Hot Pie)


	168. Crouched, Ready, Go.

Ramsay leaned close to Joff and Damon during supper, leaving the girls to their own meal and chatter. "Myranda doesn't have any cleaning duties in the kitchen tonight. Jeyne and Damon have it." Damon shook his head, not interested in this plan no matter what. "Not tonight. Gregor said everyone has to line up at the dorm. We are supposed to do some activity, I think as a group. Gregor will notice anyone that's missing. After that it starts to get dark out and the Tickler comes out then." Ramsay and Joff rolled their eyes. Keeping his tone patient, Ramsay slowly continued.

"I am aware of that, Damon, thank you. And if this was a plan for a hunt, it wouldn't work. But Joff isn't really up to a hunt with his broken arm, is he? This is just a small taste of what he can do another time. Just a bit of fun and that doesn't really take long. We owe him, remember? Now, after supper we have ten minutes before line up. So Joff will slip out first, I will tell the girls we are going out a bit early and when they follow, Damon will toss Myranda to Joff." Damon raised one eyebrow. "You forgot one other thing besides the Tickler that might stop Joff. Jeyne isn't going to let us just snatch Myranda." Ramsay smirked. "Leave Jeyne to me. Don't worry about it, I have something she will want to talk about."

The girls weren't interested in eating or chatting. Going outside did sound more entertaining, as long as they didn't leave the vicinity of the mess hall lawn, Gregor won't care much. It never would occur to Jeyne that the boys would dare such a thing as snatching Myranda in such a bold way. So she never feared releasing Myranda to begin reacting to Ramsay's goading. "How can you think I cheated? You can't mimic games like voices, Ramsay! Didn't you watch us play?" Jeyne never turned from the argument to see Damon's hand curl around her friend's waist as the other clapped over her mouth, slipping behind the bushes. Ramsay kept in front of Jeyne, walking backwards, goading her into stomping towards him, continuing to defend her gaming wins.

Damon spun his prey away from the bushes, slamming her into the small shed next to the kitchen.

Yanking Myranda's head back, Damon whispered fiercely, "Don't worry, whore. It's not me you'll be fucking. Just the golden little pussy here. Ramsay says do what he wants or instead of fifteen minutes here, it's going to be a nice long hunt." Damon's fear made his voice sound harsh but he was slightly confused by a quick gleam in Myranda's eyes. He didn't understand what she could be happy about but Damon was unsettled enough. Joff was already unbuckling his pants and giggling in a repulsive way. Damon sneered and tossed the girl at him then left the shed fast. He didn't lock the door, because no matter what Ramsay had said, Damon refused to hang around in case the Tickler came around early.

Ramsay was still in the argument with Jeyne when he saw Damon running back to him. Annoyed, he cut off Jeyne to stare at his idiot brother. "I thought you had something to do?" Damon stubbornly shook his head. "Nope. I did the part I said I would. That's it. Not waiting around for nightmares, man." Suddenly, Jeyne frowned and noticed Myranda was missing. She turned to walk back towards the path they usually all take. Ramsay glared at Damon as he tried to get Jeyne's attention again. "I need to go find Myranda. I wasn't cheating. Don't care if you believe me." Jeyne was concerned that Bob might have gotten a hold of her friend when she wasn't paying attention. Damon grabbed her arm and Jeyne sighed, glaring up at him. "What? I need to find Myranda." Ramsay tilted his head, giving Damon a wide eyed stare as if saying, go on, explain this one.

Damon opened his mouth with no idea what would come out. For a brief insane moment, all three of them, Damon himself included, thought he emitted a piercing high wavering scream. Slamming his mouth shut, Damon and the others saw it wasn't him after all. It was Joff's voice, it was shrieking, undulating in agony, causing Damon to gasp, "Oh gods, Tickler! I told you, Ramsay!" Then the boy simply turned gray and fainted, landing hard with a thud. Jeyne and Ramsay ran for the sound, as did the staff present in the kitchens. Gregor knocked the two students out of the way as he ripped open the shed door.

At first, no one could understand why Joff was screaming like that when it appeared he was raping Myranda. No one could understand why Myranda was cackling when it was clear she was being raped. Until Gregor managed to pry the thrashing, shrieking boy out and off the girl. Gregor, Harold, Hot Pie, Raff, Polliver and Ramsay all found themselves wincing and holding themselves in horror. Unella, Jeyne and Gilly all wore smirks, not a shred of sympathy within them. Myranda had a bit of a bloody nose and her pants were ripped off but her smile was triumphant as was her laughter. "How do you like that trick, Princess? No one wants my Whore Box anymore! Not with my new tricks, you hear me, boys? Fuck you! Don't you EVER try and rape me, hear me, that's for all of you! I am not your fucking rabbit! Cocksucker, weren't gonna pay me, were you? Just hunt, jump and fuck? FUCK YOU! HOW'S THAT FEELING, TIGHT ENOUGH FIT FOR YOU?"

Joff had his pants around his ankles, his shirt pulled up and he was screaming, hands flapping around the terrible cage around his cock. It looked like a condom, except for the sharp barbs that hooked and dug deep into penis from shaft to head. Unella gave a grim smile to the little rapist and spoke calmly. "That will take a minor surgery to remove from you, young man."

Gilly announced that Myranda needed to be examined as well. The girl was still going between cackling and shaking as Harold and Gilly helped her towards the clinic. No one texted Bob, Kevan or the ill professors. Gregor roused the now sobbing Damon, leaving Ramsay to explain what happened. "You two boys can go assist Jeyne in the kitchen. Hot Pie is going to watch while you are all going to make his kitchens shiny! Since we aren't getting to our extra activity for a bit, you can help with chores. When you finish the kitchens get your asses back to the dorm house to wait for our nightly jog."

Myranda was shocked to find herself going past the clinic. She was confused then terrified when Harold suddenly held her mouth shut with one hand as another produced a small blade. "Hush, stay still and calm, trust me, sweetheart." Myranda stared pleadingly at Gilly as she felt Harold's blade come closer but the Tank just nodded. The girl winced at the sharp quick pain then watched in confusion as Harold held up the little tracker. "The cut isn't deep enough for stitches. Gilly, bandage this quick, would you, please?" Myranda allowed the Tank to wrap up her arm while she stared up at Harold. "What are you doing?" Harold gave Myranda a grim smile. "I'm doing the best I can to save you, dear. Do everything Varys says, everything Bronn says. Goodbye, Myranda." She stared with alarm and a sense of chilling joy, "You are letting me go free? You are setting me on the run? Letting me escape Kevan and Bob? For real?"

Myranda hugged Harold tight and went limp at the prick of a needle.

Harold ran with the limp girl through Kevan's hidden garden pathways as fast as he could. Taking a sharper left that was only known to the twins, Harold went into a dark section of dead fall and to the small rarely used road that led miles down towards the main road. Leaning against his car, Bronn grinned at Harold. "When Varys asked me to pick up a secret package at the school, I have to say I was pretty surprised. We usually only save kids stuck in the Order still. This is the first school rescue I've ever done."

Harold was nervous, he had no idea when Bob might emerge the house and notice both his brother and his obsession were missing. Gilly had assured Harold that she could distract Bob but he was dubious. "Just hurry, get her as far as you can, give her a new name, put her as far across the world as you can." Harold waited long enough to watch Bronn put the girl in the trunk, get in the car and peel out.

When he got back, Harold skidded to halt in relief to see Gilly standing near the clinic waiting calmly for him.

Gilly patted his sweaty, heaving back as he tried to catch his breath. "Poor dear, calm down. The cup of coffee I gave Bob was sedated by Unella. He is snoring comfortably in restraints in our most soundproof and secure room at the clinic. I know you wished me to use one of your special rooms at the house, but recall that he helped you create those. Bob knows exactly how to get out of it. However, medical and mental unit restraints are a bit different. This might take him longer, give him time to defuse. I know he will still probably find a way out on his own, but at least this gives enough time for that girl to get out of reach."

Shaking his head, Harold muttered, "Bob will never forgive me for this. He won't forgive Varys either. I'll have to become the point of contact for Bronn and Kevan, Bob will kill him if he ever sees him again. I can't prevent that. Bronn knows that Bob would try and torture him for Myranda's location before killing him. He won't be able to give any information, Myranda will pass through too many hands for him to ever know where she went. Bronn is willing to take the risk of being hunted down by Bob. He liked Myranda, was happy to help her out. Oh gods, what have I done? I betrayed my brother. He might kill me, kill you. He might shoot up the whole damned school."

Gilly grabbed Harold's distressed face and spoke earnestly, gently pulling off his glasses as she walked them slowly into a shadowy area of the clinic.

"No, you aren't betraying your twin, you are saving him. That is why Varys agreed to do it, because he is the oldest and does whatever he can to protect you two. If the girl stayed here, whether he married her or not, that girl was going to be tortured and killed sooner or later. What would happen to Bob then? Do you think we would all be able to stand by and allow that? Or Kevan? How would he react to any of the ideas Bob had for that girl? You have saved your brother from a terrible fate and a terrible regret. I really believe Bob doesn't wish to kill Myranda, he thinks she loves him, that she could help him keep his urges at bay. I understand that, I truly do. What I know is the day would come when Bob would snap and murder her by accident. He would have to live with that awful regret. We are saving him from that. And you know it was only right to give Myranda a second chance at life."

Harold kissed Gilly and then she smiled at him. "As for shooting up the school, I have taken all of Bob's bullets and hid them quite well." Harold laughed briefly then sobered. "The guns are only one of the ways Bob can kill. Only one. And if he chooses to only hurt us all, well, he has a million ways he could do that."

Unella determined that since they had Joff sedated and restrained in one room, Bob in another, they had to rush. Ramsay, Damon and Jeyne were confused when half the staff burst into the dorm. Raff and doctor were helping a pale, blanket wrapped Arya inside. Hot Pie and Polliver were ushered in by Harold and Gilly. Gregor locked the doors and Gilly smiled at the confused children and the few staff that didn't understand yet either.

"Okay, let's start with the simplest part. This is a very private and secret meeting. Joff isn't here because he is recuperating from a minor surgery. The professors are not here because they are ill. Bob is not here because he is rather indisposed at the moment. Myranda is not here because she has been graduated and has moved on." Jeyne gasped and everyone but the Cleganes seemed shocked, confused. "What? No. Is Bob hunting her? I will kill him! Let me go help her!" It took Polliver and Raff to hold Jeyne as Gregor got in her face. "No. Hear me, Jeyne. Bob will never reach her again. No one will. Nanny Gregor is promising you that Myranda will be safe and fine."

Gilly continued. "The reason that Kevan isn't attending this meeting is because he is not invited. This is about refusing to continue the terrible and painful traditions of scrubbing minds and giving so much control to our director through these arcane methods. Everyone here has been affected by the Order. The Order still has Kevan under their control which means we are under them still. Unless we all allow the memories, allow ourselves to deal with it. Then we can truly make this school a place to heal and learn a real skill to take into the world someday. We need to all stand together, let Kevan see that we are willing to face our fears. That we wish for changes to be made, to make our school a place to be proud of." Polliver looked amused as he drawled out, "Aww, hell, it's a mutiny."

Harold went into the clinic after the meeting and walked to the very end of the rooms, to one particular steel door. Many a student has spent time in that room. The twins themselves found themselves in Qyburn's padded cell as teenagers. Recently it has been used by Damon, Joff and Jeyne, now it's Bob's place all over again. Harold peeked into the small window to see Bob sitting against the white padding, staring at the door as if he was waiting for Harold. The sunglasses were missing, so were Bob's shoes and regular clothing. Bob had white socks, a white smock and matching white straitjacket. His eyes gleamed as the first truly noticeable thing about Bob. Those pale eyes blinked and looked away as if losing interest.

With a deep breath, Harold unlocked the door and entered the room shutting the door behind him. Harold walked over to his brother and crouched down to be at eye level. He waited until Bob met his eyes and then he gave him a mirthless smile. "I am sorry to came down to this, Bob. Varys and I, we love you and we are loyal to each other. That is why we made some arrangements. You will be mad at us but I hope in time you will see why it was right. Myranda is gone, Bob. Gone where you can never find or reach her. You'll never see her again. I want to make sure you understand that, Bob. Varys can find you an arrangement, okay? So you can go away and get certain things out of your system. And Unella and Raff can help us here. Bob, you need a change in medication, maybe therapy, I don't know, but I will find out what you need and help you any way I can."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Myranda: Exes and Oh's by Elle King  
> Harold: Distance by Cake  
> Joff: Teenagers by My Chemical Romance  
> Bob: Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley  
> Bronn, Varys, Bri and Podrick: Dirty Little Secret by The All American Rejects


	169. The Red Queen And The White Duchess

Lancel was breathless at the sight of his wife. It seemed as if time has gone backwards and Lancel found himself giving an elegant bow, as if addressing a queen. Sansa looked pale like an angel, like a statue, her skin was pure white, slightest of rose upon those china doll cheeks and her eyes were stunning among all the white. Bee stung heart shaped lips were softly defined in a slight blood tinge. Glorious waves, ginger rolls and fire burnt piles of long red hair piled upon Sansa's head in a way that was both punk-edge and classic. Small white wolves and tiny gold lions adorned her hair, nearly hidden, just barely twinkling in the chandelier lights. The antique Edwardian white and gold cotton tea dress was simply stunning and only accented the eyes and hair. Lancel smirked as Sansa stood before him and gave him a reserved but graceful curtsy. With a lovely smile, Sansa asked, "I showed little Val a picture of Queen Elizabeth and asked her to modernize it. The dress was picked out by our two youngest angels. I take it you enjoy the results, my love?"

Lancel remembered how in the past when Sansa wished to show off a look, she would twirl like a little girl and her eyes would beg for approval. Not anymore, Sansa has become so confident, more each day since they have married. Lancel takes full credit for this of course. Though he was surprised that Sansa managed to warm up to any of the Craster girls. His wife had no trouble being vocal to him of her dislike of them since she has met them. However, Lancel had cautioned her to patience and told her to try and get to know the girls. It seems his advice has paid off. Sansa has swept Val right under her elegant wing as soon as she figured out the teen girl had a magic touch with hair and makeup. Sansa had prettily begged Lancel to keep Val with her. "Why pay some stylist that I must mind my tongue around? Sweet Val can travel with me, I promise to take her to educational things while we are out! She can attend me everywhere, you'll have your own adorable spy that I can at least enjoy. Oh please, I will even pay her and lavish, spoil her with so much love and sugar she will die of diabetes."

Lancel did like the idea of not having to attend Sansa whenever she went out. However, leaving his wife alone with Bronn was out of the question. He was afraid that Sansa might kill the man out of sheer hatred one of these days. Val was a calm girl and the least prone to temper or violence, yet Lancel knew the girl would kill anyone that touched Sansa, without hesitation. Lancel had agreed and Sansa immediately had Val move out of the sister's home and into her own. A guest room right under Sansa's own and Belinda and Clara were so angry over it. All the sisters lived together and Val was too young to be leaving school to follow Sansa around as a stylist. Lancel had to put his foot down very firmly upon some of the oldest sisters then. It was regrettable but needed and all understood that, of course. He smiled as Sansa brought him a drink, then sipped her own. Lancel had agreed to letting Val be tutored at home, whichever home that Sansa was at.

The two tiniest girls came running in to jump in small circles around Sansa. "You looks like a real Princess now! Oh gosh, it's so pretty!" Sansa giggled and petted the curls upon Sara's sweet head. "I look like a Queen, don't I? That makes YOU girls the princesses now." She leaned over them, like a good fairy about to sing a magical tune. Both Mari and Sarah grinned with wide eyes at Sansa. "I won't see you again before you go on your mission. You are Princess Warriors, Superstars and you have to make your toads proud. Show them your own trophies just like I taught you. Be safe and careful and fierce until I see you again." Beaming at the lovely tableau, Lancel was proud of Sansa and his girls. The little ones were truly his in every way and they worshiped the ground Sansa walked upon. Sansa tried so hard to like the youngest pair and spent so much time with them, now his wife adored them back.

Lancel kissed Sansa's cheek and whispered, "I am so glad you chose to do this for Walda. Poor thing has to deal with Roose, cat therapy and the coming of a child. I heard that Roose told his wife about his coming arrivals. What I am so glad for is that you chose to help Walda before her sisters began to gossip of her woes. This makes your gesture seem sincere and not out of charity or hunger for scandalous gossip. That breaks Lannister tradition, to not rush to lap politely at the blood after it starts to drip." His wife gave a little nod of her head and spoke softly. "As you have told me, it's time for those old traditions to be ripped out at their roots. So I am choosing to give Walda a proper lovely baby shower tea and allow her a chance to give a tiny snub to those evil sisters of hers." Lancel caressed his wife's elegantly draped shoulder, like the rest of her body, silky smooth skin with no marring. Since Sansa has taken all her husband's lessons to heart, there has never been a need to cause her a moment of discomfort. "I shall miss you, honey. Take very good care of our Val and I shall take care of the small unrest here. Then take our girls off to get their first real taste of our war." Sansa kissed Lancel's cheek. "I only feel bad that I will miss all the action playing good hostess." Lancel chuckled as he walked Sansa outside. "Don't worry, wife, you'll be there for the main events."

Sansa and Val ignored the chauffeur as they entered the limousine that Sansa rented for the occasion. Sadly, she missed enjoying forcing Bronn to rent a limo for her but he has gone off suddenly. Sansa refused to get into any vehicle with Bronn unless it was up to her standards, yet made sure that Lancel refused Bronn the privilege of using one of their own cars. Even that didn't stop the repulsive idiot, no, the bastard actually somehow came up with money to rent cars way above his pay grade. Without a look at the nameless driver, Sansa nodded for Val to press the button to make the screen separate them from the driver. Smiling down at Val, Sansa fixed the girl's hair a bit and straightened her bow for her. "I am so happy with how you look. Do you like having hair the same color as me?"

Val smiled happily but then bit her lip and lowered her eyes, speaking quietly. "I love it, the clothes and the hair. But the older sisters, they think I am just a copy of you, that you are dressing me like I am your little doll." Sansa smiled and hugged the pretty despondent teen. "Well, maybe they are jealous of your talents and getting such a great job! I thought we both chose your look. If you were a doll, I would have not asked you if you wanted this look, I would have just ordered it. Or just dressed you myself. You are no doll, you are a wonderful girl, I see you as a little sister. Someone I can help, protect and guide."

Watching the road eat up the lovely country, already thirsting for the smell and taste of Kings Landing, Sansa opened the window and her nose wrinkling, sniffing eagerly at the rushing air. Val was sleeping, relaxed and Sansa thought how adorable the girl looked. Unlike Arya, this girl was kind of pretty, she looked like a small plainer version of Sansa now. I have replaced Arya with this girl, I need something, someone of my own. A Damon, an Arya, a something until Sansa can reach Ramsay again. Val will do for now and it looks good to Lancel. As does pretending to now adore those little fucking devil dolls, with button eyes, like murderous child soldiers.

With a satisfied smirk upon her painted classical face, looking more like the Queen of Hearts then Queen Elizabeth, Sansa thought of her past few weeks. Once Sansa calmed herself and put her focus on the right things, it all fell into place so easily. Once Sansa had told Lancel of what the eldest girls' said and saw his expression, she knew what to do. The food started to appear over salted, burnt or overly seasoned in all the wrong ways. Plants fell, things were misplaced and worst of all, some of Lancel's best outfits were burnt by an iron or missing buttons. Clara and Belinda would swear they had no idea how these accidents are happening. Lancel was gearing his anger at the two girls who have added spite onto their hidden disloyal thoughts about him.

Sansa continued to show her hard work with the other sisters. It only took a few more little things, like chatting with the little girls. Telling them lightly how their eldest sisters worry that it might be too big a task for them. Sansa understands how important it is to the little girls to be a part of the missions, of course, but maybe Clara and Belinda just simply don't think they are good enough? Shrugging as the girls indignantly protested, Sansa said, "Are you sure? I mean, I do wish we could sometimes leave something amazing from an adventure of your own for those toads! Think of it! They have been to the circus, to space, to a cattle ranch, a tropical island and just yesterday you found tiny roller blades, helmets and skateboards! What kind of thing could you bring back to leave for the toads to find? Remember when you found the safari hats, tiny machetes, that helicopter and it had a collection of shrunken heads on it? I bet we could shrink Roose's head and show them. Oh, but maybe we should check in with your older sisters. They love you and know best, don't they?"

Sansa collected little girls like others collected china dolls. And slept thinking of Walda strangling cats then to look down and see herself strangling a little girl.

Rising in the right eyes rises you higher. What a strange lesson that so many had tried to teach Sansa and it was the one thing that never stuck home in her head until now. She wonders idly if her mother, Petyr, Cersei and Olenna are all rolling in hell screaming, Finally, the stupid girl learns something from us! It took living in a craft room hell for the idea to finally strike home. It didn't mean get the attention of the higher classes, the money, the right shiny thing. No, in order to reach those things that are higher, you need steps and sturdy backs make good steps. Each little girl was Sansa's step and as long as her steps remained ever so light, they have become her ladder. Now it was time to put things into delicate action for herself. Ramsay had sent them a message of mutiny within the school and a missing student. Sansa was so glad that her plans were already in action before Lancel told Ramsay to wake the sleepers. She needed this chance to show Lancel and the rest of them all the extent of her new power. Walda needed this before her child was born, Sansa needed to help her because of those fucking cats and to sleep again someday.

Sansa entered the elegant tea room as if she owned it, which actually, she did. She bought it through a small insurance agency that her father used to use. Every bit of the wait staff was recommended by Walda herself. As much as both women would have loved to persuade Kevan to lend them Hot Pie, they chose a certain man from FourHeads. A man that is a criminal on the run but an excellent chef that still enjoyed extra jobs. Sansa had met him during her time at that school field trip and was duly impressed. Walda was already at the dais, sipping nervously at her tea. The only other person sitting at the highest table was Walda's own father. Within ten minutes of meeting Walda's sisters, Sansa has not only forgiven Arya everything, truly everything but found herself forgiving even Clara and Belinda their own actions. Grasping Walda's hand, she squeezed it tightly. "Are you ready for the games to begin?"

Walda smiled and nodded eagerly. "Oh yes, thank you! I don't think I can take much more of this, truly. This much bile isn't good for the baby." One of the oldest Frey sisters sitting nearby cackled loudly about how such a waste of money that Walda was on Roose. After all, how much did that white and gold atrocity cost her? On that stuck up cunt it looked good, one supposed, but on a sow like Walda? It was like watching a baby pig wearing a child's well made dress!  Poor Val was clutching her tea spoon far too tightly and glaring at it. Sansa knew part of it was because Walder was feeling the poor girl's leg up with his gnarled hand under the table, the other half was because she couldn't believe the venom of these sisters. Sansa shifted in her seat and accidentally spilled some wine into the old man's lap. "Oh, how clumsy of me, Sir! Here, this damp rag should easily take it out." Walder grumbled and began to pat himself dry and she winked at Val, who giggled slightly.

Sansa stood up then and lightly clapped her hands. "Now! What is a baby shower without a little game, ladies? Now, before your dearest father says he will bored by all this, I have a solution for that. I have with us the best meat pie ever made. Walder, I know you have much to say on that subject, so you will judge this pie while the ladies play my game."

Walda herself lovingly cut her father's pie and smiled cheerfully at each bite the man took. Walder tried not to show how amazingly good it was, but he kept eating. However, he discovered the game that Sansa had set up had become so maliciously good, it was just as delicious as each bite of meat laden pastry. "Since you will all be aunts to this child, I am sure it is your duty to remember your sister's younger years in silly stories to be told. So why don't you each stand, give a small taste to us of your fondest memory, along with a toast of this special drink the cook has made for us! Now it isn't tea even though it is a tea room. It's naughty of us but I am sure Walda will forgive us. Only feeling a tad jealous she can't join us in a little imbibing."

Each sister stood up and told a story so horrible that it brought tears to Walda's eyes. As well as Sansa's and Val was actually crying, just devastated at the level of meanness. Years of bullying, tormenting and victimizing told in joyful voices as they drank deep, along with each resounding laughing end of story after story. Walder was back to pawing at Val as he nodded, cackling adding some of his own best memories. "She was always my favorite little piglet. Bled and squealed like one the first few times I spent some quality time with her." Sansa nearly dropped her own wine goblet at that and it was Walda that steadied her hand with a small cold smile.

It was halfway through the last story when the teller of the tale began to cough along with the other girls. Walder looked confused then alarmed as his daughters all began to turn purple and convulse. "What? Is this a joke? Call an ambulance, stupid pigs, do something, my daughters are dying!" Walda giggled and waved girlishly at her father as Val calmly sat, twirling her spoon in her fingers. "Of course they are, silly. What did you think would happen when they consumed that much poisoned wine? Sit back down, father, I want to know what you think of the meat pie. Was it the best you've ever had? I hope so, I went through a terrible time finding just the right ingredients and Sansa was just lucky enough to know the right kind of chef. Oh, look, he has brought you a tray so you can inspect the best meats used!"

Walder tore his eyes from his dying daughters to see a silver tray holding the heads. "My sons! You fed me my own sons!" Walda and Sansa beamed proudly as Val grinned and clutched the spoon tighter. The old man lunged at Walda and Val was on him, the spoon digging into his eye, plopping one out then the other. Clapping girlishly, Walda sat back and watched the rest of the show. Sansa sighed, happy that she finally learned how to be the right kind of hostess. Observing how well Val slowly murdered the man with a tea spoon, Sansa was reminded of Ramsay and she hoped that they can both keep Val for themselves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sansa: A Little Wicked by Valerie Broussard  
> Craster Girls: Revolting Children by Matilda the Musical  
> Walda Frey: Learn Your Lessons Well by Godspell  
> Ghosts of Petyr, Cat, Cersei and Olenna: Razzle Dazzle by Richard Gere (Chicago musical)


	170. Mutiny For Breakfast

Stannis and Tyrion sat in silence, clutching their cutlery, staring at the rest of the staff. It was clear to them the group has gone mad while they were ill. For the first time in history, Hot Pie's breakfast was going mostly unnoticed. Raff and Polliver took great amusement explaining the mutiny. After a moment, Tyrion cleared his throat and spoke very slowly. "I am not sure which disturbing thing I wish to address first. This mutiny, a student missing or why Bob has been locked away. How you plan on explaining all this to Kevan, that is right at the top of it all, of course. Yes. However, I think Stannis will agree with me that one thing is more important than the rest. What the living HELL am I looking at? This is beyond disgusting, revolting and inappropriate! I would rather see Bob with Myranda on his lap, feeding him syrup drenched pancakes than this...this!" Tyrion waved with flapping hands as Stannis agreed with a vigorous nod, his face stern with revulsion.

Gregor had his arms wrapped around Unella, his hands resting on her stomach. Both looked calm, cheerful almost but there was a heated look in Unella's eyes that made the skin crawl. Tyrion couldn't see the doctor's hands and he shuddered. Raff sighed and nodded. "I know. We have had the past few hours to get used to this already. Trust me, if Gregor lets go of her, you won't like what you'll see. Unella is in a new hormonal phase and I will have to scrub your head twelve times plus give you an addiction to bath salts in order for you to deal with that." Stannis put a napkin to his rather green looking face and Tyrion shut his eyes, using his hands to wave the very thought away. "No, that is beyond me. Okay, let us concentrate on something less disturbing. I take it that we are part of this mutiny whether we want to be or not?"

Unella smiled. "You were both on the grounds last night. While we had a secret meeting. While we helped a student run away from the school. While we basically kidnapped and confined a staff member. Did either of you text or try to reach Kevan? No? In fact, you only texted the staff that you were ill for the day. Not Kevan. So we just can lie and say you were here, helping along the whole time." Stannis lowered his napkin and his eyes were banked fires. "Except for the Tickler. He is many things but a liar isn't one of them. All Kevan has to do is ask the most famous peeper of all time and he will know that we never left Tyrion's cabin. Not once. Until this morning. I do not like being forced into a mutiny that isn't of my choosing."

Tyrion groaned and rubbed his head. "I agree with what you are doing, at least mostly. Scrubbing doesn't work. I agree that I don't want Bob running around hunting students and I understand why Myranda was hidden away. But, you aren't dealing with a damned committee or school board here! You are forcing my uncle's hand with a mutiny. Kevan might be down and depressed but that means NOTHING. Because the best way to pep a Lannister up is to give them a good challenge. You are going to try and slap his hand gently and tell him his methods are bad. That the group of you and the students will be the ones to decide how things are run now. And he is what then? Just the old man you dress and parade out for speeches? Oh, sweet summer children, you do not know my uncle."

Kevan stared at the empty chair then back at Harold, who was calmly buttering his toast. Gilly poured the coffee for Kevan then brought a silver pot with Harold's tea. Raising an eyebrow, Kevan waited for Harold to say something. Finally, he felt the eyes behind the sunglasses meet his. "Sir? Is something wrong? You are still a bit pale, do you still feel ill?" Kevan glowered and he sipped his coffee. "Harold, I am not in the mood for your games. Where is your brother?" Harold smiled and responded lightly as he took a bite of his omelet. "Bob is at the clinic." With a sigh, Kevan shook his head. "I guess there were more heads to scrub then Unella could do on her own with only being able to work part time." Harold swallowed then sipped at his tea. "No, Sir. Bob is restrained in the clinic."

Kevan gave him a sharp look as Harold calmly put jam upon his toast. "Why would Bob be restrained in the clinic, Harold?" Gilly refilled Kevan's coffee and Harold didn't look up from his plate as he replied. "Bob hunted Myranda. I felt it best to give him some time in the clinic under restraint." Kevan briefly shut his eyes and sighed. "Is the girl alright? Is she still alive?" Harold sipped his tea and nodded. "Well, she was also raped by Joff, luckily she had some defense. Myranda is gone now. I felt she was in too much danger here." Kevan gently set down his coffee cup and one hand began to slowly tap upon the table. His voice was soft and pure cotton blanket security. "I wasn't texted of any of this. You chose to remove my student? Where is she, Harold?"

"I had Bronn and Varys take care of the details, Sir. That way Bob cannot track her. Bob isn't safe around the girl and the girl certainly isn't safe around him. It was a logical choice to make." Kevan reached into his pocket and began to twirl his golden pen. "You made all these decisions? How lovely for you, Harold. Shall I start moving the things out of my office for you?" Harold kept eating and shook his head. "No, Sir. I made fast choices only on those things I felt needed immediate action. There is more, Sir. No scrubbing has been done. The students have all retrieved their memories yesterday. So has all staff. No one wishes to allow their heads to be scrubbed anymore. They would like to retain their memories and overcome them. There was a meeting, Sir. It was a meeting to discuss how we all felt about dealing with our pasts. How we can make the school so much more than a holding pen. We all wish to discuss this with you, Sir."

Kevan gave a charming smile and leaned back, relaxed, cheeks suddenly blooming with health. "Ah, I see. It is a mutiny. We haven't had one of those in quite some time. How fun. Gilly, I can see you through Harold's glasses. Are you planning on whacking my head with that coffee pot?" Gilly flushed slightly but shook her head. "No, Sir. I am planning on pouring just enough coffee upon your sleeve to ruin it if you threw that pen at Harold." Gilly moved so that she was within Kevan's gaze but held tightly to the coffee pot. Harold frowned slightly, he didn't want Gilly that close to the ancient lion with sharp claws. Gilly smiled and spoke earnestly.

"We have faith in you still but some things simply have to change, Sir. The scrubbing and denying has to end. Sending the children back out into the world into forced marriages, back into the clutches of the Order, if not always beholden to you. Real education, real therapy and real futures. It's what the staff wants to deliver, it's what the students need and we all look to you to help us create this." Kevan nodded and asked, "If I decide I am not interested in your demands, do I find myself in a clinic room next to Bob's? Or will you just make me go away, bury my bones with my wife and my skin can become a tapestry?" Gilly smiled and shook her head as if Kevan was being foolish. "Never, Sir. We would simply continue to try and convince you."

"Oh, that is a relief. Good. So, am I allowed to visit Bob or am I on a politely enforced house arrest? Is it just the two of you I speak with or will the entire school show up tonight with torches?" Harold frowned. "Of course you can do whatever you wish, it's your school. We aren't taking you prisoner, Sir. We are trying to let you know how we all feel, how we have ideas we would like to share with you." Kevan smiled brilliantly. "I see. Well then, I am going to visit your brother. I suggest you gather your mutineers so we may have a meeting. Let's all meet where we hold circle, shall we? In one hour."

Breakfast for the students was no less tense and interesting. Damon twitched from Post Traumatic Tickler Syndrome, Arya twitched from withdrawal and Ramsay found himself timing their ticks with a hideous fascination. One twitched, then the other and Ramsay fantasized about making an orchestra of twitching teenagers. He was going crazy, right along with everyone else in this fucked up place. Ramsay was trying hard not to panic, not to just give in to a crazy impulse. The whole mutiny thing nearly has pushed him over the edge, the memories, everyone's memories rained all over him and he was drowning here. It was too much for his one mind to handle and he knew it.

Ramsay had begged, fucking begged Lancel to be allowed to talk to Sansa. The prick saw no point to it and it wasn't like Ramsay could push it. At least he wasn't going to be alone anymore. Lancel said the sleeper will come forth to Ramsay to assist him. Ramsay was assured that Lancel would make quick work of the outer destruction then show with Sansa and the girls. In less than a few days it ends. A slaughter, a bit of time pretending if needed then Sansa will take his hand and they will be gone. Ramsay tore his eyes away from the twitches to look over at the sideshow freak just entering. Ramsay's mood lightened even as he felt another crack in his head at the deranged sight approaching the table.

Jeyne came to breakfast late, wearing Myranda's perfume, earrings, fake nails and make up. She stunk of pot and cigarettes, her eyes red, watery and certainly stoned. Sadly, this was the one day that not a single staff member was paying much notice to the students. No, they were gearing for their little battle, leaving the ducklings to fend for themselves. Ramsay was dying to see the staff's reaction to Jeyne when they finally noticed her. Damon and Arya had both stared at her then stifled laughter. Ramsay didn't try and spare Jeyne's feelings as she sat down with her tray.

"Holy shit, dog sister! Are you all fucked up? Damon, after breakfast we should run to Myranda's room, get whatever else she had in there! Dog sister, how much did you smoke? And no offense, but that perfume, it was bad enough on Myranda, on you, it's way worse. Did you decide to make yourself a clown today? Let me be honest with you, that make up doesn't make you look like a sexy whore. It makes you look like a serial killer. You have one hoop earring and one butterfly stud, four of your nails fell off into your scrambled eggs, you know. Go clean yourself up, you are embarrassing yourself and your family. The whole fucking student body is embarrassed for you." Jeyne giggled and rose two middle fingers at Ramsay, one with a pink fake nail barely clinging onto the finger tip.

Damon and Arya twitched at the same time and Ramsay whacked them each with his plastic spoon. "Stop it! The fucking three of you are breaking down during a damned mutiny we are forced into! This could be dangerous or the best time of our lives! Who knows? But you will miss it because you two will fucking just twitch around, banging into trees! And you!" Ramsay pointed the spoon at Jeyne, who growled as if to dare him to try and whack her. "You! Last night you agreed with the staff! You want this mutiny, you want to help them? How? You might need your feral skills if shit goes wrong! Ever hear of a perfumed, whore hunting dog before? Get your fucking selves together, all three of you!" 

Three sets of eyes slowly looked up, rolling up in wet sockets to meet Ramsay's blazing eyes. Then six middle fingers rose into the air, one with a pink nail, one without and four others that twitched. Ramsay tossed his spoon at them all and slumped into his chair. "Fuck all of you too."

Stannis left the staff table earlier than the others and caught Ramsay's eye. He gave a tiny nod and Ramsay instantly felt a bit better. He wasn't alone anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kevan Lannister: You've Got Another Thing Coming by Judas Priest  
> Ramsay and Stannis: Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects  
> Jeyne, Damon and Arya: Heaven Knows by The Pretty Reckless  
> The Staff: Whistling In The Dark by They Might Be Giants


	171. A Wayward School

Drip. Drip. Myranda blinked and heard something past the immediate dripping. Screaming. Yes, that was screaming but it wasn't Myranda. Even though she was clearly the one laying in a trunk with a hood half open dripping on her. Oh. That's blood, huh, Myranda almost giggled and wondered what the living fuck was going on. That screaming was sometimes cursing or sobbing, now it was laughing. Uh oh, whoever was with them didn't seem to get what the joke was because the laughing just turned back to screaming. Voices, calm, sweeter voices broke through the tormented yells but the drip was still so persistent. Myranda concentrated on the drip and thought some more.

Harold. He was setting me free, he said to obey Bronn and Varys. There was pain and he must have sedated me. AND STUFFED ME IN A DAMNED TRUNK!

Before Myranda could get too worked up over that fact, she registered the voices, at least two of them. The screamer was Bronn and she knew that would be very bad. One of the voices was Sansa which was just plain confusing. None of this made sense and why was the trunk bleeding? Cars don't bleed. Bronn screamed like he was probably bleeding but he wasn't close enough. They were further away than that, not by much. Myranda moved inch by inch to make no sound and to judge if any of her aching parts were broken. Everything seemed to work but her mind which was going too slow and she knew it. She peeked her head up just enough to scan outside the trunk and saw no one. A fancy limo was there with doors flung open and a long smear of blood, dragging marks.

Myranda judged that she could reasonably slip out of the trunk. The voices were coming from the woods that surrounded the small dirt road. To the right and Myranda decided she would go left. There was nothing she could do for Bronn. She didn't want to know why Sansa was hurting him or even how. I don't even want to know why the trunk is bleeding. Very carefully, as silently as possible, Myranda started to snake her way out of the trunk. Sounds were becoming clearer and Myranda tried very hard to not hear, not care or understand.

"I'm insulted, Bronn. Did you honestly think I wouldn't recognize your partner? That amazon was the first thing Lancel found when he had you investigated. Enforcer, spy and reprogramming extraordinaire? I didn't want to have to kill her or you or even that stupid Podrick. The work you have all done, I understand. You help children escape the Order, you help others claim and heal loved ones from cults. It's not part of our war, you just had to leave it alone. But someone as stupid as you and your partners, it's all the same, you just can't let go of your assumptions. As far as you are concerned, all cults are bad. Some do good, some of them had good intentions. We did. We do. But a revolt as large as this, it requires dreadful sacrifice. Luckily, Bri's cell had a tracker for her partners. Now, I really wish you would tell me why you were at the school? Just think, if you had stayed and helped Bri with kidnapping me after Walda's lovely baby shower, she might be alive, Val would be dead and I would be wherever you stash your victims for brainwashing."

Wincing, Myranda gently unfolded from the ground and put a shaking hand over her mouth as she finally the why the trunk was bleeding. The headless body of some large person was half laying across the trunk. Bronn's voice was full, too thick but full of amusement.

"You are as much of a monster as Lancel is, no, I think you might be worse. We thought you were a victim, I can't believe how wrong I was. Fucking Mad Max shit you pulled there, honey. I just heard from Pod about the massacre just discovered in Kings Landing. Almost every fucking Frey dead. Amazing how you and Walda were the only survivors. Damn, you are something, missy. Both of you. That was about ten minutes before you decided to play chicken with me. Pod sounded alive and I am sure that Varys is alive and smarter than you think he is. I was hired by Kevan Lannister, you already know that. So no big mystery why I would be at the school. Why don't you just get on with it and finish me off? I am sure your husband doesn't want you to be late to the next bloodbath."

Ahh, fuck. Myranda swallowed hard and used the shaking hands to touch the dead person. Stifling cries of horror and revulsion, Myranda rifled through the pockets until she found a wallet. Careful to take nothing but any folding cash she could find, Myranda shoved the wallet back into the pocket. She started to tip toe towards the woods, opposite of the voices and the renewed screaming. I have no idea where I am, I have no idea where these woods lead. Myranda went as silently as she could, heading as far away until she couldn't hear the screams anymore. Look for a water source to follow, check moss for direction or listen for traffic. All these things flung in and out of her panicked brain as Myranda scuttled off without a single idea of where she was going to go. Where do you go when no where is safe?

Ramsay stood in Myranda's doorway and he developed his own twitch. Damon, Arya and Jeyne were all hopelessly stoned, lounging on the bedroom floor. "Gregor will be here any minute! No one lined up outside for this fucking mutiny and you think he won't smell this all over the dorm house? Fucking retarded pack is what I have! Look at all of you!" Jeyne giggled which set off the other two. "You aren't leader of the pack, brother. I have no alpha." Arya agreed. "You aren't my leader either. Lone wolves here." Ramsay walked further into the room and stared down at Damon who grinned and shrugged. "I'm just enjoying the weed." Delivering a kick to Damon, Ramsay included them all in his scathing gaze. "Fine. Be lone wolves and see how far you get when shit hits the fan. Enjoy it, let me know when you need saving, okay?" Jeyne started to crawl towards him and he backed up towards the door. The girl was probably too stoned to do much, but he wasn't taking any chances.

He turned to leave the room and nearly collided with Stannis. The professor wasn't looking at Ramsay, his cold eyes were surveying the stoned students and his outraged nose was twitching at the pungent smoke. "Young man, it is a surprise that you are the intelligent student for once. Please go open all the windows in the house and spray with whatever you can find to remove the smell before the counselor arrives." Ramsay gave Stannis a quick grateful look as he slid past him and ran downstairs. Stannis watched as Damon and Arya attempted to hide the rest of the weed while pretending to look sober. Jeyne has never touched weed before and couldn't even attempt that much. She simply rolled slowly away under the bed as if no would could see her do this. Stannis forced Arya and Damon fully clothed into a cold shower, made them brush their teeth, use eye drops then find fresh clothing.

"I do not do this for you, but for the collective. Once this tense meeting is over, I will be sure to inform the staff of your shenanigans. For now, at least in front of Kevan you must appear normal or you put us all in danger. I can't do anything about Jeyne, she is too unpredictable, but a feral is often unpredictable, Kevan will not expect better from her." Damon and Arya were still stoned but appeared as normal as they could. Arya kept feeling that she should be questioning things, but she couldn't be sure it wasn't being high that made her feel that way. Damon kept making stupid jokes and it would distract her into laughing. Stannis left out the back door, followed by Ramsay after he suggested the kids figure out a way to get Jeyne out from under the bed. Arya frowned but then she heard Jeyne yell that she was never coming out again. Giggling, she skipped up the stairs after Damon to try and retrieve the way too high feral.

Bob was in a slight sedative haze but he had felt energized at the sight of Kevan. Ashamed of himself too, but oh, so happy to see the only person left who hasn't betrayed him. Kevan had looked sad and angry, his voice was gentle. "I want to hear from you why you are in here." Bob had squirmed in the restraints and looked away.

"You were right. I was obsessed with Myranda. And I was jealous of losing Harold. I have always wanted Myranda for myself, Harold can confirm that, but I never dared to ask or even go over limitations with her but. I. It got beyond me and my brothers let me take her for myself at the brothel. They hoped it would cure me of it. I was careful to not really hurt her badly but I hunted her, Sir. I only did it until she understood my rules. Then I didn't hurt her again, there wasn't any need to. I was, I know it is crazy but I was going to ask you if I could marry her. You see, once the rules were understood, once Myranda was clear on how I felt, she actually kept me feeling so calm. I was so focused on this that I didn't see what Gilly and Unella were up to. How they roped Harold and Gregor right into it. The doctor already had no intentions of scrubbing the students, Gilly was using the detention hours to help the students recall their pasts. Harold asked me to join them and I declined. The next thing I know I am here and Harold tells me that he sent Myranda away." 

Bob was in tears but not ashamed as he watched Kevan place the call to Varys. "Varys, I think you know already that you are a target for my son. I am giving you the option of sanctuary for you and your people here at the school. In exchange for the return of my student Myranda. I have granted Bob permission to marry her and I have a feeling that Harold is going to need your comforts soon." Kevan left Bob with a gold razor pen. He was confident that Bob would follow orders but the glint in the man's eye told him not to leave him a poison device just in case.

Kevan strolled to the garden and plucked a rose or two. He also used a hidden button to signal Meryn with a regretful but firm look. And yet, Kevan couldn't deny that he felt better than he has in months. The anger was real, oh yes, it seems this school wasn't just full of wayward children but wayward staff. Kevan was going to take care of this as quickly and as brutally as possible with minimal injuries. Since he is a Lannister he will swipe his subjects in line then he will soothe it by entertaining some of their requests. Then once this nonsense was dealt with it will be high time Kevan deals with his son. He already regrets being soft enough that he had ordered Bri to rescue Sansa. Kevan is resolute, he will order the deaths of the Craster girls. That and the loss of Sansa should get the message across to Lancel along with the orders to Podrick to disinherit him.

Stannis put a hand on Ramsay's shoulder and the boy looked so near to tears that the man snatched his hand away. "I understand how hard it is to stay in your role, young man. Harder since you are merely a teenager. A very impulsive, sadistic killer of a teenager. We chose you for those qualities, Ramsay." The boy stood straighter and sneered. Stannis sighed in relief and continued speaking.

"It was very difficult for me to not reveal myself to Loras when the boy was slipping so hard. He lost focus, he allowed jealousy and insecurity to overtake him. I often allow myself to indulge in the guilt of wondering if I could have saved his life by revealing myself. You do not have the luxury of indulging in any type of self pity at this time. You lost your pack twice now, Ramsay. Stop trying to play alpha, we don't have time for the games any longer. Lancel and the girls are coming. This mutiny can work for or against us and Tyrion is right, Kevan won't take this lightly. Anyone who is joining in this mutiny will be suffering. I want you to stay as far from the others as you can during the meeting. Be rude and disruptive but make it clear you aren't part of the mutiny. I will make sure that I also protest any willing involvement. Let Kevan use all his time, energy and focus on going after the others while we finish the calendar and prepare for the others to show."

Arya ended up forcibly washing Jeyne and putting drops in her eyes while Damon carried the thrashing girl. Both of them ended up with a few bites which made them decide they weren't about to help brush Jeyne's teeth. Ramsay was already waiting outside and Gregor was walking up the path as Damon and Arya swung into place with Jeyne between them. Gregor raised an eyebrow and stood in front of the trio without a word. He just stared deadpan at them while calmly putting his hands behind his back. Ramsay smirked while Arya and Damon squirmed, Jeyne limp like a rag doll between them. Finally Gregor spoke in such a gentle tone that even Ramsay stopped grinning. "Let go of Jeyne, please."

Damon swallowed hard and Arya grimaced but they released the girl. Jeyne was so high that Ramsay fully expected the feral to rise and float away into the sky. Maybe waving goodbye like a slow motion whirlygig man. Jeyne did one better. She very slowly sunk to the ground and then rolled away, Gregor's eyes tracking her. Damon and Arya burst into uncontrollable laughter. Gregor's eye twitched and Ramsay almost found himself screaming at the man not to do that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R.I.P. Bronn: Twisting by They Might Be Giants  
> Meryn and Bob: Who Let The Dogs Out by Baha Men  
> Myranda: Walk Of Shame by Pink  
> Jeyne, Arya and Damon: Sassafras Roots by Green Day  
> Kevan: Let's Twist Again by Carnaby St Generation


	172. Light Them Up

Varys hung up with Kevan just as the news came in about the Frey slaughter. Roose and Walda were on local media stations giving small sad statements on the raging fire that claimed so many, including Walda's beloved father. Cursing, Varys tried again to reach Bronn and Bri with no response. The same with Podrick, whom he knew damned right well was in the brothel. He had gone with Lollys into one of the guest rooms an hour ago. He had sent one of his armed men down to retrieve them and the man hasn't returned. Varys knew it was time to go and with visions of driving around in a van loaded with shiny teenagers searching out the windows for one lone whore, he turned to grab his keys. Lollys was standing in the doorway with her head down, it sounded like she was sobbing. Her hair was dyed ruby red but slick with darker crimson that streams slowly down her neck into the white bathrobe. The girl kept her face hidden, she was shaking, huddled in the large fuzzy robe.

"Dear, you look awful! Did something bad happen to Podrick, to you? Tell me, Lollys, look up and tell me." Varys gave his best concerned face as the girl shook her head and then whispered, "It was awful. These girls, they just killed everyone, or most of the guests, at least. Podrick got stabbed over and over, I got away. We need to run, you must protect me, please!" Varys gasped and took a step forward, to briskly comfort the sad looking whore. The girl looked shocked when the bullet crashed into her stomach and she slid down the wall as the knife fell out of the folds of the robe. "Scalping someone is quite disgusting, young lady. I only pray that you killed poor Lollys before you stole her hair. Lollys despises anything made of terry cloth, Craster girl." Varys couldn't question the teenager any further as she grinned at him and then lunged for the blade. Even as he went to shoot her again, the girl grabbed the knife and slit her own throat fast.

Varys ran around the room fast gathering every emergency item he has stashed away. Then he took a deep breath as the lights all suddenly went out and he heard the crackling of fire. It was time to pretend he was younger, crazier and desperate. Time to remember Da, remember the streets, remember what it was like to live in a rat maze full of deadly creatures and Varys slid out the secret door of the therapy garden. He slid through dust, cobwebs and biting spiders, trying not to cough from the sudden plumes of smoke. Varys found himself silently sobbing as he frantically ran through the walls and climbed down ladders. He cried for the screams of clients that had been his friends for years. He cried harder for the poor teenagers he could hear caught in the blaze, in the slaughter. Varys found himself propelled by a sheer blinding rage for Lancel, the cult he formed. I will find Myranda, she always finds a way to survive, she is out there somewhere. I'll take her back to the school, a small price of guilt to pay in order to ensure Kevan's support in wiping out this damned cult once and for all.

Gregor didn't have enough time to discipline the kids, dammit. He grumbled this as he simply used his hands to make both Damon and Arya stop laughing. Now they were sniffling and rubbing their asses while Ramsay tried to coax Jeyne to stop rolling. Ramsay kept trying to get the girl's attention but every time he got too close to her, Jeyne would start to slowly roll again. Jeyne hit a small decline and found herself rolling faster and let herself go with it. Gregor had to take a few running steps before he was able to snatch her up before the stoned moron tried to roll out of the school itself. He dunked Jeyne's head under the hose until the girl seemed a tad clearer. "You are going to sit down and keep your mouth shut. You will stay sitting until someone tells you to move. If you start rolling across the ground during the meeting, I am going to shred the whirlygig man in the cornfield. It's a promise. Hear me, Jeyne? We are going to discuss this behavior later on, you, me and Raff." Jeyne nodded but seemed to float rather than walk towards the circle area.

Kevan was already there when the others had arrived. He was dressed in his finest suit, twirling his best pen, sitting in the large wooden chair that Gregor uses for extreme punishments. Smiling with true grace under fire, the man waited as they all started to show as a group. The children were directed by Gregor to sit in the center of the circle, on the ground itself since there were no other chairs. Damon and Arya kept Jeyne between them. Ramsay sat behind the other kids, as far from them as he could get, a mutinous expression on his face. Unella and Gilly stood with their men before the students, Hot Pie, Polliver and Raff surrounded the children in a half circle. Tyrion and Stannis stood within the circle but they were behind Ramsay. Once everyone was assembled, Kevan cleared his throat and spoke in a very pleasant voice. "Well now, before we begin this most polite mutiny, I would like to be clear on something. Judging by faces, I am not clear on who truly wishes to be involved? If any are here by mistake, this might be a good time to speak up."

Ramsay shot up a hand and gave a wild holler. "I wasn't even fucking asked! Just told I had to be part of more school bullshit. I want you to leave my friggin head alone, yeah, but I don't want their hippy love bullshit either!" The staff frowned at Ramsay but Kevan simply kept smiling and nodded. "Noted, young man. Anyone else?" Stannis came forward a step and spoke in a loud offended tone. "I was blackmailed by the pregnant heathen doctor into coming here today. She dared to threaten me and I take poorly to such things. I also do not wish to have any part of this mutiny, Sir." Tyrion sighed and shook his head, looking up towards Kevan. "I agree with most of what the staff and students want. But I don't agree to mutiny as the answer, Uncle. The same as Stannis, I was told to be here or else they would try and tell you we were not ill but participating in their sneaking around." Kevan stared at the rest of the staff and students but no one else said anything. "Ramsay, I suggest you stand with Tyrion and Stannis. That way I can tell who is not part of this rebellion. Thank you, young man."

Once Ramsay stood up and walked over to stand next to the professors at the back of the circle, Kevan gestured towards the rest of them. "Well, the floor is yours. Please, list your demands." Kevan listened attentively. He even agreed that most of their ideas were well thought out and had merit, said so out loud in fact. It was hard not to laugh at the increasingly nervous faces of Harold and Gregor. They knew when something was going too well that things were about to go very wrong. Kevan was aware how both men were wearing concealed weapons, how they kept their eyes looking everywhere for the hidden danger. Unella and Raff explained how damaging it was to keep wiping heads, Gilly discussed how the memories always leaked through anyway, how it hurt them not to heal from the truth. Gregor and Harold confessed that they never felt comfortable with the way these things were done.

Hot Pie was still reeling from his own memories and said that he felt betrayed. "I was messed up because I never dealt with what was done to me. With who I really was, what I had been. So I agree with this, yeah." Polliver simply said he supported the rest of the staff. Arya's voice was thicker and slower than she intended due to being stoned but she was heard. "I can't go back to drug addiction and that'll happen if you scrub me again. I want to grow and change, have a real life someday, Sir. It's all we really want." Damon and Jeyne nodded both keeping their eyes down, trying to hide their growing paranoia. It didn't help when two loud cracks were heard, causing all three kids to leap sky high. Gregor went down with a tremendous thud at the same time Harold fell face first, trying to fight the sedative dart and losing.

Before any real reaction could be had to this, Meryn dropped like a latex covered nightmare from the shed roof nearby and screamed, "NAUGHTY CHILDREN!" Ramsay moaned, "Oh fuck. Here we go." Stannis and Tyrion dug their hands into Ramsay's arms, wedging him tightly between them. "Stay still and silent, boy. There's nothing you can do for them." Ramsay listened to Stannis's counsel but winced at the look of such terror on Damon's face. The boy roared with panic and trampled over Jeyne to get up and away. Damon burst through the staff like a human battering ram and kept going. Arya stepped squarely on Jeyne's back to propel herself forward and take off behind Damon. Jeyne sat up, trying to understand why she was just stomped on and looked up to see the Tickler bearing down on her. Jeyne gave a terrible howl, one that made Ramsay clap his hands to his ears and twitch. The girl was a sudden blur of motion, like a pinball that knocked the cook down and Gilly into Unella, before taking off on all fours, howling the whole way.

Meryn chased after the children but when Polliver moved as if to go after him, he found himself holding his hands up instead. Bob was not holding a sedation rifle any longer. He dropped down from the trees while the kids were still scattering. Now he walked towards the circle carrying an automatic rifle. "This has bullets, not tranquilizers, Game Over. Kevan would rather no one get killed but I will be happy to slow your roll with a few well placed bullets." Bob smiled towards the one remaining student. "Ramsay, would you like to earn a chance for mentorship with me? Frisk the staff, bring any weapons to me, please. Do not touch anyone more than you must and do not mouth off." Ramsay grinned widely and it appeased his sense of impulsiveness enough to stop worrying. After the group was relieved of anything that could be deemed a weapon, Bob directed his gun at the cook, nurse and counselor. He waved them away from the ladies.

Polliver and Raff both grabbed Hot Pie and moved where the students had been. Kevan smiled cheerfully. "Kneel and stay there. Hands on your heads, please. Excellent. Stop listening to the screaming, gentlemen, Meryn is aware of his limits. Of course, if anything shatters Damon's mind, this might be it. Not to mention that Meryn would do his best to traumatize the girls too. Sadly, it would be only a mercy to scrub their heads then. Let's hope it doesn't come to that. But I cannot call Meryn off the children, not until the nasty business here is concluded." Bob asked Ramsay to stand near the three kneeling on the ground. "If they start moving, say something to me." Ramsay nodded so eagerly that Stannis rolled his eyes and Tyrion gave a look of disgust. Bob walked over to give a gloating, overly wide grin to Gilly. He leaned in and commented softly, "Unella didn't have any rebellious ideas, no one here did until you showed up, Gilly. Most certainly not my twin. I made sure to remind Kevan of this. The doctor is pregnant, that saves her, the rest of the staff is only really guilty of bad judgement, easily correctable. But what about the leader of the mutiny? Who saves you, Gilly?"  

Kevan stood over his three youngest staff members and it took only a moment for the youngest of all to crack. Hot Pie started to sob quietly and Kevan smiled gently, crouching down carefully before him. He handed the boy a handkerchief. "Ahh, poor boy. You have only been a staff member for a few months and you are still aren't out of your own teen years. Hot Pie, are you sure that you meant to join this mutiny? Tell me how you decided to join this?" Hot Pie sobbed and his voice was small, trembling. "We were just all called to a meeting. I didn't know what it was, then I was remembering like everyone else. Unella and Gilly made us all remember things, I was really upset and I just...I am so sorry, Sir! I didn't mean it!" The boy was ashamed and Kevan smiled with so much triumph that it only made Hot Pie feel worse. "So you were basically coerced, manipulated, tricked and seduced into this mutiny? You were never just directly given the facts and asked? Correct?" Hot Pie looked only at the ground and nodded. He felt like a worm but this was far too fucking terrifying and he just wanted it all to end. "I was never actually asked. It was like you said, Sir." Kevan stood back up. "Since you are so young and new, I believe that you deserve a full pardon. This was a clear manipulation upon a minor. You may go stand with the professors, Hot Pie."

Kevan watched as Polliver and Raff kept reacting more to the screams of the children than to the elegant monster in front of them. He wasn't insulted, he just used the weapon they easily had handed him in their own actions. Damon's shriek carried and the garbled pleas along with it. They heard Jeyne howl and then Arya howling along with her. Kevan spoke very softly. "Polliver, I can understand how difficult it is for you to listen to your ducklings being ripped apart. Loras, Theon, the death of Sandor, all of it you've felt such awful guilt over. The injuries you caused to Jeyne, it all hurts even as it teaches you, makes you better at your job. What condition will your surviving ducklings be in by the time you can reach them?" Polliver was pale and he looked up at Kevan with a sickening hopelessness. "Sir, come on, please. How can you destroy the kids over what adults did? Sir, please call Meryn off." Kevan twirled his pen and then tapped the man's nose with it. "Do you think I enjoy letting this happen? This mutiny left me no choice but to hurt everyone involved. Everyone. This is the consequences of your actions. Are they your actions, Polliver? Or was it like Hot Pie's situation? Tell me if you are here by manipulation and I'll tell you whether or not I'll let you try to call Meryn off yourself."

Polliver cursed softly but winced at the sounds of screams in the distance and nodded. "The ladies manipulated me. Me, Hot Pie and Raff had no idea until we showed to the meeting. We spent all night trying to care for Hot Pie who freaked out over the memories. None of us wanted to be here, we weren't really given a choice. Please, Sir!" Raff was nodding and Kevan gave the men a gracious smirk. "Raff? Did you have any idea that Unella was not going to follow orders?" Raff shook his head. "I knew she was bringing memories back but I didn't know why, I didn't ask. I have been busy and tired, Arya getting her own memories back was upsetting me into my own memories. I just didn't know and then like Polly said, we spent all yesterday and last night trying to keep the cook from trying to fuck himself up. I swear it, we made a mistake doing this, we were tricked, that's on us, please. The kids, let us just get them?" Kevan gave them a stern look. "You will be grateful for every comfort our school offers our live in staff. Because you both won't be seeing a paycheck for a very long time. Later on there will be disciplinary actions for you both. For now, you may both go collect your students."

Bob directed Ramsay and the remaining cook and professors to assist him in restraining the sedated men. It took all of them to get Gregor into his own punishment chair. The man was out cold since Bob had used an extreme amount of sedation, not wanting to take any chances, but he was the heaviest thing any of them have ever moved. Harold was restrained by his wrists and ankles then put into a straitjacket, laying before the punishment chair, snoring against Gregor's boot. The professors and Hot Pie stood back afterwards, as far back as they could get but still be within the circle. Ramsay tried to shadow Bob. "Young man, as long as you can stay silent and perfectly obedient, you may consider this the beginning of mentoring." Bob didn't want to miss a single second of whatever befell Gilly and stood near Kevan. Ramsay remained just behind Bob, he wondered if getting mentored by the main killer of the house will be considered impressive to Sansa.  

Kevan stood before Unella and Gilly. "And then there were two." Both women were standing tall, chins up and not a single bit of fear on their faces. Kevan smiled gracefully and Gilly gave her brilliant smile back. Unella was frowning and her eyes were ice but Kevan saw the trembling in the doctor's fingers. "Bob did have a point, Unella. I always knew your feelings about scrubbing and yet you always have done your job. You have spent your entire life protesting while still obeying. It's how you've always lived, climbed and survived. It was only after speaking with Gilly that your attitude changed. Any comments upon that?" Unella saw that Kevan was trying to allow her the same graceful way out as the others. And for the first time in her life, she just couldn't take it. In fact, jarring all of them, Unella found herself laughing. Kevan's face went stiff with indignation and Unella tried to speak.

"Sir, maybe Raff can tell you it's my hormones raging, the alien spawn in my body that makes me act this way. I don't know what it is anymore. Gilly didn't manipulate me, she asked me my opinion. I gave it and that started a discussion that grew and grew. The reason Gilly approached me was because she noticed I had stopped trying to scrub heads. I wasn't giving the medications to keep them suppressed, I was giving medications to wake them up. Everyone here knew it and stayed silent. Because its what is right, what needs to be done. Kevan, this school has suffered nightmares that shouldn't have to happen. Please, we aren't trying to do anything but help these children! I mean, look at how you just deliberately caused trauma, more scarring to those kids! How is this, these methods any different from the Order or the Lannisters in general?"

Kevan's hand struck fast and hard, knocking the doctor's head to the side, leaving a bright red mark. "You will never speak to me that way again. Not ever, Unella. You have become far too bold, woman. You have stepped too far and I truly thought marrying you to a force like Gregor would curb your worst impulses. Instead, you found a way to make it worse for both of you and your children. I know that Qyburn had that same little problem with you, its what got you caught in the first place, that damned hard headed streak of yours. If it's humbling and a reminder of your place that you need, Unella, I am happy to provide it."

Lancel smiled at Roose as he introduced the girls in the well lit empty and clean kennels. The walls were covered in every type of torture and pleasure device that the Order has ever offered. Roose shook Lancel's hand and gave his attention to the little girls. They looked nearly the same and both were very young, around the same age that Roose first got to play with Arya. "Mari and Sara are well trained, Roose. They enjoy the same kinds of games that you play with your pets. Or at least they have learned to like what they are ordered to like." Lancel gave a cruel laugh and Roose's eyes lit up. The girls stayed silent and their eyes stayed upon their own feet. It was only after Lancel left that they raised their eyes to offer an innocent kind of challenge to Roose. It sent a dark thrill though him and he started to wonder if a whip would be too much to start with.

As Lancel got into the car he checked his cell and smirked at the latest news. The Freys are wiped out, Varys's establishment is destroyed but he did frown at another text. He called Sansa as he drove away from the Dreadfort, knowing his little girls will find their way back. "Sweetheart, I am happy that you and Val are safe. I'm glad you got rid of Bronn, Podrick and Bri but I am concerned about the other thing you said. You said Val thought she saw someone crawl out of the trunk and stagger away after robbing a headless corpse. I know you both searched and found no one. But if the man was smuggling someone out of the school, there was a reason. And that is a witness to what you've done. Please try harder. I will leave how you handle it to your own discretion. The girls are all where they need to be. I need you to be ready and in a place to attack the school. Find your witness, deal with it and get yourself in position."

Varys found a few stragglers, coughing teenagers that were crying, confused and milling like sheep in the parking lot. He herded them all into his van and handed one boy his phone. "I want you to track Bronn's last location for me, please. Myranda will be in that area and then we can all head to the school." Varys turned the key in the ignition and blew them all sky high. It was an impressive explosion. Oberyn's car suffered a similar explosion as he and his mistress were about to bring Robin and Bran back to Sansa. The broken boys were a small offering in exchange for Lancel joining the Order. The explosions of both cars destroyed everyone inside the vehicles. However, the largest explosion was the one that took out Doran and his summer home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kevan, Bob and Meryn: When The Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going by Billy Ocean  
> Damon and Arya: Steal My Sunshine by Len  
> R.I.P. Varys: Letterbox by They Might Be Giants  
> 


	173. Nightmares Speeding Like Trains

The chase went behind the different cabins, past the cafeteria and into the garden. It was a runaway human train fueled by blind panic. Meryn gleefully and skillfully drove them around the school. He would pull back just enough for them to think to hide then he would flush them out. They would run like howling bitches and he roared after them. Closer and closer, now in the garden, Meryn decided it was time to give a little more of a taste. Meryn targeted the large boy first, he has tasted him before and feeds off the terror the panicked giant emits. He darted, zig zagged and jumped in front of the boy with a large belly laugh. Damon pissed himself and fainted. Meryn crouched over the boy and licked his face, hissing, while his eyes sought out the girls. A rock hit him hard in his head and Meryn cried out. Damon woke up and screeched to see a bleeding Tickler sitting on him. With a saliva thick smile, the man punched Damon's temple to stun him. Both girls started to throw rocks until Meryn launched off Damon to chase the girls.

"FUCK, RUN!" Arya screamed as she took off with Meryn hard on her heels. Jeyne climbed into the trees and continued to launch rocks at the Tickler. Damon lay in a fetal position and just shuddered, rubbing dirt on his face to get rid of the stench of Tickler's spittle. With despair, Arya felt a terrible thing land upon her. She went down and there was just heat, loathsome weight, latex and stench. Managing to turn herself over did no good, it only made things worse. Now there were large horrible teeth out of the gaping maw, gnashing, drooling down into her face. Gloved hands were all over her, even though she was dressed, Arya felt violated, dirtied and bile surged into her mouth as a terrible thick tongue licked her face. There was no purchase to get, no way to hurt or defend, no way to escape and it was beyond intolerable. Screaming in a high wavering voice, Arya felt the man bite deep into her breast. Even through her thick sweatshirt, it felt like he broke through her flesh.

A fist punched her twice in the kidneys when Arya tried to dig for his eyes. While she squirmed in pain, unable to do more than whine, Arya felt the man grab her ankles and drag her back to where Damon lay. Damon saw them coming and whined, trying to crawl away while shuddering in a jerky kind of manner. With a loathsome giggle, the Tickler tossed the girl hard into the boy to send him crashing down again. He landed on the two screaming children and Jeyne howled nearby from a tree. Chuckling, Meryn touched, bit, licked, probed, pinched, punched, squeezed and strangled the two students. Arya tried to punch his nose and he broke three of her fingers with a slow, almost gentle joy. Damon attempted to crawl away and Meryn twisted his left ankle until he screamed that he wouldn't try to run anymore. "You move away from this spot again, boy, I'll shove both my fists up your ass, not just this one here." Damon screamed, high and long as Tickler laughed. Arya gagged as she tried to grab the monster's arm to make him stop tormenting Damon. Tickler pulled his glove back and left Damon to lay limp and shuddering as he gave his attention to forcing the same fist into the girl's mouth, telling her to deep throat it.   

 Jeyne crawled down from the tree and whined as she scurried closer. She was terrified, wired and shaking, this was too much for her to process. This was pack, she couldn't desert pack, couldn't desert her brother. For the first time ever, Jeyne wished for Ramsay. Throwing rocks at the rubber man making her pack scream and cry, Jeyne found herself running as Tickler came after her. A hard hit from behind sent Jeyne stumbling into a corner. She scurried left then right and he was there, repulsive, massive, awful smelling, looking and Jeyne's skin tried to crawl away without her. Jeyne tried to launch over him, a trick that has always served her with impossible obstacles like Gregor. Tickler wasn't Gregor and it was all slippery, rubbery, greasy and Jeyne didn't launch off him, no she SLID against him. The awful latex nightmare swallowed Jeyne whole. Her body and mind just couldn't work, her feral instincts were taking too long, Meryn was happy to take advantage of it. Just as he did with Selyne so many years ago when that dangerous bitch had been injured and stunned enough. 

Damon heard Jeyne screaming but he was frozen, stuck in a fetal position, teeth chattering, freezing cold and limbs frozen except for the tremors. Arya was throwing up, unable to do anything more than cry and heave upon the ground next to him. They listened to Jeyne screaming in such pain and terror that it made them try to move but they collapsed only after seconds. The sounds of Jeyne's screaming changed to something new. A new scream came and it was the Tickler himself and that was at least one good thing for Damon to hear before he fainted again.

Gregor woke up to find himself restrained in his own damned chair with a struggling Harold in a straitjacket at his feet. The professors and cook were huddled nearby. Gregor turned his head and saw Bob, Ramsay right behind him, both flanking Gilly. Shifting his eyes, Gregor began to strain hard against the straps holding him against the now creaking wooden chair. He saw Kevan backing Unella up, her face was pale, it was scared, her hands were covering her stomach. Kevan was not only walking towards her, he was twirling his pen, nearly touching her stomach as he did so, his voice was a whip. "Do you understand that you aren't ever really given a choice, dear? I can make a quick phone call and have you delivered to the Order. They would take your twins, use them against you to have you offer free medical services for the rest of your days. Or how about I keep you here, make you choose one of your children for me to take away? Maybe if the hormones are the issue, I should simply remove you of the problem completely. I am sure Raff can handle a late term abortion."

Unella staggered and fell backwards while Gregor roared from the chair that imprisoned him. Kevan ignored it and straddled Unella so he was standing over her stomach. One graceful hand twirled the pen fast and carelessly over the stomach while the other one pulled out a cell phone. "Shall I call Pycelle to take your place here? Then I can call the Order, arrange your transportation? Well?" Unella felt unwilling tears pour down her face, they soaked her hair and ears. She looked up the impossible distance past her stomach to Kevan and his merciless eyes. "Please don't. I'm sorry. Not the children, please, don't hurt the babies." Kevan put his phone away calmly and waited, twirling his pen. "I was wrong to start a mutiny against you. I am at fault, I am sorry and I won't do it again. Please, punish me but not the children, Sir!" Nodding, Kevan stepped over the woman and reached a hand down to help her to her feet. As soon as Unella was standing, Kevan yanked her closer and the blade just barely poked into her stomach. "I am inches from murdering your twins, Unella. Your husband is watching this and I want you both to see how close you've come to causing the death of your children. Unella, I want you to understand that you almost caused the death of your unborn. That you came very close to being sold to the Order, you and the children. Do not ever push me, do not ever forgot your place again."

Kevan turned to look at Gregor. "I am very disappointed in you, Gregor. However, I do understand the difficulties of marriage and pregnancy. You felt the need to support your wife and try to protect your family the best you could. You would have done better to counsel your wife to caution instead of allowing her to lead you into disaster. You failed to protect your family and you showed disloyalty. The only kind of pay either of you will receive for a year is the cost needed for the children. You will give me a monthly list of the exact expenses and I will see the items are bought. There is no independence from this school for either of you."

Lancel drove using only one hand on the steering wheel, the other was twirling and playing with a few fingers. Clara's left pinkie finger, her right thumb and Belinda's right pinkie finger. Using them the way one would use a worry stone, Lancel pulled into a side street near an old construction site. He idled the car and waited, looking at his offerings. Both girls had gone willingly to the knife, cutting off their own fingers to show their loyalty. They had taken to their knees, to kiss his feet while their blood stained hand prints left upon the patio stones. They confessed their brief doubts over the smallest ones safety with Roose Bolton. However, no amount of torture, shaming or luring made either of them confess to any other type of negative emotion or feeling. Lancel had believed them, they were not the spiteful kind. His wife was though. Sansa was trying to set the girls against each other, set Lancel against his own followers? He wasn't really surprised nor outraged over it. Too many years of Petyr, Cat and worse all whispering into her ears. Sansa didn't like the girls, didn't like playing the role of dainty society wife and was playing games to cure her ire. 

Once it was all done with, once it was all his, Lancel will deal with these minor family woes. Lancel saw movement ahead and put the fingers back into his pocket, smiling at the sight of his girls. Clara got into the front seat as Belinda led the other girls into the backseat, making sure seat belts were secured. Lightly patting Clara's bandaged hand, Lancel spoke in his best voice to the stoic woman. "The work was excellent. You should all be proud of yourselves. It's time to visit the school and finish things. The rest of your sisters will all meet us there tonight. I think my shining stars deserve a small reward. After we have secured the school, you may all deal with Gilly however you wish." Clara smiled up at her beloved leader and the rest of the girls all cheered. Lancel stroked the bandaged hand, allowed his fingers to trail up Clara's arm, her neck then stroke her cheek. The woman flushed and shivered, a flash of desperate affection and love in her eyes. "I believe you, I believe in your loyalty. My wife simply misunderstood, we shall leave it at that. Tonight will be our final master stroke. Let's all enjoy that together."

Roose had felt sporting, he told the girls that they may choose their own first punishment tool. He watched with interest as the two little girls seemed to take extreme care in choosing the weapon to be used upon them. Raising his eyebrows, Roose was nearly breathless as the tiniest girl chose a whip that had barbed hooks upon it. "Are you quite sure that is what you want to start with? That whip isn't designed to just hurt but to rip through the skin. I will let you choose one more time if you wish? Pick a tool that won't rend your tender flesh? No? Very well, just remember that you chose it, little girl." Sara held firmly to the whip and knelt back down, offering it up to the man, her hair obscuring her face. Mari made a choice and knelt down, holding up a cattle prod. Roose shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips. They reminded him of the past girls more than ever. "I used to play the choice game with two other girls. Arya and my own daughter Jeyne. They also would pick the worst things they could find. For Arya, it was to try and challenge me to actually kill her. For Jeyne, it was a desperate way for her to try and please me, make me love her."

Sara spoke very softly, so softly, that Roose had to lean down to catch all her words. "We are able to take a lot, Mr. Bolton. Lancel made sure that we were very trained. He told us that this is what we were made for. We aren't scared, Sir, we are excited though." Roose was stunned at the look in the little girl's eager eyes. "Truly, Lancel has a talent that we all had missed years ago. He has been training all this time and is apparently quite good at it. Do you like to play with toys like this? Be honest, please. I never punish for honestly as long as it's given with respect. Do you enjoy pain and pleasure, girls? Or are you simply trained to endure it?" Mari and Sara gave Roose honest smiles, pure, innocent and their eyes were like a Christmas morning. "We love pain and pleasure, Sir. Please, may we start?" Roose caught his breath and his cock was iron hard in his pants. Nodding, he went to take the weapons and that is when things went wrong. So wrong that he couldn't even comprehend it for some time. He screamed in rage, in agony and finally, for his wife.

Walda hummed a cheerful ditty while she slid cookies from the baking pan onto a pretty blue plate. She has fresh milk in a chilled pitcher with a tad of cinnamon in it for extra flavor. Cats wandered about lazily but never tripped her. Tilting her head, Walda heard a distant wailing and gave a sigh. A cat leaped up on the counter before her and Walda picked it up. Petting it gently, Walda carefully climbed down the porch steps, her stomach proceeding her. She was wearing a lovely new pink maternity dress that Sansa had gifted her. Gently chiding the cuddled cat for getting it's long gray hairs on her dress, Walda headed towards the kennels. The main door was partially open and Walda pushed it the rest of the way so she could enter. Roose was naked, beaten, whipped, electrocuted and now crawling towards her. She saw that the tendons in his ankles have been severed, Roose also seemed to be missing an eye. With distaste, Walda watched as her husband reached up with a bloody hand to clench at her new dress. "Please, Walda, the girls! Help me! Call the police, get me out of here and shut the door, lock it, lock them inside! Please, hurry, help me, Walda!"

With a tiny moue of disgust, Walda stepped back from her husband and her grip on the cat tightened slightly. "Roose, you chose those girls. Do not be rude to your new pets. Now girls, when you are done, please come inside for some cookies and milk." Roose stared in horror as his wife petted the cat, smiled cheerfully at the bloody, giggling monsters then left, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Myranda was sitting against a tree, lost, tired and too dizzy to keep going. She heard the sounds, braced herself and waited. "Hello there. Oh, I recognize you now. It's the angel." Val smiled and stood over the slumped girl. "Hi. I remember you too. One of the Craster girls, right? I heard from Gilly that you are all safe now, with Lancel and Sansa. I was happy to hear that." Myranda sat straighter and gave a teasing grin to the teenager only a few years younger than herself. "If you are going to kill me, can I ask a favor? In the spirit of helping each other out, since I killed your dad, would you make it very fast for me?" Val gave a tiny laugh that sounded like bells tinkling and looked up at the rustling to see Sansa emerge. The Craster girl patted Myranda's hair and spoke sweetly. "Why would I kill you? You saved us, you are an angel."

Sansa forced a smile to her face and sat down on a fallen log nearby. Killing Myranda is certainly not an option, Sansa knows Lancel has the girls believing the whore was a saintly angel. Damned stories of her husband, making these girls see princesses and angels, Sansa considered that to be abusive. To allow the girls to all believe in this fantasy world and it bothered Sansa that her mother would have heartily agreed with her. Sansa smiled at Myranda and spoke. "Can you tell us how you ended up in a trunk?" Myranda held her aching head and shrugged. "Harold just said he was freeing me from the school and Bob. He told me to obey Bronn and Varys. I felt the prick of a needle then woke up in a trunk. I started to wander and this is as far as I got. I think I hurt my head." Sansa nodded. "Why did Harold want to send you off? Did something happen with you and Bob?"

Myranda allowed the girls to help her walk back towards their car as she told about hunts, Bob's obsession and what little she knew of the growing issues of the mutinous attitudes at the school. Sansa was interested in hearing about Arya's detoxing and memory recall. Myranda was put into the backseat of the car and Sansa handed her a delicate pink phone adorned with fake pearls. Val cuddled up next to Myranda and Sansa felt a blast of unreasoning hatred. Her voice was poison even in it's sweetness. "Val, don't crowd the poor girl. Whores must always submit to filthy things and it's rude to touch them without paying them first." Myranda looked up at Sansa carefully and spoke with even more care. "I am not interested in making trouble for myself, I'm not going to pull any whore tricks, Sansa. Just tell me who you want me to call and what to say."

The lovely redhead tossed her glossy mane and looked slightly appeased by the honest whore. "I want you to call Bob. I want you to tell him you woke up in a terrible car accident. Tell him you are with us, tell him you are coming back to him. Make him believe it, Myranda. Get us inside and I promise that tonight you'll be free of Bob and the school forever. The Order is dead as of today and tonight the school goes down. Do as I tell you and you'll survive all of it." Keeping the sarcastic laughter inside her head, Myranda pressed the button that would connect her to the very man she was running from. She wished she could tell Sansa that Harold had said that very same thing. Freedom, Bob and the school would be a memory. Myranda wasn't buying that bullshit from a pretty, rich crazy girl. But she wasn't about to argue with the point with her.

When Myranda heard Bob's voice, her entire demeanor changed along with her voice. A sweetly pleading tone, a submissive prey tone came from those sneering sensual lips. Sansa noted the lips trembled slightly, Val could feel how the girl shrank, her head and shoulders went down. It was clear that Myranda was not acting while speaking to Bob. She just omitted anything but the main points. Val's eyes burned with anger at anyone who would make the angel so scared, Sansa found it intriguing and tried to think of so many uses for this weakness in both the whore and Bob. Sansa found herself becoming uncomfortably interested when she heard Myranda refer to Bob as Master at one point. Damn, poor Val is going crazy wanting to kill whoever is fucking with her whore angel and I want to hear Myranda tell me all about it while I masturbate. Sansa wondered if they had time for a rest stop. Maybe she could find a way to get Myranda alone? What a story she'll have to tell Ramsay later. It is exactly the kind of stuff that turns him on and Sansa had to force herself to focus.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unella: Sister Sara by Alice Cooper  
> Meryn: Mr. Tinkertrain by Ozzy Osbourne  
> Lancel: Where The Lonely Ones Roam by Digital Daggers  
> RIP Roose: I Gotta Get Outta Here by Alice Cooper  
> Craster Girls: I Want Candy


	174. Nowhere To Go

Jeyne the Person understood sex, understood male and female bodies and mating. Stannis taught reproductive systems of all creatures including humans during science. Unella made sure that Jeyne understood the more personal and medically important things. Raff had explained how thoughts of sexual things is natural. He also explained to her the difference between consensual and non consensual actions. Myranda provided the context for most everything else plus a spattering of what Jeyne hears from others talking. Jeyne the feral understands rape and sexual assault from her past. Roose had never allowed anyone to use Jeyne or Arya and Damon in a sexual way but he did allow it with Ramsay. Jeyne had seen what Roose and others did to her brother during summers and visits. She saw what Roose did to young kids that lived in his kennels during long boring winters. They never stayed long, at least not living. The dogs would get them once Roose broke them with enough of his toys. But the ones he kept were not just tortured like the summer children, no, these ones were used in every possible way.

As soon Jeyne the Person understood what Meryn seemed to be intending, Jeyne the feral took over. Howling, thrashing, Jeyne was nearly able to slip out of the Tickler's grasp a few times. Except the Tickler thrives on challenge and this only made him more determined to take the wild thing down. He dragged her over sharp rocks, through a thorn bush and slammed her into a tree a few times till she slumped down. Screams tore out of Jeyne as her body was taken out of her control. Her clothing was ripped, bitten, torn off her, teeth and tongue began to taste, to mark bloody crescents into flesh and Jeyne could only howl. Thick rubber hands touching, thrusting, just invading, battering ram against a weakened castle. Jeyne was smothered as a hand clamped hard on her face, she strained to breath, her body arching as he forced her legs so far apart, she felt blasting pain in her hips. Her tailbone was a special kind of agony as it slammed into a large root underneath her. Jeyne screamed into the slick glove as Meryn began to force himself inside of her. The world exploded, it shattered, everything, all of it blew away on a stinking horrid wind and Jeyne went with it. When the girl went limp, Meryn took his hand off her face, not wanting to kill her accidentally.

A wild thing he could never catch before, a virgin and so tiny, as if she were a fragile child and Meryn was lost to his savage passions. He didn't see her eyes open or the look upon her face. By the time he registered the deep growling sound coming from her, Meryn was already beginning to orgasm. The immense pleasure was replaced by shock and pain as Jeyne lunged up and sank sharp teeth into his face. It was too fast for him to react and the girl was so damned fast and violent, he pulled back only after losing his nose and most of his upper lip. Her fragile tiny hands have become so terribly strong and had claws rather than nails. As Meryn had pulled back, the girl grabbed onto the one other part of Meryn that was not covered in latex. Punching at the girl did no good, she flung herself forward, her face was crazed, she was gibbering, howling and her teeth gnashed as her hands did their best to rip his balls off.

Polliver and Raff followed the screams that changed from Jeyne's voice to Meryn's. They nearly fell over Damon and Arya, who both pointed out the direction they last saw Meryn chase Jeyne. The two of them were curled up tightly as if wolves offering each other comfort. They had tried to use a large tree as a shield in case Tickler came back but they were too injured and scared to move further. Raff stopped to quickly assess the two of them while Polliver went after Meryn and Jeyne. Raff made sure the two traumatized children didn't have any extreme injury then ran after his friend towards the screams that suddenly stopped. Polliver turned a corner, ready to murder the fucking pervert and skidded to halt. Raff came up from behind and managed to stagger to a halt just before slamming into him. Tickler never looked more like a nightmare than he did in this moment. Polliver and Raff had avoided the repulsive clutch of the Tickler as students but suffered the same nightmarish sightings of him. When they became staff, they despised him even more but without the fear. Like the rest of the staff, they hated the man, wished to be the ones to kill him. Jeyne the student apparently beat them all to it.

Meryn was laying spread eagle on the garden roses. He was missing his entire face, his eyes were missing, his throat was a ragged hole and his exposed crotch was nothing but a ragged, bloody mess. Both men found it a fitting end for the pervert and didn't feel a shred of sympathy for the dead monster. The sight of Jeyne was entirely another matter. Polliver and Raff would never admit it to another, but in this small moment, tears stung their eyes and a few even escaped before being quickly wiped away. Jeyne was naked, bruised, bitten and her thighs were slick with blood. She pressed against the stone wall and made only yipping sounds. When Raff and Polliver got closer, Jeyne barked at them and started to slink away on all fours. Raff felt his stomach drop. "Meryn fucking made her regress. I have no syringes, nothing, you don't even have a baton on you for defense if we need it. How can I get her back or treat her like this?" Polliver tried to speak to her and Jeyne started to crawl away into the thicker bushes towards the woods. A trail of blood followed her.

Not that tracking Jeyne would have been hard at all. She went back to where Damon and Arya curled up, shaking against the tree. Jeyne circled the tree relentlessly and wouldn't allow Polliver or Raff to come near her pack or herself. Damon and Arya didn't try to assist the men at all, they seemed to take comfort from Jeyne's protection. Damon couldn't stop sobbing and Arya kept vomiting and gagging. Jeyne growled, barked and howled but used not a single human word and her eyes offered no Person for the heartsick Raff and Polliver to talk to. She was pale with loss of blood and Raff feared that Jeyne might be hemorrhaging. "We need help, Polly."   

Kevan was about to speak to Gilly when Bob's cell phone rang. "It's Sansa's number, Sir." Kevan nodded for Bob to answer it. He watched how Bob's face changed at the voice that was speaking to him. "Myranda? Sweet girl, where are you?" Kevan noted how Bob's face showed a mix of relief, hunger and a predatory kind of triumph. Bob looked over at Kevan and spoke with a voice loud enough to make sure that Harold clearly heard him. "Myranda woke up in a trunk, there was a car accident. She says Bronn and Bri are dead, she has a head wound and Sansa found her. Myranda says that Sansa has managed to get Bri's car working and is willing to bring my sweet girl home. In return for Sansa's own sanctuary here." Kevan nodded at Bob's desperate look and forced a small smile. "Of course. Sansa will be kept separate, up at the house for safety purposes, in a guest room. And you may marry your little returning dove tomorrow if you wish. Myranda can continue to study as a student while she is your wife. You may use one of the extra cabins."

Bob gave a look of sweet triumph to Harold who glared back. "In a way, brother, I have you to thank for this. I told you that Myranda understood, Harold. Look at how quickly she calls to beg her way back to me?" Harold went to respond but Bob turned away to speak into the phone. Kevan looked down at Harold and shook his head. "You have only yourself to blame for this, Harold. We could have handled this in a much different manner had you not decided to throw yourself into a mutiny. I blame myself as well, I shouldn't have allowed you to date Gilly, I should have kept a better eye upon you, Harold. You are so close to my heart, like a son, this is painful for me, Harold. And your brother is very upset with you but he loves you and Varys dearly. That is why your punishment will hurt us as much as it hurts you. I am shocked at your disloyalty more than any other. You are relieved of your position here as my assistant and as a mentor of any student. Perhaps some time toiling on the grounds, doing some hard labor around here would help you clear your mind. That and therapy, medications, whatever it takes until I am confident that I have my loyal Harold back."

Kevan walked away from Harold, who simply just glared at him like Gregor was doing. Unella was clutching her stomach and keeping her head down, pretending she wasn't crying. She stood as close to Gregor as she could but didn't dare to attempt to release the restraints on her enraged husband. Bob spoke into the phone in a chilling soft voice. "No, hush, calm down, sweet girl. No need to cry like that, I am not mad at you. You didn't forget your rules, it wasn't your fault that you were kidnapped. It's alright, just come home to me, Myranda. Good girl, I am so pleased that you called me right away. Yes, yes I am pleased with you and there is no punishment. Harold will be the one in trouble, not you, sweet thing." Bob hung up as Kevan walked over to stand before Gilly. Harold struggled to try and move towards them in the straitjacket and Bob kicked him. "No." Clasping his hands behind his back, Kevan stared into Gilly's eyes.

"Your disloyalty is almost as hard to tolerate as Harold's is. I understand why Unella did it. The hormones and her own mind led her into this rebellion, her headstrong bullish attitude has always reared it's ugly head during stressful times. I understand the position Gregor took and why he did it. The man was trying to take care of his family and is quite new to such things. But you and my own man? Oh Gilly, I just can't understand that. I took you in when you had nowhere safe to go. I tutored you, gave you everything you needed, kept you safe and even allowed you a bit of romance. You were the perfect servant that the twins couldn't find a reason to kill and skin. I thought of you as a daughter, dear. What did I miss?" The smile dropped and Gilly allowed her mask to fully come off. Kevan was startled, momentarily his pen rested on his fingers as he looked at Gilly. Her eyes were full of a deep but loving sorrow, they were not reflecting rebellion or anger, but a kind of sympathy, perhaps pity. "Oh Sir, you have misunderstood this. I am not only trying to save these children, this staff and school, I am trying to save you." Taken aback, Kevan stayed still as Gilly reached a hand out and quickly touched his cheek then moved her hand back to her side.

"Sir, I am grateful for you saving me. Now I am trying to repay that favor even if you can't see that. I see so much, I see your pain, your guilt at not being able to do more for them. I see how we could help more, how it could help you and I understand how hard it is for you to change. How terrifying it is to change. Sir, you can only stay blind and stay hidden for so long. It's time for someone to do the one thing no one ever has dared to do. Tell you the truth, the honest and awful truth, not just blindly agree with you." Harold held his breath in pure terror as Kevan stared mutely at Gilly for a moment. Kevan took one step forward, Gilly stood her ground even as the regal lion gave her a verbal claw swipe. "Do you really believe that, dear? That you are trying to save us all? Do you truly think you could know better than others? You are the house maid. You are a detention counselor. That is all. What qualifies you to know how we should all change? What in your vast experience allows you to decide how we should all proceed?" Gilly put another smile on her face, it was full of respect and resolution, it was maddening to Kevan.

"No, Sir. I have spent years going through similar nightmares as the children and half the staff here. We have all suffered, we come here just to discover that we brought our own stained heads with us. Instead of helping these children heal, you scrub them and then bemoan their failures. You train and mold them just enough for a use in the world, but only if that use is tied to you or your family. Don't you see that forcing their futures makes them want to rebel? Please, can't you see that these methods never really worked? I understand that you believed it was a mercy to scrub them, keep a constant leash upon them, but it isn't, Sir. I had to face my nightmares head on, I had to remember and deal with it. I had to survive and then learn how to grow into a stronger person.  You helped me do that whether it was your intent to or not. It saved me, Sir. It can save all of us." The lion's eyes blazed with Lannister insult and Kevan's voice was soft but it was like a roar going through them all.

"That is enough. I can see you have been allowed far too much freedom, far too much time to think, as well. Perhaps you are the one who needs a bit of change. You can work on your thoughts in therapy with Raff, I promise to work closely with him on you. Let's put new changes in your work schedule. You are no longer to work with the students. You will continue your work in my home but your secondary job will cause you to perhaps adjust your attitude in time. Since Myranda will be Bob's wife, we shall need someone else to provide her unique services. You certainly have years of experience with that, don't you? I will have Bob make the arrangements for weekend clients that might enjoy a well trained young woman of a college age." Gilly turned pale but did not break. But Harold did. He started to yell and when Bob kicked at him, he tried to lunge and bite Bob's leg. Bob kicked Harold's head hard enough to knock him stunned into the dirt.

Hot Pie looked down at his buzzing phone and read the text. It made him feel sick and his voice reflected his upset. "Sir! Excuse me, I just received a text from Polliver. Tickler is dead. Jeyne has been raped and is hemorrhaging. It caused her to regress and they cannot get her to let them touch her or the other kids. Damon and Arya are injured too but Jeyne won't let anyone touch them." Every eye but Bob's turned to Kevan. They silently condemned him for the loss of what that girl worked so hard to be. Gilly gave a sad pitying smile to Kevan. "That child tried so hard to be something different and out of your own fears and temper, you just destroyed her. Can't you see it yet? This cycle you create?" Kevan moved so fast, Gilly didn't even feel the pain until it was too late. His pen removed her right earlobe. "Say another word, just one and I'll remove your tongue, woman." Gilly held her bleeding ear and shut her mouth finally, as Harold pleaded for her to stay quiet. Kevan told Bob and Ramsay to deal with assisting the counselor and nurse. Ramsay fought to keep his face blank and to keep his mouth shut this whole time. Now he flew, impatient while waiting for Bob to get the sedative rifle reloaded.

Kevan walked over to Unella, who shrunk back against the chair as if the wood and the giant held by it could somehow protect her. "I will allow you to work upon the students. Do everything possible for Jeyne and the other two. Do not make me regret letting you go to the clinic and work upon the children. Or I will make you watch as Bob begins to remove parts of your husband. And that would be the least of what I would do, Unella." Nodding fast, Unella promised to only do her job. Gregor forced himself to stay silent, he just hoped that Unella would stay calm and out of trouble. He just had to suffer a bit of pain and humiliation then Kevan will let him out of this fucking chair. Once that happens, Gregor will make plans. It was time to take their chances in the world. He was going to find a way to get the fuck out of this place once and for all. There was no way in hell that Gregor was going to allow Kevan any control over the fates of his children or wife. Just the thought of what Kevan allowed Meryn to do made him sick to his stomach. How could Kevan even think that was a justifiable response to children lured into a mutiny? Gregor wished he could take the kids too, at least poor Jeyne, but he can't risk such things. No, he will gather his wife and leave as soon as it's possible.

Stannis and Tyrion were looking at Hot Pie's cell phone with frowns. They had taken it from him when they saw a headline stream and clicked onto the latest news. Tyrion looked up and over at his uncle. "Uncle Kevan, Kings Landing is blowing up. The Freys all died in a fire, Varys's establishment is destroyed, Varys was blown up in his own van. Harold, I am so sorry, he was my best friend, oh gods. There's more, the Dreadfort is on fire, Roose's body was found in his kennels. Walda Bolton is missing. The Martells are dead. The casino exploded, their cars exploded, I mean, the strip was nearly demolished. Oberyn and Doran are dead, most of their family was found charred. The bodies of Bran Stark and Robin Arryn-Baelish were found with Oberyn."

Harold spoke carefully. "Lancel took Order down. Lancel and his girls are coming, Sir. Once they destroyed their main target they were heading here. You are going to need all of us to defend this place, Sir. There is no longer time for careful defensive planning. Lancel and his cult are coming to slaughter every person here, including you, Sir. Please, punish us all you want but let us protect the school the best we can. We are only a small school, Lancel just took out most of the city! Lancel wants slaughter and fire, a grand murder party to top off his victories."

Kevan sniffed and lifted his chin higher. "If it comes to that, I will allow everyone to defend our school and children, of course. I have no intention of allowing my son or his girls to destroy my school. We have a secure fence, you have traps littering the property lines." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gilly: Who Will Save Your Soul by Jewel  
> Bob and Myranda: Barbie Girl by Aqua  
> Jeyne, Damon and Arya: Metal Health by Quiet Riot  
> RIP Meryn: Bad Things by Jace Everette  
> Kevan: Bury Me Face Down by Grandson


	175. Like Sitting Ducks

Ramsay's head was spinning, this was so exciting, all of it. Sansa was on her way, she somehow managed to use the whore to get back inside. He couldn't wait to see her, couldn't believe how close they were now. Even though it was clear tonight was the end, Ramsay was still proud as hell that he got Bob to be his mentor. 

He refused to admit to the fact that he was worried about the pack. It was too late anyway, they would have perished tonight. Ramsay might have been able to save Damon if the idiot had just stayed under his control. Hell, Ramsay planned on personally tying Jeyne to the cornfield cross and setting her on fire. Surely, he isn't getting any disloyal thoughts on that matter. There was never any way to save Jeyne or Arya, not ever, only Damon had been a mere slim possibility. Besides, if he didn't burn Jeyne alive then Stannis himself would do it. And Sansa would find a way to try and kill Arya herself no matter what Lancel ordered. So Ramsay had steeled himself against the desperate howling and screams he could hear while Kevan was still coming down on the staff.

At one point Ramsay winced and almost lost it. He could swear that he could hear his name, yes, that was Damon screaming for Ramsay to help him. Ramsay ignored it even as it hurt something inside him. While Kevan was backing up Unella, Ramsay heard a distant call of his name one last time. It was Jeyne's voice and it hit him like a bolt of lightening. He had panted for a moment and Bob had touched his shoulder. Now he has a reason to race towards his pack, he needs this, no, he needs to keep control. Stannis's voice came into his head, warning him to caution. To not give in to his usual impulsive thoughts. They were too close for it now. Roose's voice was softer but louder at the same time, reminding Ramsay that hate or love, a Bolton must protect its family. Worst of all, he heard Jeyne's Person voice reminding him that a pack was a family, it was important to protect and have. Ramsay ran with Bob and then they stopped to survey the scene in front of them.

Polliver and Raff stood just out of attacking distance, trying to speak to Jeyne, to the other two with no success. Damon and Arya were wound around each other against a large tree with Jeyne on all fours, circling them, growling at the others that might come too close. Ramsay was thrown so hard into the past by it that he expected to see Sansa standing next to him instead of Bob. It was always this way when the summers or holidays were spent at the Bolton kennels. After a brutal session, Arya and Damon would always hold each other, silent, shaking, unable to remain strong now that the adults were done with them. They would always find Jeyne, they would curl up wherever she was and the girl would just circle them, not allowing anyone close. No adult dared to approach Jeyne without Roose. Even if she was on a long chain leash or penned, Damon and Arya would find a way to get close enough for her to protect them.

He was brought back to the present by the sound of Bob readying the sedation gun. That is when Ramsay saw the actual injuries, the looks of the pack itself. Jeyne's thighs, where she crawled was a trail of dark blood. Her entire body was one big bruised bite mark and her eyes were wild, they were full of true dog sister now. Ramsay found himself starting to fill with a savage kind of fury. How dare, how fucking DARE that perverted monster break a Bolton pack in such a way? Ramsay wished Tickler was alive so he could kill him slowly. For all of Damon's giant strength, he has been reduced to a terrified child, half dressed, covered in blood, dirt, clutching Arya like she was his teddy bear. Arya looked deathly sick and her twitches were so severe, she kept whacking into Damon's chest with her head. Ramsay took a single step forward and Bob stopped him. "No. Jeyne is too dangerous like this. If Raff and Polliver cannot get her to hear them, you won't make any difference."

Ramsay had to fight himself, wrestle, bite his lip hard to obey the order. Bob took aim and Jeyne went down hard. Damon and Arya started to howl so loud that Ramsay couldn't decide if he should put his hands over his ears or his mouth so he wouldn't join in. Raff wrapped Jeyne's bottom half in his own shirt, the blood seeping through the pristine white before he even had her in his arms. He ran for the clinic as fast as he could. Bob was reloading the sedation gun and Polliver gave an alarmed look. "The other two are fine, Bob. They aren't feral, I can handle them, alright? We just needed to get Jeyne down. I am sure Damon and Arya won't be a problem. They are just hurt and scared." Bob gave a small laugh. "Jeyne was hurt and scared too, Polliver. These two aren't ferals but they are dangerous predators. That are hurt and scared, yes. And we just took away their wild tiny alpha. Do you want to take the chance they won't attack you out of panic?"

Ramsay had to fight down a growl at Bob's assessment that dog sister was the alpha of the pack. That burned off the pity and Bolton duty he had felt towards Jeyne. He watched as Polliver tried to walk over to the entwined students. Damon screamed when Polliver tried to speak to him, Arya panted, her eyes rolling wildly and then she vomited again. Bob aimed carefully and Ramsay saw his failed pack slump to the ground as if dead. Polliver swore at Bob who calmly told Ramsay to get a stretcher for them to carry Damon down in. Polliver lifted Arya to carry her to the clinic, shoving past Bob, pissed. Ramsay conjured pictures of Sansa and him far away from all of it as he ran to get the stretcher. He can't help anyone else, he must keep focus. Stannis will let him know when it's time to show everyone the calendar and he lost himself to the excitement of that to keep him going. Best part is Sansa will be here by then and can join in.

Sansa drove as far as where the destroyed rest area that was about thirty minutes from the school. "Val, please stay out of sight and be careful. As deadly as you and your sisters are, everyone at that school is also deadly. Please take care and I will see you inside school grounds tonight. Walda will be here with Mari and Sara in about an hour. Here is my phone, you'll need it to stay in touch with her." Val hugged Sansa tightly then reached into the car to give a quick kiss to Myranda's cheek. Val smiled at both girls and chirped brightly, "I hate to leave a Princess and an Angel on their own. But I will see you both very soon!" Myranda had gotten out of the car after Val kissed her so she could stretch her legs, Sansa was already standing and they watched Val disappear into the nearby foliage. Sansa watched the girl go with a soft smile and softer words. "Silly little girl, you didn't leave a Princess and an Angel. You left a Queen and a whore. And with any luck tonight will be the last time I ever have to suffer any of you."

Polliver carried Arya into the clinic and all he could hear was screeching in a high pitched voice. Apparently, Joff had woken to find himself deserted, in pain, hungry, thirsty and sitting in his own waste. Unella and Raff had no time to hear his complaints as they were rushing Jeyne into the surgery room. Raff came out of the surgery room to direct Polliver to a room with Arya, who was still under the effects of sedation. Raff started to head for the girl and asked Polliver to help out with Joff. Tossing the medication and supply room keys to his friend, Raff spoke fast. "Joff needs his medications, you'll see them written on the chart. Get him cleaned and fed. Anything else that needs to be done, come get me." Polliver caught the keys and nodded."How's Jeyne?"

Raff shrugged as he started to put ice packs on Arya's stomach and lower extremities. "We repaired what we could. Jeyne will never have kids, not after what Meryn did. Luckily, don't think Jeyne was ever going to be well enough mentally for such things anyway. Unella is giving her some blood, Jeyne will be physically okay again. But I don't know if she'll ever come back mentally." Ramsay and Bob entered with Damon on a stretcher and Raff ran to have them put him in the same room as Arya. It would be easier to tend to them both that way. Raff began to work on Damon and Arya while Polliver dealt with the bitching golden boy. "I want every student in this clinic restrained while you care for them." Raff stared at Bob with outrage. "I am fine with that on Jeyne, she might be dangerous. But these two have been too traumatized already. They don't need restraints." Bob smiled grimly. "All of them here are dangerous when cornered. Everyone of them would kill you to get out of this school. Even Ramsay and my own sweet Myranda are no more than dangerous animals that like to run. Restraints for all of them not directly under my control. Jeyne, Arya, Damon and Joff are all to be restrained. Or you'll find yourself restrained." Raff clenched his teeth and nodded, setting restraints on the just waking up Arya and Damon.      

 Myranda stared at the gates of the school and sighed. Sansa grinned at her and raised her eyebrows. "Not happy to be back home, Myranda? All you have to do is convince Bob just how much you love him, wanted to come back. He won't hurt you, hell, you are a skilled whore, can't you wrap him around your long lovely legs?" It was a jolt of shock to Sansa when Myranda laughed and gave Sansa the most bitter eyes she has ever seen. Filled with more rage and bitterness than Petyr, Cersei and Sansa's own mother ever had, which was saying something. "Weren't you able to convince the Order not to hurt you? Huh? Sansa, did you just use your own well trained wiles to get them to not hurt you, to fall in love with you and do your bidding? No? Well, guess what? Same boat." Myranda and Sansa stared at each other for a second then Myranda took a step closer. "I am going to do what you want. I will get us inside and I am going to hope that you and those girls keep your promise not to kill me. All I want is to reach Jeyne, get her and myself out of here forever. That's all. Sound good to you, Sansa?"

Sansa nodded and smiled, touching Myranda's long purple hair. "Sure, sounds good to me. Let's go." Myranda knew that Sansa was lying through her teeth and there wasn't a damned thing she could do about that. The girls went to the gate and rang the bell for entrance.

Kevan asked Stannis to go check upon the strength and weaknesses of the newly made gates. Hot Pie was sent to assist him and Tyrion was charged with keeping an eye on Harold, Gregor and Gilly. It reminded Tyrion of the night of that dreadful circle where he had to tend to Sansa, Ramsay and Joff all night. Except this time he was alone, these were his own peers and he was way too sober for it. Kevan had personally chained Gilly's wrists to the metal pole in the center of the circle. "One strapped in a chair, one on the ground in a straitjacket and one hanging in chains. Surely, this isn't too difficult for you, nephew. You aren't going to torture them, just make sure they stay here. Give them water if it makes you feel better, Tyrion. You are too sensitive by far. I do not intend to kill any of them and I do not intend to let my son in to kill us all. Now calm down, I will send Ramsay to you with something to drink as soon as I can."

Tyrion held his ground, in spite of the three of them continually trying to convince him to release them. He began to loudly sing until they gave up talking to him. Ramsay skidded into the circle after a while, holding out a bottle of Kevan's finest wine to Tyrion with a sneer. "I suppose in this crazed state of affairs, I cannot attempt to admonish you for impudence, young man." Tyrion swiped the bottle from Ramsay, desperate to fill his gullet, body and mind with numbing, blessed wine. Ramsay said nothing, just turned to grin with a sadistic joy at the bound staff. The professor forced himself to stop swallowing to swat at Ramsay. "No, I will not watch you torment them. Go suck Bob's cock or something. Go away." Ramsay started to walk towards Tyrion, his grin getting a tad too toothy for anyone's comfort. "I'm not who Bob wants sucking his cock, he wants the little whore for that. And for fun kinds of hunting games. Hey, maybe that's why he chose me to mentor with. He knows that I love those kinds of games, that I can be as dangerous as he is. You aren't dangerous, you are weak as fuck, Professor. Look at you, you can't even find a side or a conviction to stay with, can you? You just want to sit on the sidelines and drink yourself to death. There are better ways to die."

Gregor roared out. "Death Row! That man is still your teacher and in case you didn't hear, Kevan isn't killing us. He will punish us and then we are back to work. On you. Until then? Better hope you don't get hurt, Unella still runs the clinic. Touch your Professor and come hell or high water, I will find a way to make you pay for it. That is a promise, boy." Ramsay told Gregor to go fuck himself but he stepped away from Tyrion. Gilly faced Ramsay and asked him calmly if the other children were alright. Ramsay's eyes blazed with a terrible kind of love and hate at the thought of the others, it twisted his features. He looked like a boy who wanted to cry if he could only remember how. His voice was rougher, lower and full of misplaced anger. "Oh sure, they are doing great, bitch. So glad that all of you CARED so fucking much to HELP us all out! Wanna know how Jeyne is? There is no more Jeyne, just a feral that nearly had her insides fucked out by a monster THAT YOU ALL CREATED, NOT FUCKING ONE OF YOU EVER THOUGHT OF THAT SHIT, DID YOU? SO MUCH CARING, RIGHT? Damon and Arya don't talk, they just cry. Like scared little babies. So thank a whole heap for all your concern." Ramsay stormed off and Tyrion started to chug in earnest. A look passed between Gilly and Gregor. The woman gave a slight nod then began to call Tyrion over to her which put his back to the men.

Gregor looked down at Harold. "Okay, I have had enough of this shit, have you? Move like a little worm and slither on up here, I will fucking bite you loose if I have to. This fucking ends." Gilly started to beg Tyrion for a drink then continued to try and hold his attention as the dwarf steadily got drunker. Harold inched his way up and to his horror saw he would have to sit in Gregor's lap. "Think of me as your personal Santa if you have to, Harold, but it's the only way to reach you. Hurry up, asshole, we don't have time for your pride, dammit." Harold growled as he felt ridiculous sliding into Gregor's large lap then squirming up the massive chest. "We can't just run away, you know that, right? It's way too late for that." Gregor nodded, whacking Harold's head by accident with his chin. "Running isn't happening now. No. Whether its Kevan or his crazy son, I'm not letting anyone else touch those fucked up kids. I can't help all of them, but I can try." Harold felt Gregor's teeth chomp hard into the ties at his back and he grimaced. "I hope I don't have to kill my own brother. I already lost one to fucking Lancel. Lots of people are going to have to die tonight, Gregor. It's been ages since you've enjoyed any type of wet work. I hope working with children hasn't softened you too much." 

Gregor scoffed and moved back enough to growl out, "Tough words from a man sitting in my lap. Don't worry, I haven't forgotten a damned thing, least of all how much I have always enjoyed wet work."

Hot Pie made careful notes about every trap that looked functional, not that he had any idea how they worked. He also checked on the fencing and brought to Stannis a minor list of weak points within the fencing sections he had checked. Stannis nodded and thanked him. There mustn't have been any worries where Stannis had checked but Hot Pie wasn't asking. He was upset over earlier, he felt ashamed that he caved. He was incensed at the Tickler being allowed to hurt the kids. Hot Pie was scared to death for Jeyne, worried for the returning Myranda and concerned for Damon and Arya. Joff and Ramsay could drop dead for all he cared. Hot Pie just couldn't understand how Kevan could hurt the kids in such a way over what adults chose to do? How was he to know what side was right? Choosing Kevan's side was clearly wrong but the supposed right group was tied up in a circle. Now there's a cult led by Kevan's son coming to butcher them? It was all just jumbled in the cook's confused head. He is sure that this stuff didn't happen when Polliver first became staff otherwise this shit would have been mentioned.

Hot Pie found himself staring at the small gate that led out to the back roads. Stannis came up from behind, startling him. "It's an escape route in case we ever need it. Don't worry, only I have the code to open it." Stannis became startled when Hot Pie burst into tears. "Good grief, Hot Pie! We do not have time for your dramatics on a busy day like this. I need you to see to these repairs on the fence while I go see what else must be fortified." The cook sniffed and nodded. "Sorry, just had a moment. I'm fine. Sure, I'll go fix the damaged spots." Stannis left and Hot Pie walked as if he were heading towards the weaker spots of the fence. Until he was sure that Stannis was gone. Tears welled again but Hot Pie bit his lip and began to slink away, towards the weapons shed. He had cried out of the horrifying realization that he might die today. Because Hot Pie can't be on Kevan's side. He has to be on the side of the kids, of the staff. Polliver and Raff were complying to save the kids. Hot Pie had to find a way for them to regain control. First, he needed to get armed, he needs to release Gregor, Harold and GIlly. Hot Pie was never so scared or determined in his entire life as of this very second. They all had to get away, to get out and Hot Pie intends to start the stampede.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ramsay: LetterBomb by American Idiot, Green Day Musical  
> Harold & Gregor: Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit  
> Myranda & Sansa: Angry by Matchbox 20  
> Hot Pie: Beat It by Fall Out Boy (Micheal Jackson cover)


	176. Sometimes It Takes The Right Female

Bob heard that the girls were at the entrance gate and flew to be with Kevan when he let them in.

As soon as he left, Raff and Polliver loosened the restraints upon Damon and Arya. With a grim expression, Unella wheeled Jeyne's cot into the room, the girl strapped tightly to it. "I am keeping the three of them together. Jeyne's best chance of connecting again is with others around her. Might make the other two feel a little safer." All three kids were awake and their eyes swam with medications and trauma. Damon and Arya both seemed relieved to see Jeyne. Better yet, the girl who looked at no one and nothing seemed to connect a bit with reality. Her eyes turned to seek out the other two and the low whine she has exhibited since waking, died away. Jeyne turned back to staring blankly at the ceiling but her limbs seemed relaxed.

Raff walked over to Jeyne and stroked the sweaty hair that was finally starting to grow out. "Jeynie, it's Raff. Look at me, can you hear me? I hope you can hear me in there, Jeynie. You are still a Person, just a hurt one. Don't give up hope, please, don't give up. We are right here for you, when you are ready. Keep fighting it."

Unella leaned over Arya. "What's your name?" Arya stared at Unella then muttered, "Arya. You are Doctor Unella. That's Raff and Polliver. Damon and Jeyne. I wasn't made stupid, just traumatized. Why can't I get this ice off my stomach, it feels horrible. And when will I stop gagging?" Unella examined Arya's throat plus read what Raff had already treated. "Looks like your gag reflex was slightly damaged and your kidneys took some bruising. The ice is keeping you from swelling and is helping to keep your stomach calm while the medication we gave you for your throat kicks in. You are going to urinate blood for a few days. You are going to be in some discomfort for a few days. Nothing very serious, you were lucky on that count. What I really would like to know is how your mind is working right now. I wish I had time for it. But we don't. I am going to assess Damon then since you are clear headed enough."

Damon turned away from Unella. "What is your name, young man?" He mumbled his name and shut his eyes tightly, curling up in a ball. Unella tried to force down her frustration.

Walda pulled up and smiled cheerily at Val. The young teenager peered into the car and saw her little sisters asleep in the backseat. Curled up in a thick pink blanket, holding a bunch of stuffed animals, cats maybe. Val grinned and giggled. "I guess they got tired out." Walda nodded. "Oh, they did! First they took splendid care of my husband, helped me set everything for the explosion of Dreadfort. Then they had some milk and cookies before we headed out. You look peaked, dear. Here, sit down next to me and I have brought a snack for you too. Can't go into such a physical work tonight without a bit of fortification." Walda offered the small thermos of flavored milk and two cinnamon sugar cookies to the girl. Val sat and had her treat while Walda chatted with her. Walda looked into the backseat through the rear-view mirror and smiled at the lovely little angels.

Val started to shake and convulse while Walda tenderly wiped her face with a soft cloth. Gently patting away the foam as Val began to die, Walda hummed a comforting tune to her. "It's a true shame, I am very sorry. It isn't your fault, not any of your faults that you are this way. But I am afraid you are just too dangerous for a world that contains my new child. The Order must die and everything it ever created that might hurt my baby. Sansa doesn't feel as sorry for you as I do." She dumped the bodies of the three Craster girls and the six cats all into the nearby quarry. Walda turned on the radio and sang sweetly as she drove towards the meeting point.

Later that night, Sansa and Ramsay will meet her and they will drive away. Walda will drive until she can't then one of the others will drive. As soon as they are out of Lancel's range, they will separate and Walda plans on raising her child somewhere on a mountain. Dreaming of milking cows, teaching her child to garden and have long walks on foggy mornings, Walda waited, watching the sunset.

Kevan and Bob stood at the gates together as the girls walked inside, leaving the car out in the parking lot. Myranda nearly ran to Bob and pressed her head into his chest while wrapping her arms around him, his own arms winding around her painfully tight. "Good girl. I am so proud of you for coming back to me." Bob kissed the top of her head and heard her make a small muffled cry. He looked and saw the small gash on her head. "My poor thing, they didn't even keep you safe, did they? Harold will pay for it, I promise you that. We shall have Unella look at your head, fix you up. Kevan said we can marry tomorrow. Isn't that wonderful news, Myranda?" She thought it was worthy of screaming and running away. It was the equivalent of a cage and collared leash for someone like Myranda. It was just a way for Bob to make sure she was exclusive, owned on paper and unpaid because pleasing him would simply be expected. A way to make Myranda play whore, wife, slave, prey and possibly mother all at once.

Her eyes were full of honest fear and submission, now she forced the look Bob wants to see. "Thank you, Bob. I know I don't deserve to have such things. I never expected to be able to marry someone like you, Sir. I...am so grateful and I love you." Bob stroked the long delicate throat and kissed the frantic pulse there. "Don't call me Sir anymore. It doesn't sound right. It's too formal, love. Call me Bob and when appropriate, call me Master." Shivering at the low hungry voice, Myranda pressed closer to him. Use the twisted love I feel for him, the love that shames me because I know its all manufactured, like I'm a fucking programmed robot, use it to survive this. Whispering in a timid way, Myranda cuddled into him as if she feared and loved him which, oh, she did, just as much as she hated him and wished to kill him.

"Yes, Master. I came back as fast as I could, I swear it. I know I am yours, I know my rules and I just want to be with you, please you." Bob enjoyed a moment of holding the shivering little rabbit with large pleading eyes. He smoothed the hair, careful not to touch the injury and his arms pushed the girl even further into his clutches. The world seemed right, Bob knew he was going to get everything back in order now. 

Sansa had staggered over to Kevan, looking desperate, ashamed and utterly broken in attitude. She grasped his hands and wept, ugly tears, letting the snot flow, this was not a pretty tearful scene as would have been expected. Sansa allowed all her hatred of those girls, the relief of knowing Walda was poisoning the three brats for her to come through. All her need for Ramsay, all her hatred for the rest to help bring forth the storm that lived inside her. It was a true terrible mess of drama and Kevan gave her a handkerchief then eventually brought himself to hug her. Sansa's words, her actions and her eyes all held just enough dark truth for Kevan and Bob to see. Not that Bob was really seeing anything but Myranda and that served Sansa just fine.

"Sir, I am so sorry. I tried, so hard, I really tried to be a good wife. I didn't do anything wrong, I didn't but...it never mattered. Those girls, they watched me all the time and Lancel wanted me to follow his rules. Rules that were hard to follow and he and the girls would punish me. It was a prison, Sir. It was awful and then to go to the baby shower, they were so mean to poor Walda. I left early, Walder was so rude! We leave and only a few moments later I see firetrucks heading to where we were! I was so happy when Bri tried to help me but Val took control of the car. She slammed the car into Bronn's. Val killed Bri and Bronn. I waited until I saw Myranda crawl out of the trunk then I knew if we didn't run, Val would kill her. We ran until we lost the girl then circled back to the car. Myranda called Bob while I drove. That girl is still out there somewhere, waiting for Lancel's orders, Sir! She'll kill me, they all will. Lancel will see me as a traitor now!"

Kevan hugged Sansa and then held her at arms length. "I forgive you, dear. If I didn't think you were innocent of Lancel's plans, I would not have allowed you inside our gates. However, you must be kept separate from the students. The only functioning student at this time is Ramsay and he needs to help us out. He is working with Bob and is not available to comfort you. Don't try and deny it, girl. I won't believe you fell in love with Lancel even as he abused and controlled you. That you have no further feelings for Ramsay, I won't believe it. But you are still a married woman and a Lannister at that. So you will keep your distance from any other student here. You may remain at the house and you can have a lovely guest room to rest in. You will be perfectly safe and we shall deal with my son and his girls. Trust me on that matter, dear."

Sansa nodded and thanked Kevan gratefully. "Sir, you said all the students but Ramsay aren't functioning? Does that include my little sister? Can I see her, please, she is all the family I have left! My younger brother was killed by a Craster girl bomb. I heard it all, Lancel called me to gloat over every death."

 Tyrion squinted and stared, then slurred out, "You aren't supposed to do that. Get back into that chair, into that hug me jacket! HEY! ACK! Gilly, release me immediately!" Gilly's legs were wrapped tight around the drunken man while Gregor and Harold hurried to free themselves. Harold rushed over and gave Gilly an admiring look. "I love how strong your legs are." Gilly rolled her eyes and snapped, "Thank you very much, Harold. This man is getting hard to hold and I am resting all my weight upon this chain, hurry before my wrists break!" Harold grasped Tyrion's neck and did something fast. Tyrion's eyes rolled up and he went limp. With a sigh of relief, Gilly relaxed her legs and let the man slump to the ground. "He's only knocked out. I don't want to kill him if I don't have to." Gilly nodded as Harold unchained her and hugged her tightly.

Gregor growled at them. "We don't have time for your touching moment. Let's go before Bob gets back. Something tells me that he isn't going to use a sedation gun on us this time." Harold released Gilly. "Let's get to the weapons shed." Shaking his head, Gregor headed a different direction. "You get the weapons you'll both need. Get anything you think we can have Raff and Polliver use. I'm going to get my own weapons. Then I'm heading for the clinic. Why don't you meet me there and we can make it our fortress if need be."

Hot Pie grabbed the few guns he knew how to use, took a taser and a few blades that had been Sandor's. Hurrying through the foliage, trying to hide weapons in his shirt, the boy was scared out of his mind. When he ran into Harold and Gilly, he not only leapt a mile into the air but then almost shot them. Harold was quick to relieve Hot Pie of all but one hand gun and the taser. "Calm yourself. You have done well and we thank you for helping us. No one blames you for earlier, you had no choice but to comply with Kevan. Polliver and Raff did the same thing, Unella had to give in to work on the children. They are all being treated in the clinic. We need to get there, they need protecting. Can I count on you to get yourself to the clinic? We will grab a few more things in the shed and meet you there, along with Gregor. You cannot walk with us, you are free right now but we are escapees and a target. You are safer on your own until you reach the clinic. Hide the gun and taser well and try not to act panicked."

Stannis stood over his friend laying, snoring on the ground and shook his head sadly.

"Such a waste. I tried, truly tried to talk to you, to make you see things the way you should. I wanted you to be on my side, to be my partner and you just couldn't do it. The drink has overtaken you, they destroyed you long ago and you never let yourself come back from it. It bothers me that you will die tonight, Tyrion. Now you have even failed Kevan by losing his prisoners. Which caused more trouble and more chaos for us all, dammit. Sir, I had a schedule, a plan and this messes it all up. I cannot say that I appreciate the trouble you have inadvertently caused me. All I had to do was get the group into the circle for the calendar show. I have to hunt down our mutineers now instead of setting up. It's rude, Tyrion, that young man has worked hard on this project. Both Loras and Sansa spent a good deal of time and trouble on the calendar as well. They should be allowed to have their work seen. You are pitiful, my friend and I am afraid I have no pity left to offer."

Sansa begged to see her little sister and Myranda sweetly begged to see Jeyne. Bob said that after Myranda had her head treated that he will see if Jeyne is able to see anyone. He felt kindly towards his sweet girl. She came home, was grateful for Bob's proposal and deserved a little reward. Besides, the sight of a feral broken Jeyne is bound to send Myranda into his arms for comfort. Kevan told Sansa he would allow her a brief visit with Arya before going into the house. As they headed towards the clinic, Kevan tried to delicately explain why the students were in the clinic. "Due to a staff and student mutiny, the Tickler was invoked to deal with mutinous students. Sadly, all three were traumatized and injured. Jeyne ended up killing our Tickler but not before she was...damaged." Myranda had gasped and turned pale, her heart aching for Jeyne. "Oh no, please tell me she isn't all feral again?" Bob patted Myranda's shoulder, he held her close as they walked. "She has regressed but I am sure it's only temporary." Myranda wasn't agreeing with that but nor was she dumb enough to do more than nod.

"What is your name? Can you tell me your name?" Jeyne screamed in ice cold frozen silence of the woods. My name is Jeyne, I am a Person, I was a Feral, I was a Person, Jeyne is a Feral. The words got lost and turned into a whine when leaving her mouth. "Jeynie, look at me, can you hear me?" Yes, I can hear you, but its too far away to see you anymore. I am Jeyne, Roose Bolton's daughter and she would put her chin on daddy's boot. Domeric would give her treats and talk to her like she was his favorite dog but called her sister. I am a Sister. Domeric died, Bethany died and Jeyne's mind replayed it quickly just in case the Person decided to try to talk anymore.

"No, calm down, Jeyne, hey, kiddo, I won't let anyone hurt you anymore. Try and breathe through it. I'm right here." My name is Jeyne, my counselor is Polliver. He wants to help but he can't get into the woods and I can't get out. Jeyne was running, hunting, hearing the screams, it was a child, once a boy, now its a girl. She can hear the parents screaming in heartbreak and Jeyne doesn't understand why. Most parents that bring their children to an Order party understands and usually enjoys the entertainments. This wasn't even a kill hunt, just a fun hunt, they will only hurt, scare but not kill. This is a punishment for the parents but not a kill one. It was drilled into all of their heads.

Ramsay might rape the girl, Damon might too, they are just old enough to begin to want to spread pain of their own for pleasure. Arya likes to chase, taunt and shoot arrows at their victims, Jeyne tends to dart in, bite or knock the victim down so Damon can close in with his whip. They made the girl scream, cry, beg, fall, crawl and dance to Damon's whip. The boys had the girl, in a terrible way, it reminds Jeyne of something AWFUL and she tries to hide deeper into the woods. It played in her head, all around her, Jeyne couldn't shut anything off in the woods. When they allowed the girl to go, after hearing Roose order them to cease, her parents rushed to her, crying. The mother was screaming about the girl's face. Jeyne had launched and bit at the girl but the child tripped and the teeth ripped half of the girl's face. It would leave a gruesome scar according to the very angry father. Roose agreed that it had gone too far.

He offered the angry parents a chance to punish Jeyne for it. Jeyne cowered at her father's feet, curled up, whimpering as the parents raged at him. They wanted Jeyne to be burned, if not all up then at least half her face. Roose refused and administered a punishment of his own. The slow removal of four toenails was terrible, spending the rest of the night wearing a large flat glass on her back as she stayed perfectly still on all fours. Her raw toe beds seeping, biting her lip as the group of adults all talked, set their drinks on her back and occasionally grind a hot lit cigar or cigarette out upon the glass. Causing small burns upon her back to add a little extra pain. But the parents and the girl had long gone, so angry and hurt that Jeyne truly felt she deserved the punishment. That little girl, that crazy shrieking mother and that stern face of the father. He wanted to burn her, the crazy mother wanted to burn her but the little girl. She touched the cowering Jeyne and even through her own pain, that little girl said she forgave Jeyne.

I am Jeyne. I am a Person. I am a Feral. I am lost in the woods. I am a sister to a dead brother. I am a dog sister to two live brothers. Arya is pack. Damon is pack. Myranda is my best friend. She is gone and I am lost in the woods. Ramsay is pack, he left us and I am lost in the woods. I have a whirlygig man. He isn't here in the woods and my name is Jeyne. My name is daughter, dog sister, name is Bitch, Little Freak, Dog Girl, Tiny Fucking Killer, The Feral Girl. Alpha of a pack. Jeyne saw the face of the man and she KNEW it, why, how did she forget something like that? But it doesn't matter here in the woods, nothing does. I am Feral and I am lost in the woods. A new voice and it was clear, it echoed through the forest and Jeyne KNEW this voice and the face that goes with it. With every bit of fierceness that makes Jeyne whatever she is, she grabbed onto the voice like a rope and PULLED. Jeyne pulled, pulled, climbed, tried so hard, the woods aren't as wonderful as that voice.

"Alright, Jeyne. That's enough drama, don't you think? I didn't come all the way back here to stare at you acting like a deranged zombie. I have had an adventure, a new story to tell you and news too! Come on, you won't believe all the things going on around here that you are missing. Don't leave a bitch hanging, Jeyne." Raff, Unella and Polliver stayed frozen, along with Bob, Kevan and Sansa while Myranda leaned over Jeyne, sitting on the girl's bed, holding tight to the small clawed hand. They all could actually SEE the struggle, how Jeyne was trying to swim to the surface, her eyes bulged and her mouth opened wide. She thrashed in the restraints then focused on Myranda. "My name is Person. I am a Jeyne." Myranda laughed as tears rolled down her face and Unella burst into tears all over Raff, who would have been horrified it he wasn't trying to not wail like a baby himself. Polliver simply stared hard at his shoes for a moment. "Close enough. You are Jeyne and you are a Person no matter what. You have to always remember that. You are my best friend. Glad to have you back."

While Myranda helped Jeyne sip some water, Sansa headed over to Arya now that the main drama was over. Sansa really didn't care what happened with the feral. She did find it interesting how Jeyne managed to fight her own sickness. It was too bad that Lancel couldn't have just nabbed the girl years back and trained her correctly. Jeyne would have been preferable to those creepy Craster girls. Sansa smiled at her sister but she was slightly alarmed. It was clear that drug withdrawal and the Tickler has taken the wind out of Arya's sails. But Sansa knew how strong her little sister was, how stubborn she was, Sansa made her that way. Arya looked up at Sansa with a smirk, trying to hide the horrors swirling in her eyes. "I was so scared when I heard what happened to you. How badly hurt are you? I'm so sorry for what the Tickler did to you." Sansa knew better than to try and kiss or hug her sister. Arya gave a tiny snort. "I'm sure you are back at school out of concern for me. Did Lancel get too much for you? Welcome back to hell."

Damon saw his angel and started to sob, he called out for her. Sansa left her wisecracking but weakened sister to visit her poor Damie. She soothed his brow and whispered that he was safe now. The Tickler was dead and Damon would heal. Damon gave eye contact, he spoke and even begged Sansa to give him a hug. Kevan kept a close eye upon Sansa, watching her work her magic. Both girls seemed to just have the right touch. Sansa seemed to bring out the sarcastic humor in Arya, who was still looking quite pale but no longer listless. Damon was speaking, not shuddering as Sansa held his hand and talked to him. Myranda had Jeyne's attention even if the girl was only able to speak in small bursts, not making much sense yet.

Kevan secretly felt guilty about Jeyne, his own blood, his temper just flew and it was too late to change what's happened. After this is all over, Kevan is sure he might have new guilt to bring to his dead wife. At least Jeyne is able to see reality again, is more a person than feral. Jeyne held tight to Myranda's hand and blurted out, "A stern face! I forgot it! I knew the face! I'm sorry, I can tell him! That girl, I didn't mean it! I wasn't a Person yet! I didn't have enough Jeyne!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Walda & Sansa: Little Girls by Miss Hannigan, Annie Original Musical  
> Bob: This Maniac's In Love With You by Alice Cooper  
> Sansa: Criminal by Fiona Apple  
> Kevan: Little Lies by Fleetwood Mac  
> Damon and Arya: Back To Life by Soul ll Soul  
> RIP Sara, Mari and Val: Happy Phantom by Tori Amos  
> Myranda/Jeyne: Shut Up And Dance With Me by Walk The Moon


	177. Awakened

Clara wanted to say nothing, Belinda wanted to say nothing but Lancel could see it anyway. "I am sure Walda is just taking her time. The last text was only twenty minutes ago. The woman strikes me as the type not to answer calls or texts while driving. Sansa said Walda wanted to give the kids a treat and I'm sure they are at some ice cream stand. We saw four of those disgusting stands getting here ourselves. Not that it matters, ladies. We all make the same sacrifices, don't we? Everyone of us, including Mari, Sara and Val understood the risks. No matter what, we are sticking to our schedule. We are leaving this spot and hiking up to the back gate door in five minutes. If the girls aren't here by then, they can meet us inside or we shall find them after it's all over. The end. Or do you have questions?"

Both women shook their heads. "Excellent."

Stannis and Ramsay were running like chickens with their heads cut off. This was getting out of control, everyone was all over the place. "Did you unlock the gate?" Stannis cursed and shook his head. "Right in front of the moronic cook? No, I had to wait until I knew he was gone, then I see the idiot heading for the weapons shed. So I run back to the damned circle just to find the others gone and Tyrion out cold. So I came to get you. They are all heading towards the clinic." Ramsay blinked and looked disappointed. "I can't do the whole calendar presentation in the damned clinic." Stannis under pressure had little patience. He smacked the boy's head.

"Of course you can't! I want you to get Joff out of there, no one else, don't let anyone see you do it! I doubt any of them care about what happens to him and he'll be left alone. Get him to the cornfield. Circle is sullied and too open. We shall have to use the cornfield for both the sacrifices and presentation. Lancel is coming soon and he is too much of a showboat. He will take over our show, I want my justice, I want Kevan to HEAR me. And as much as I do not like you, I must admit you are the one student that stayed the course, no matter what. You deserve to deliver the finished product. I am proud of you, young man. And you did very good by getting Bob's approval. Too bad you couldn't have done that earlier. Gods, that would have been so useful, ah well. I will take care of the door and Tyrion, you go get Joffery."

Unella got the startle of her life when Gregor's head suddenly popped up in the damned window. She was in her office searching for a clean lab coat when his bald head just rose like a monster. "Gods! Are you trying to make me miscarry? What the hell are you doing behind the clinic? Oh, you got loose!" Rolling his eyes, Gregor reached in the window and muffled her mouth. "Shut up. Gilly and Harold are at the weapons shed then they will come here. I want you to grab anything at all you, Polliver and Raff can use as weapons. That includes drugs and the kids if any of them are aware enough for it. Lancel is on his way to destroy the school and everyone in it." Unella tried to say something and he moved his hand.

"Kevan and Bob were just here and left for the house. They brought Myranda and Sansa. Sansa managed to get Arya and Damon to rally. They are aware, but fragile still. Myranda got Jeyne to come back enough to talk but she doesn't make any sense. The only one that is even really capable of wandering around is friggin Joff and he isn't on anyone's side but his own. Oscar is going for the gold with Kevan and Myranda looks like a trapped rat."

Stannis ran up the path, he climbed over rocks to save time and finally staggered up to the fence back gate door. Panting, Stannis punched the code in then turned to run back. He whacked his knee hard against a rock and cursed. He limped for a bit as he managed to head back to the circle. Taking a deep breath, trying to ignore the fact that his pants were not only stained but the knee has ripped. Gasping at the pain in his bruised kneecap, Stannis crouched down to get a firm grip under Tyrion's armpits. "Let's go, Tyrion, come on, wake just enough to walk for me? My friend, we need to move. Hot Pie made us a pitcher of your favorite lemonade, Sir." Tyrion muttered and tried to stand, weaving, almost falling again. His eyes weren't truly open but Stannis pushed and pulled, mostly dragging Tyrion to the cornfield.

Ramsay was trying to slide around the clinic and nearly ran into Gregor. This was the closest Ramsay has ever come to shitting his pants as he darted back around the corner and pressed against the small basement bulkhead. He pretended he was invisible, that he was one with the bulkhead and waited with dread as he heard thunder go past him. The giant went by and was gone as if he himself went invisible. Ramsay didn't think that was very fair that a mountain should also possess the power to be silent and disappear. Taking a second to relearn how to breathe, Ramsay slid towards Joff's window a with a little more care. He saw that Joff was sitting up in the bed with a grand frown upon his face. It was a Lannister pride has been injured kind of look and Ramsay smirked. He tapped at the glass and Joff turned to see him. Gesturing for the boy to come to the shut window, Ramsay noticed Joff had a catheter. Fuck, the boy won't agree to taking that out on his own to follow to freedom.

Joff opened the window, dragging his IV pole and the piss bag attached to his leg, he finally saw a tiny ray of hope. "Rams, you have no idea! All sorts of fucking shit in here, not a single fucking person will even notice me! They left me with nothing, no medications, no food! Then that ape that isn't supposed to be on duty at all comes in and does a piss poor fucking job-" Ramsay came in the window in one fast move and Joff backed up a little. "Hush, Joff. I'm here to help you out. Wanna get out of this fucking place, once and for all? Listen, shit is going down, Kevan's son is coming to kill everyone here. They are all busy, its our chance to escape, no one is watching and I figured it all out for us. We just have to disconnect you, buddy. I brought you a little something so you won't mind the tubes being removed." Ramsay was so glad that Stannis had reminded him to keep a small supply of the drugged gum, just in case.

Ramsay shoved it into Joff's mouth and held him tight, one hand on the struggling boy's mouth. "Chew it. It will help you out, Joff. Chew it or swallow it, works either way. I'll just hug you until you feel a bit better, okay?" He giggled softly as Joff tried to fight but the gum worked simply by the saliva, by the accidental sucking on it and the boy relaxed against him. It was a full dose of what Arya had used daily over months. For Joff, it was a trip across the cosmos and Ramsay was able to remove the tubes and coax the boy out the window. Similar to Lancel's drugs, the user is open to suggestions and might not remember it later except in pieces. Not that it mattered, after tonight Joff won't be remembering anything because he'll be dead. Ramsay helped Joff run with him to the cornfield. Stannis was already there with Tyrion.

"Good job, Ramsay. Now lets get them strung up. I found this extra wood in Gregor's workshop. You can put together the extra cross while I fix up the screen and projector. I really wish it was the feral, that's how we planned it. At least we have Kevan's last two relatives to burn. Might be only a drunkard and a worthless punk, but they are the last of Kevan's line. That will sting him some. The rest should watch the project. I want them ALL to see it, Ramsay. Not a single one of them deserves to die before seeing why. And Jeyne might not ever understand now. It was so important to me that she got well enough to understand and then stupid Kevan allows the Tickler to do such a dreadful thing! Now she won't be able to understand why and it won't matter as much."

Ramsay smirked and offered, "I would be happy to take care of dog sister myself! I was kind of going to try and beat you to it anyway, to be honest. Besides, if she's all drooling feral and that dangerous, you won't stand a change against her. Jeyne the Person would have trusted you and let you take her to the cornfield to dance with her whirlygig man or some shit. Jeyne the Feral will rip your throat out for saying hello. Let the pack alphas have their battle, Stannis. Come on. That is something she will understand, at least, right?" Stannis set up the projector grimly then gave a shrug. "If I can get her to understand, I will burn her alive. If she is just too regressed, then she is yours to kill. She is of your blood, after all. I can respect that."

Grimacing, Ramsay lifted the slender and giggling Joff onto the cross. "Stannis, just wind this rope quick for me. I still don't know how you think we can collect all of them here on our own. Sansa is locked in the house and its going to take her a bit to get out of it." Stannis smirked as he began to help tie the drugged boy to the wood. "That isn't going to be as difficult as you think, Ramsay. The last sleeper is awake. Always a stickler for the rules and times, just like myself. It was planned that way. In fact, our last star wasn't in any contact with any of us this whole time, not since the plans were firmly made. I have not seen my mentor personally since he fully recruited me. He has only spoken with Lancel when there was true need for itf."

Ramsay stood straight and for the first time since Lancel became their Guidance, he felt true fear and awe. "You mean...the real HIM? The one who taught Petyr and you? The true HIM is here, was here all along?" Stannis nodded, going between looking elated and morose. "Yes and that is the other reason I wanted to rush and have this done with all seeing it as quickly as we could. If Lancel won't care about our presentation and allow us to let everyone understand why they die, our true Leader certainly won't. He sees this as the last bait, the last slap of a glove, a last insult before collection before the kill. Also, he sees our thoughts on this last calendar project as our own vanity, as petty revenge rather than a trap to lure the others into. So he will only bring those he truly feels need to see this. The rest he will let you, Sansa and those girls hunt down."     

Harold laughed briefly at Gilly. "You have no idea how to use those. Give them to me before you accidentally kill us both." Gilly smiled and handed Harold back his small throwing stars. "I'm just glad that you stashed some of your more unique things back here." Snorting, Harold shook his head. "I didn't. These are in this old duct taped box unlike everything else neatly spread out in locked cages. That's because this box is what Polliver uses to put weaponry that students either smuggled in, made or stole. One of the little assholes got a hold of my throwing stars once. Kevan punished me for being gullible enough for a student to get my stars by letting Polliver pack them away."

Gilly nodded as she pawed through the box. "That makes sense now. Makes sense why I also just found about four homemade shivs and some things I don't even recognize." She lifted a wooden thing and stared at it with a frown. "Do you bludgeon someone with this?" Harold turned slightly red. "That would be a homemade sex toy, Gilly. Polliver must have put that in the wrong box. Look, it has initials, oh, Theon Greyjoy made that." Gilly dropped it back into the box and wiped her hands briskly on her pants. "Well then. I suppose considering my rich past with father and friends that I should have figured that one out. But to be frank, I have never seen one...that large. Wow."

Harold put his hands on Gilly's shoulders and quickly kissed her. "Stop being flustered, it's too adorable and we must keep focused. No more talk of the past or of sex toys. Thank you for finding my throwing stars but let's finish grabbing the guns and let's go." They decided to cut through the cornfield to save time.

Unella put on the last clean coat she had left and went to find Polliver and Raff. Passing by Joff's door, it was a relief to finally hear silence. Maybe the brat fell asleep, she didn't unlock his door, he was useless in the upcoming battle. Safest thing for Joff is to stay sleeping in a locked clinic room anyway. The nurse and counselor were still in the room with the other three students. Unella went into the room and gently shut the door behind her. With a stiff smile, she surveyed the children and wondered who will be helpful, who needs to be kept from trying to be helpful.  Arya was sitting up, tossing the ice of herself while being snarky about not having painkillers. Unella decided Arya is their best bet. Damon was speaking and responding to the others but he was cowering in his blankets still. He only lit up while Sansa was in the room. That takes the poor boy out of the battle and that was too bad considering his size.

Jeyne was still restrained but she is using words, seeing reality. That wasn't enough and Unella was afraid FOR Jeyne rather than of her now. Damon and Jeyne must be kept safe, protected and restrained until it was all over and that was that. Unella sighed and tried to draw Polliver and Raff away from the others. "Gregor and the others got loose. They said Lancel is on his way to destroy the school and everyone in it. He wants us to gather whatever weapons we can use in here. Harold and Gilly are getting weapons then heading for us. The only student that we can get to assist us is Arya." Raff shook his head. "Not in her current condition. Mentally she is with us, physically, I'm not too sure. She is injured still and can't move too well. Let me get her on her feet then we can decide."

Polliver went over to Arya and removed her I.V. hook up. "Okay, kiddo. What are you made of? Stand up and walk for me, Target. Let's go, duckling. I want to chat with you somewhere else." Arya got to her feet and staggered a few steps before bending over. Gagging a bit, she stood straighter and inched her way towards Polliver. It took her three minutes to cross the room, stopping to breathe slowly to prevent gagging. Unella spread her arms and glared at the men. "I don't care. It's the best we have right now! She can sit in a chair and hold a damned gun, can't she? Even if Arya only keeps anyone from grabbing or hurting Jeyne and Damon, who cares?" Arya, Damon and Jeyne all were staring at Unella. Polliver sighed and Raff stiffly responded, "Did you have to yell it?"

Unella looked at the students and kept her voice clear, calm.

"Kevan and Bob aren't thinking very well. We are all against them. We are all in trouble with them. Lancel is coming with some very dangerous girls to burn down the school, his father and everyone here. There is no time to try and escape. We have to stand and fight. Anyone who can, has to. This is life or death. Arya can hold a gun and shoot anyone who tries to enter this room to hurt you. You will stay in this room and Arya will guard you the best she can. Jeyne will stay in her restraints and Damon will stay in his bed. Arya will sit in that chair with a gun. I had managed to hide a gun here in the clinic a long time back. I'm giving it to you, young lady. Please return it in good condition."

Unella, Polliver and Raff left the room, locking the door behind them. Using her keys, Unella opened the medication closet and the men followed her inside. "Lets make some poisons of our own." Polliver grimaced. "You two and your needles of sleep and death. I can't ninja needles around, give me something I can use." Raff filled a syringe that would murder an elephant and smirked. "Creepster and Tank are going to bring boomsticks and more. Until then, guess you'll have to get creative." Polliver wandered the clinic and in the connected shed, he found something that made him grin. "Yes!" Raff and Unella went for surgical blades, razors and whatever else they could find.

Arya sat in the chair and held the gun in her lap. She felt like shit and slumped, resting. There wasn't any danger yet, she saw no one outside the window, heard nothing from inside the clinic. Even Joff has gone quiet for once. Damon sat up and Jeyne turned her head to look at her brother and Arya. In a rough stage whisper, Damon spoke while twisting his blanket in his large shaking fists. "You can't do it alone. If someone decides to kill us, we are just sitting ducks here. How many bullets do you have? What if there is more than one coming for us and you miss? You haven't been shooting all that long, you might miss. Plus you are still sick, you look awful and your hands aren't all that steady. There is a window and a door, plus the bathroom has a small window. Three ways for someone to get at us and one sick person with an old handgun? We are fucked. It's going to take all three of us, it's going to have to be that way."

Damon started to crawl out of the bed, sitting on the edge of it, he winced as he removed his I.V. from his arm. He hugged himself as he stood up, a little off balance, his eyes still darting around. With a huffing sound, he shuffled forward towards Jeyne. "What are you doing?" Arya asked, observing Damon trying to be strong and not quite reaching the mark yet. "I am getting these restraints off Jeyne." Arya stood up fast, causing her to gag again. She tried to tell Damon not to, they don't know how Jeyne might react, she could attack them or crash out a window. Damon continued to release the restraints on the quiet girl and he spoke to Arya over his shoulder. "See, that's why you need us too. What if someone comes in while you are gagging, how do you shoot then?" The last restraint fell away from Jeyne to limply hang off the side of the cot.

Kevan escorted Sansa to a lovely guest room. "Not Lancel's usual rooms this time, Sir?" With a charming smile, Kevan touched Sansa's lovely porcelain face. "I am aware that Lancel keeps hidden weapons in his room. I am sure you are too. I don't trust you, dear. I believe that Lancel and the girls imprisoned you. I believe you came here for protection from him. I also believe that you will grab your lover and escape at any cost if you felt the need to. So you will stay here until this ends, Sansa." Nodding, Sansa smiled sadly and clasped Kevan's hand as it left her face. "What happens after? Tomorrow morning, if you win against Lancel, what happens to me then?" Kevan snatched his hand away. "I am sure you hope you'll be a widow by morning." Shaking her head, Sansa took a step towards the window to watch the sun turn the sky a lovely shade of pink as it descended.

"No. You won't kill your son if you can help it, just the girls. You love Lancel and in his own way, he still loves you. I don't expect to be widowed. I expect that Lancel will run off wounded and chastised. And I would like divorce, not a cent of money, only a divorce and freedom, Sir." Kevan gave a small laugh as he started to twirl a pen between his fingers. "You would like a divorce, freedom and a chance to run off with Ramsay. I am aware of that, dear. It won't happen, Sansa. We will keep your name, keep your inheritance within the grasp of this school. Let me explain how it will work. If Lancel does die, you will be a sad widow for a few months until I marry you to Tyrion. If Lancel lives, you will be an estranged wife that lives as I choose for you to live. I must go, please, make yourself comfortable. I cannot promise you will be brought a full dinner this night. I have taken the liberty of filling the small bar in the small sitting area for you, underage as you are, you might need fortification of some form." Kevan left and locked the door behind him.

Sansa gave her middle finger and a wordless snarl to the door. She did indeed pour herself some wine and watched out the window. Waiting until she saw Kevan leave the house with Bob, then she headed for the small trap door situated in most of the rooms.

Bob led Myranda to the ever familiar suite that he has always shared with Harold. It felt so strange to be alone here with just Bob, with him acting so different now. She felt as if she were heading for her own execution, not her upcoming marriage. Of course, it should make her happy, right? If they win against this cult, Myranda will have the status of wife instead of whore. No student would ever mess with her again, who would dare? Provided the day didn't come when Myranda broke a rule or upset Bob without realizing it and he hunted her to death. For the first time Myranda understood how Sansa felt at being forced to marry Lancel. The ring was just a prison sentence.

She was stunned at the size of the ring that Bob offered to her. It was old fashioned, silver with small diamond chips surrounding a bigger pink diamond. Bob didn't get on one knee to propose, he had just informed her of it at the gates. Bob didn't get any more romantic as he produced the ring in a tiny wooden box. It had been in a safe along with lots of drugs, Myranda had looked over his shoulder and carefully watched him put in the code. Her eyes were demurely down and she was simply standing obediently when he turned around and stood up. "We don't have a lot of things to take from our pasts. But I did manage to take this with me through the years. It's my mother's ring. Harold wanted it for Gilly, I'm sure. It will mean more to you, I think." Myranda allowed Bob to put the ring on her finger. "I'll treasure it forever."

Bob gave her a gentle smile that Myranda's instincts reacted to instantly by screeching a useless warning. Bob's hand tightening on her throat so fast, she had no time to move a single muscle. He laid her back so slowly until she was flat against the human skin couch. Leaning over her, his body heat scorching her even though he merely hovered, Bob spoke softly. "Sweet girl, I want the truth. I give you this one chance only to fix this little mistake. Only this one time and if you don't fix it, there is going to be a hunt when this nastiness outside ends. I believe that Val killed the detectives. What I don't believe is that Sansa and Val saved you. I believe you crawled out of that trunk and tried to run away into the woods. To escape not only them, but me. Am I right? I want the truth and you will look into my eyes, sweet girl. I am disturbed that you gave me the same truths you gave Kevan."

Myranda started to cry as Bob removed his glasses. "I crawled out and stole money from the headless woman's wallet, I, I saw what Sansa and Val were doing. They were torturing Bronn and so I ran into the woods. I didn't know where I was going, I swear to you, I was dizzy and panicked. I remember thinking that I couldn't call you or Varys or Kevan because I had no actual phone numbers for any of you. I walked then fell and just stayed there until Val and Sansa found me. Master, Sansa is not against Lancel at all, she was working with him, with Val. She said I could call you and get us both back into the school that way. I should have told you right away, I'm sorry, please! But I never thought of escape from you, Bob, I had no way to reach you but through Sansa!" Bob leaned further down and Myranda waited for him to bite into her face.

Bob kissed her crying eyes, licked the tears and whispered to Myranda tenderly. "I believe you, sweetheart. You didn't mean to run from me, I won't hunt you. Good girl, take a deep breath and calm yourself down, love. I know Sansa is working with Lancel even if she doesn't like those little girls. I know that she had Val kill the detectives, that if you were there, Sansa would collect you and bring you home to me. To get herself inside to be with her lover, to help Ramsay get things ready for Lancel and the Craster girls. Lancel ordered Val to kill the detectives because I ordered him to. I gave Kevan and the others here so many chances to see what they were bringing upon themselves. So many and I am simply out of time for it, sweet girl. I gave Harold and Varys so many chances to join with me, I never got them to see the way I do. The way I got Petyr, Stannis and Lancel to see. The way Lancel got Loras, Sansa, Ramsay and those Craster girls to see. The way Sansa got Walda to see."

Myranda stared up at Bob and whispered. "You are part of Lancel's cult, Professor Stannis is too?" Bob smiled and caressed the pretty throat rather than squeezing it. "No, dear heart. I am not part of Lancel's cult, he is part of MY cult. This place will burn, there will be a slaughter and then it's over, we shall marry and live as we choose, as I choose for us to live. You will wait here, you may watch the cornfield and rest of the estate from the windows. When it's all over, I will come get you, until then you can stay safe and snug in my rooms." Bob got up and began to get something out of the safe then began to collect a few weapons. Myranda sat up and gathered just enough courage. "Bob? Is there anyway that you can let Jeyne live? Please? It's my only friend, she is my best friend."

Bob shook his head. "Sorry, Myranda. Stannis has a very big grudge with your feral friend and Ramsay has one too. One of them will surely murder her. I cannot deny them, they have valid reasons. It is hard to hear that, I know. It hurts to know that Varys has died, that Harold will have to die, my own brothers that I loved and wanted to keep safe so badly. But sacrifices must be made. Those that stay blind, that refuse to hear and see, they cannot be saved."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ramsay and Stannis: It's Tricky by Run-DMC  
> Lancel: There Will Be Blood by Sum41  
> Myranda, Arya, Damon & Jeyne: Hero by Skillet  
> Sansa: The Morning After by Maureen McGovern  
> Bob: Fake It by Seether


	178. Never Presume To Just Assume

Myranda was looking out the high window that saw over the cornfield. She could see Tyrion and Joff tied to crosses, wood piled around them. Stannis and Ramsay hard at work, chatting every now and then. A projector from Stannis's own classroom was all set up with a large roll up white screen before it. Darting to another room, Harold's to be exact, Myranda could see the clinic, Hellhouse beyond and the herb garden next to the side of the school kitchen. Every few minutes or so Gregor or Hot Pie seemed to go by these pathways. They never saw each other once, even though several times it was by a matter of seconds. She watched, needing the humor on such a horrific day, Myranda found herself laughing her head off as Gregor left some rather unique and clearly homemade weapons and Hot Pie tripped over them. The cook paused and took the ones he could actually lift, running back to the cafeteria. Myranda was in near hysteria, seeing Gregor come back, staring around, waving his arms in rage and confusion at where his items went. 

A swishing sound and Myranda turned fast to see Sansa coming towards her from Harold's actual clothing closet. Sansa was smirking and sauntering like coming out of folks' closets was an everyday pastime. "No, I'm not magic, silly whore. Close your mouth, it's distasteful and shows lack of good breeding to just hang your jaw like that. I used the secret passages in the house that Lancel showed me. Come on, you can't want to sit in here and watch everything, how boring. Let's go join in the fun, Myranda. I need you to help me a little more. Don't worry, being with me, doing as I say, it keeps you safe." Myranda raised an eyebrow and responded. "As boring as it is to stay here, Bob ordered it. I want to save Jeyne more than anything else, but I know what I'm up against. I'm not going to defy Bob, not while I have no real chance of saving Jeyne or myself. You offer me no reason, no hope, Sansa." With a pretty pout, Sansa walked closer and then caught sight of the ring upon Myranda's finger.

Myranda looked at Sansa and grinned, shaking her head. "You are still all fancy. Wearing your fairy tale baby shower dress and you fixed up the damned curls. You look like a tea party in a high society. You are still wearing your fucking expensive heels. All dressed for the party but I hope you know that dress will never get blood out. You go and enjoy yourself out there." Sansa grabbed Myranda's hand and held the ring up to the light. High class eyes judged the ring and Sansa's pretty face melted under the true mean girl underneath. Her voice was amused pity, the voice of a thousand females that just need to be catty and cruel. "Is this your engagement ring from Bob?" Nodding, Myranda tried to pull her hand away, seeing the cruelty, the mean girl surfacing. "Yes. It was his mother's ring." Sansa held tight and continued to survey the ring as her words stabbed forth.

"I truly hope this wasn't some sort of heirloom from his poor little sad family. Because that just makes it sadder, I haven't seen trashy nickel plated glass cut rings since I wore them when I was six years old. My mother told me I wasn't to wear fake jewelry as it would turn my finger green. Good thing Bob gave that to you. Imagine if Harold tried to present that thing to Gilly when he proposed? The Tank might be plain trash but she came from rich trash, even if she never saw a penny of it." Myranda finally felt that seam, that crack that has been growing since killing Craster, just shatter her. The rot, filth, anger, bitterness poured forth like roaches. Her fist smashed into Sansa's pretty features and took care that the sharp pink rock went into the girl's eye. Instead of pulling back after the contact, Myranda pressed harder, twisting the jewel harder into the eye, falling on top of Sansa as she fell back. Screaming, Sansa pulled something from her hair and Myranda rolled away as the sharp pin came down.

Standing up fast, Myranda watched with cold satisfaction as the eye was held by pretty hands pressed hard against the twisted up face, blood and another fluid seeping through the carefully tended hands. "My eye! YOU CUNT! MY EYE!" Myranda grinned and snarled fiercely, "Not so pretty anymore. Not such a lovely face now, Sansa. I hope Lancel and Ramsay don't mind. Get your high class fucking powdered ass out of here. Bob left me a cell, I'm texting him right now. He won't like you trying to lure me out when he didn't order that." Sansa staggered to her feet, making sure to keep one hand on her ruined eye while the other snatched up her long deadly hair pin. Myranda saw they were similar to the ones Varys had given her in that box. Except Sansa's were of a higher quality of course. Snarling, her voice strained in pain, Sansa tried to walk without falling, trying to head for the secret hallway again.

"Why the living fuck would I care what you tell Bob, you puss filled syphilis ridden thunder cunt? Stannis and Lancel are who matter, stupid whore. I matter and Ramsay does too. Those little brats think you are an angel but Ramsay will hunt you for me tonight! I'll ask him to and he will be more than happy, you know that, right?" Myranda started to laugh and give Sansa a pitying look that made the half blinded girl desperate to murder her. Sansa almost threw the hair pin at Myranda. "What is so funny about that, whore? Too scared for suicide and I just gave you the perfect out?" Something about the way the whore stood, that smug look in her eyes along with a dark bitterness, told Sansa to be wary. There was a brutal honest tone to Myranda's snide words that sent a chill up her spine.

"Silly rich girl. Do you really think fancy golden Lancel or graying, bitter Professor Stannis was the true leader? Doesn't it make more sense that the true leader, the truest betrayer to Kevan would be the man right next to him, Sansa? Or can't your highly educated brain think that far out of the box? Bob is the real leader of your cult, honey. And I am going to be his wife, the girl you just tried to use and betray his orders with. I'd get moving to whatever your original orders were, Miss Fancy Rich Girl, before you get burned up too. Or before I decide to blind you completely, bitch." Myranda walked calmly over to the burner cell that Bob left her and picked it up. With a hard smirk to Sansa, Myranda began to text Bob. "Guess you better move and finish your battle before Bob comes to speak with you personally."

Sansa turned and left, holding her eye, the dizziness and pain were too much. There was no way she could take on Myranda, never mind Bob if the girl was right. Lancel always mentioned their was a higher leader but it was spoken in such a way, Sansa assumed he was far away or perhaps even dead. More a prophet's message, a messiah that would remain untouched, hidden by the light of the stars. At least Sansa had an excuse to get into the clinic now. She truly needed it, Sansa was trying hard to not panic. Was she truly half blind and worse, was her face ruined, her eye lost? Will she need to hide an empty shriveled socket? If she runs with Ramsay now, they do it without any real money, how will she afford to have a plastic surgeon fix her? Maybe Ramsay would make plans to kidnap a surgeon? Cursing the foul existence of the whore, Sansa staggered from the passages into the garden and from there started to clumsily run towards the clinic.

Arya looked out the clinic window and saw her older sister running towards the clinic, holding her face. There was blood on her hands, one cupped over her eye and Arya grinned then frowned. "Should I try and shoot her? It could be a fake to get inside the clinic and kill us all?" She was speaking only half in jest but tightened her grip and aim on the gun just in case it was needed. Damon watched from over Arya's shoulder. "No, let the staff deal with her. They won't fall for Oscar's tricks anymore." Arya and Damon winced at the screech of metal and turned to sigh at Jeyne. "No, sis. Stop before you hurt yourself. You aren't in any condition for climbing through air vents." Damon carefully pulled Jeyne off the chair and he sat on one of the beds, holding her on his lap. He cuddled a mutinous looking Jeyne like a teddy bear and Arya frowned. Damon kept trying to cuddle with both of them, like a pack animal in extreme need of comfort. Arya wasn't sure he was up to any actual fights or escapes.

Jeyne was not all there either. She spoke only in small broken bursts and seemed to want nothing more than to escape the room. "Myranda needs me." Damon shook his head and hugged Jeyne harder until she squirmed and tried to bite him. "She needs me! And I have to say I'm sorry to the Professor! I see it now and I have to make sure he knows I never meant to." Arya sighed and knew they were so fucked. Listening at the door now, she could hear Unella's voice then Sansa's, sounding hysterical and desperate. "HELP ME! MY EYE, HELP, PLEASE! KEVAN PUNISHED ME! HE THOUGHT I WAS WITH LANCEL AND LOOK WHAT HE DID! MY EYE! PLEASE, HELP!" Jeyne's head came up and she snorted laughter. "Bye bye eye!" Damon laughed with her and Arya frowned deeply. "That has to be a lie. Kevan stabbed my hand, he causes terrible punishments in the circle but never something that destroyed a pretty face. Or any face for that matter. Kevan doesn't do that. She is lying."

Arya felt some concern hearing Sansa's sobbing as Unella used a calm voice to ask questions without allowing Sansa inside yet. Damon looked at Arya and asked, "Can you tell if Sansa is okay? Can you go check maybe?" Jeyne looked at both Damon then Arya, giving a harsh barking laugh. "Sansa is more than a wolf, a pretty, sneaky hunter. She would kill us if she could. It's always been in her eyes. She controls or kills. It's her nature. If she can't use you, you die. And you both still care?" Arya wiped away a tear and snarled, "I never said I was okay, that I was sane or right! Sansa can go to hell, blinded or not for all I care. But I  do care and I don't. But I still will kill her if I have to, I promise." Jeyne shook her head. "No, you won't. Damon won't. Don't worry, I can do it for you." Arya scoffed. "You couldn't take on a whirlygig man in your condition, Jeyne. We are all not okay and I don't know how to fix that." 

Polliver and Raff both dryly spoke at the same time. "Oscar's lying." Unella rolled her eyes at them. "Of course she is lying. Kevan would never destroy a pretty face. But I can see the damage done, someone blinded her. I have to assist her but you will frisk her first for any hidden weapons. Unlock the door and let's be fast. I have no idea where anyone else is. So much for extra help coming, my husband is an obvious moron. He probably took the chance to run off into the world, to pretend he doesn't have a wife and kids to deal with."

Hot Pie grabbed the last of the wooden stakes he found and started to turn the corner to enter the back door of the kitchen.  He nearly had heart failure as a giant hand grabbed his face out of nowhere and a voice thundered over him. "Fucking bit of sperm that leaked down your father's leg! Stealing my shit is your way of helping out? Idiot!" Gregor had to carry the wooden stakes and the half fainting Hot Pie into the kitchen, dumping all of it on the floor, including the cook. "What the living hell are you doing in here anyway?" Gregor looked around and shook his head. "It looks like a cooking class for mercenaries that got out of control in here." Hot Pie got to his feet and dusted himself off, trying for composure. "They can't stay in the clinic forever! This is a secondary fortress! I have barricaded the cafeteria door, all the windows. We can also cause the whole fucking place to explode if we wanted to. If we can trap Lancel and the girls in here, we can blow them up!"

Gregor swatted the proud faced boy in the head. "Uh huh. And were you going offer some delicious pastries to lure the girls and Lancel into your death house of goodies? And a fortress? How did you plan to get the others from the clinic into the cafeteria?" Hot Pie rubbed his head and pouted slightly. "Well, I had a few ideas but nothing concrete yet. But it's a start, it's something! Each idea gets better!" Gregor raised his eyebrows then he lifted Hot Pie and set him on his own prep counter like setting down a toddler. "Great, glad you are thinking but I need to be doing. Tell you what, you stay here and keep on your project without blowing yourself up. No one knows you are in here, if anyone that isn't me, Gilly or Harold comes in, you hide or leave. I'll be back and when I come to give orders, you follow them."

Both of them heard the screams from the cornfield begin, Joff and Tyrion's voices calling for help were clear enough. The screaming started to become desperate as smoke began to lazily rise. Gregor spun to point a finger in Hot Pie's face. "No! You can't help them, it's clear they are being used for bait! I mean it, boy! Stay here and hide my weapons for me, get water bottles ready, bake emergency cookies, but stay here until you have further orders. I will let the others know you are here in our last culinary stand."

Sansa was searched fast then tossed into a small examination room. Unella worked as fast as she could as Raff and Polliver threw questions at Sansa, who answered nothing, just sobbed over her eye. "I don't exactly have the time to do more than a quick patching. A specialist  must be consulted." Unella numbed the ruined eye and explained in a grim voice. "Your cornea is beyond anything I can repair. You won't be able to see out of your left eye without help from a qualified ophthalmologist. It's going to bulge out, that needs surgery, young lady. I am patching you the best I can, give you some pain medications, plus antibiotics in case of infection. Ice for the severe swelling around your eye, that is about it." Ignoring the counselor and nurse, Sansa grabbed Unella's arm. "Am I going to lose my eye?" Unella shrugged. "I don't know, Sansa. Depends on how fast we can get you assistance. I can't exactly call in a consult right now, can I?"

Arya gave in to her own internal demands and jimmied the lock on the door, peering out. Damon was over her, breathing moistly on Arya's neck in a very uncomfortable way. Worse, Jeyne slunk over on all fours, peering between the tunnel of legs. They could hear the questions unanswered, Unella's pitiless voice and Sansa's wailing and worrying over the potential loss of her eye. As they stood there, Arya noticed that it wasn't bothering her anymore. Damon's breathing was warm, his bulk over her was comforting, shielding. Jeyne between their legs was the clear message to stay within the room. It was pack speak, body language that their brains went back to. That made Arya have a small ray of hope, they might not be able to function as people too great at the moment, but at least they are still pack and move as one.

They ducked back in the room fast, shutting the door as Polliver left the exam room, muttering about restraints for Sansa, just in case. Looking out a mere crack in the door they watched as Polliver unlocked the medication and supplies room, entered, grabbed two things while grumbling. He was distracted by the sudden screams that traveled to the clinic windows and as he left the room, forgot to lock the door. Arya's eyes lit up, less concerned with screams for help as she was by seeing that medication door unlocked. Her body and mind screamed in a mix of delight and warning. "If we can get in there, we can get to things that can help us out. We are injured, we ache too much be fast, to be dangerous. Something else is needed to pull our pack back in order. Follow me as soon as Polliver goes away." Jeyne stayed between Arya's leg and bumped her head on the girl's leg. Damon used his words. "Are you sure? You just got off drugs."

Arya spoke with a smooth conviction voice of any junkie. "Yes, I am sure. This won't be the same as before. I am only going to get us stuff that will help. Make the pain duller and our minds sharper. We need this to fight today. I can always get back off drugs tomorrow. But we have to make sure that we have a tomorrow first." Damon slid Jeyne out from under Arya's leg and he carried the girl as they staggered behind Arya. The sight of the unlocked door gave the injured addict wings to fly with and she went to the room like a wolf to a juicy deer. Damon and Jeyne watched as Arya actually dove into the room as if a child into a ball pit. Shaking their heads, they followed, shutting the door quietly behind them, Damon made sure the medication window was locked and he pulled down the blinds. "That way they think it's empty." Arya stared at him for a moment and started to speak then just said, "Why bother. Sure, Damon, great idea! Okay, let's see what we have in here that can help us."

Damon started to wander the small room, always having been curious about this room. He stopped near the small window high up that carried Tyrion and Joff's screams and the smell of smoke. Jeyne remained crouched on the counter, to be listening for anyone coming closer to the room, but she was hurting, it was hurting again. Panting, she slumped down on the counter and took a moment to rest. Arya's voice was coming in waves, something about needing things to get them pepped up, about a way to keep the pain dull. The voices in the other room got  louder and things got all thumping, bumping. Unella's scream tore through the clinic, fast then was gone. It made Jeyne sit back up in alarm to look at the others, who were staring at the wall that just shook. Arya heard Sansa's voice, it wasn't a very good tone and she moved faster. They could hear Raff speaking in a tone that Jeyne recognizes. She shook her head and stared at her brother and Arya. "Raff uses that voice when I would corner him. I don't hear Unella anymore and that loud thud, shaking everything. It's her. The babies, oh gods, those babies! I made fate happen, just got wrong how!"

"Sansa is going to take her time gloating! Jeyne, we can't do anything about Unella or the babies like this. Let me finish. And it can't be your fault, you couldn't know this shit would go down." Arya hurried to set up three lines of crushed pills from several different bottles. "I don't know what she did but she has the upper hand in there. We have GOT to fucking get ourselves ready right now! Everyone, sniff! It's the best I can do on short notice and each person has their own line. Listen, I don't know if you remember what Petyr's little trick was with Sansa, Ramsay and Loras but I do. Because Petyr used it on me when I was being difficult. I just got it in gum form but they got a different kind of drug in a drink or this tiny paper on their tongues. But listen, the important part is this. He would talk as we would take it and get all high. What he would say would become, like, truth. It would become an order or an urge or sometimes it was just to put us calm or to sleep. I am going to try that now with us while we snort this. It's a totally different kind of mix I made, so it might not work. But let's give it a shot, the pack has to stand or my older sister might eat all of us."

Arya showed Jeyne how to sniff the line, Damon has done cocaine with Ramsay and had no problem sniffing his line. No one mentioned that Arya took two more lines. Ten minutes later, Damon's eyes were excited and cruel, he was ripping electric wires to make a good braided whip. Jeyne was growling through a grin and moving, pacing, her eyes were wilder than ever. Arya had a grin that was as wide and mad as any anime villain. Damon was quick to point that out and Arya took it as a compliment. Damon looked at the high window and saw Gregor's bald head go by as Unella let out one last horrid scream. This somehow spurred Jeyne into action, causing the other two to follow, Jeyne set out a howl, they howled back as they followed the drugged feral alpha headlong into disaster.

Sansa had sat on the cot waiting, fuming as she now fake sobbed. The numbing medication worked and the panic was turned into determined rage. The stupid fucking doctor, incompetent nurse and counselor just stand there, right in front of me! Right in front of me they talk about restraining me, how I am not trustworthy but am important to both Kevan and Lancel. As if I would sit here patiently to become their damned hostage. Oh no, as Arya would have said, Come at me, bro. Sansa hid her smirk as she deftly moved the very second Polliver left the room. She had the surgical blade hidden in her lap when the doctor and nurse turned back to her.

It was hard to hide the joy, the anticipation of getting to do her own wet work. It was so seldom, even Val seemed to find it distasteful to see the Princess get all messy. Sansa waited until Unella came over with a needle full of sedation, though she lied and said it was painkiller. As soon as the doctor concentrated on finding a good vein, Sansa made her first move. She felt a pulse between her legs as the blade sliced across the top of the huge stomach. Unella cried out but couldn't jump back before Sansa struck a true stabbing blow and another with her hair pin, the long one she tried to plunge into Myranda. It was satisfying to slash and stab with both hands, driving the bloodied stomach backwards. Crashing into the wall, grabbing her stomach, Unella screamed.

Sansa turned to face Raff but not until after she planted her high heeled foot on the bloody stomach. "I will fucking stab both your fetuses to death will my designer heel. Stay still and shut up. After all, you might have a chance to save your offspring if you can get to a specialist in time, right?" Sansa's voice was mocking and Unella snarled at her but shut her mouth. Raff came closer and Sansa sneered at him. "Want me to stomp, puncture tender brains? If not, you better stay right there. Good boy. Now, I would like you to lock the door before Polliver gets back. Now or I play poke a twin." Raff backed up to the door and locked it. Polliver slammed against the metal door, yelling he heard screaming, let him in.

"Sansa, you aren't thinking clearly. You have suffered an attack, a trauma, a car accident before that. Let us help you out. We understand you didn't mean to hurt the doctor." Laughing briskly, the redhead gave Raff a quick pitying once over. "I truly hope you were a better playboy than you are a therapist. I know exactly what I am doing, Raff. I am leaving this clinic and you are going to personally escort me out. Because I am leaving with my razor upon Unella's precious babies until I am clear of all of you. I'll drop the pregnant cow and I'm going to Ramsay."

The window crashed in as Gregor's large arm came in and grabbed Sansa's lovely curls, yanking her away from Unella. With a snarl, Sansa slammed both heels hard into Unella's already bloody stomach, causing the woman to shriek in agony. "I'm going to break your neck, girl." Sansa called Gregor a malformed mutant ogre as she used the blade to cut the hair out of his fist as he tried to keep pulling her towards the window. Raff unlocked the door fast then ran to Unella, kneeling down to survey the damage. Sansa tried to stab her hair pin into the large arm that was slowly drawing her towards death. Gregor didn't seem to feel the bloody holes in his hairy thick arm but Sansa sawed through enough of her hair that she could yank hard. Screeching in pain, feeling herself getting partially scalped, Sansa threw herself just out of the giants grip, even as he kept trying to grab her again.

Polliver heard crashing, shrieking but he couldn't get into the door without using keys. He figured that out after stupidly pounding on the door. Rushing to unlock it, Polliver heard what sounded like a herd of buffalo except buffalo doesn't howl. Turning to his right, he saw all three kids high as kites come flying towards him from the medication room. Jeyne was in the lead on all fours with Damon and Arya just behind her. Damon had a homemade whip and Arya carried a box cutter. All of them had blown pupils, drooling smiles and all three were heading for him.   

Sansa was staggering out of the enraged man's grasp, Raff shielded Unella and then the door exploded open. A human ball of limbs, a cursing counselor and howling mouths, the ball just seemed to absorb the redhead and rolled across the tiny room.

Bob looked at his texts and Kevan stopped twirling his pen impatiently to inquire, "Why aren't we still walking, Bob? What is it, who is it?" With a rich chuckle, Bob adjusted his glasses and spoke. "It seems that a few things have occurred. We have our captives loose and running amok with visits to the weapons shed. Joff and Tyrion are missing. Sansa found her way through the walls into my suite and got into a tiff with Myranda. I am afraid that my sweet girl felt the need to try and remove Sansa's eye. She saw Sansa run off into the clinic from my window. She stayed in my rooms like a good girl. At least one of them is obeying orders, it's the one I care about so I'm not too upset. Sansa can be dealt with. I wonder how she would enjoy a hunt, instead of watching, she can be the one running. I can order Ramsay to join the hunt just to prove my point. Or I could hunt her myself."

Kevan was flustered and narrowed his eyes in disbelief and anger. "What the hell are you talking about, Bob? I would never send any student hunting another one! I would certainly never allow you to hunt them! Gods, why is this even a discussion? Out of all the important things you've said, that is the least! Stop obsessing about Myranda!" Bob moved so fast and smoothly that Kevan just stood there. He saw his pen go flying and his gun was gone, a leg sweep and Kevan was on the ground, his white suit smeared with dirt. Bob smiled and then tilted his head as the screams began.

"That would be Tyrion and Joff, the last of your line. That feral doesn't count, but don't worry, I think Stannis plans on burning her too. Come on, Sir, you don't want to miss the calendar project. It was going to be shown to you by Loras and Sansa but now it's Ramsay and Stannis. Not sure if that makes it extra disgusting or just extra boring. We shall find out together, I only pray that it doesn't take too long. Your son will be here to join us soon. I have promised him that only he can take your life, Sir. It's only fair and honorable that you die at the hands of another Lannister. I wouldn't want to hurt your lion pride." The look in Kevan's eyes, of dawning understanding, the look of such sadness, it tore at Bob in such an awful way. "Bob, you are behind this? You betray me this way? You were like a son to me, I cared for you, protected, mentored, damn it, I loved and respected you!" Bob felt the righteousness fury roar through him like a cleansing fire.

Bob stood over Kevan like an avenging angel as he pointed down at him with his own accusations of disloyalty. 

"Protected me? Loved and respected me? Really? You brought a fucking MONSTER into the school to molest me! A MONSTER that used to watch as others fucked and beat Varys when we lived on the streets, just trying to survive! My brother offered himself up to the Order so we could EAT and the things they did to him! That she-bitch took me down, broke and twisted me just like my da had done. No one did a fucking thing until things got out of control. Way out of control, we lost a life, a mind and gained a new monster. Olenna got WHIPPED a few times and I got months of my mind being pulled apart like putty. I saw what you let that MONSTER do to your son! You just scrubbed his brain every time another person hurt him, same as me, same as everyone here. Might have been Qyburn, Unella, Petyr, myself once I was taught how to erase heads. Might have just been drugs and suggestion, might have been grooming but one way or another everyone that steps into your school goes from being one kind of fucked puppet to another. You held all of us prisoner, you had our damned heads, just like they did in the Order. No more, it's over now. Get up and stand for yourself because I don't think there is anyone else willing to stand with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hot Pie: High Hopes by Frank Sinatra  
> Arya: I'm Not Okay by My Chemical Romance  
> Myranda: Lifestyles Of The Rich And The Famous by Good Charlotte  
> Kevan/Bob: Be My Escape by Reliant K  
> Sansa: Howlin' For You by the Black Keys  
> Damon and Jeyne: Little Things by Good Charlotte


	179. Running Late

Harold had gone first, Gilly just behind him, keeping an eye to each side of the corn stalks that surrounded them. They heard Stannis and Ramsay, heard them command Tyrion and Joff to scream. Before that could be deciphered or shared by more than an alarmed look, the crackle and smell of fire began. "Oh gods, they are burning them alive! That's a boy, Harold! He might be a terrible little boy, but he IS just a boy!" Harold shook his head at Gilly's whisper and tried to caution her to patience but the woman was not about to sneak and inch forward when a student and professor were burning. Personally, Harold would have mourned the loss of Tyrion more than Joff. Not that it mattered right now, what mattered was the damned impatient woman wasn't waiting for him. Harold didn't try and chase after Gilly as she rushed forward to save the day or die trying. He said a quick prayer for her and went a different direction but ran much faster than Gilly could. Or at least that is what he wanted to believe.

Stannis was ready, he was feeling mostly satisfied and a tad bit nervous about time. His hands were clasped behind his back and his spine was straight, chin up and eyes were black with joy, crackling, reflecting the fire. His face contained a rare smile, it was a gentle, almost sad one and he gifted it to his best friend and his nephew. "The fire will take some time to fully reach you, don't worry. Just keep screaming to bring the others, please. Consider this, if you do as I ask, I will end it quickly for you both when the flames begin to truly hurt you." Tyrion kept asking why, how could Stannis do this to him? And to the boy, his very own nephew, a mere child, dammit? Stannis gave Tyrion a quick shooing gesture before putting his hands behind his back and pacing a little.

"Oh, you were always so sure of yourself and your place, Tyrion. Always confident that you would beat or tie with me in every game. Did it every occur to you that I might LET you win? So you wouldn't suspect the day that came when I truly won. I have won, Sir. But you didn't HAVE to be there, I truly wanted you with me, I did and that is not a lie, my friend. We talked over and over until I was hoarse and you were drunk. We talked and I TOLD you, I was perfectly clear how I felt about this place. About how it was run, who was running it and why. We discussed the past as much as you could handle, as much as you could remember. When the talk would make you upset, you'd get me drunk or distract me with a game, anything to shut me up. You made it perfectly clear to me that even if you agreed with me, you wouldn't act upon it. You had no convictions, you wanted to be drunk, to stay here and complain. I tried, Tyrion."

"What about Joff? Stannis, he's a kid, let him down! Please, burn me if you fucking want to, but let him go! He's your damned nephew!" Stannis snorted. "His mother fucked her brother and gave birth to that sick little demon. There is no helping him, he is tainted just like all Lannisters. This is what pure Lannister blood brings, madness. I do not claim him as any relative of mine. You've always been repulsed by the boy, suddenly you care? See what a hypocrite you are, Tyrion? You have become as maddening to me as that boy." Stannis stopped listening as Tyrion had started to curse him and instead briskly nodded to Ramsay. Grinning, the boy picked up his bow and arrow again. "Need one more arrow in the other thigh to start screaming? Joff's doing a great job but your baritone would make such a lovely melody. One, two-" The arrow struck Tyrion's other thigh and he started to scream.

Ramsay aimed at the rustling corn and when Gilly appeared he let the arrow fly. Gilly bent to retie her shoe fast and the arrow went into the whirlygig man, who died a slow, wheezing death. "Uh oh, Jeyne will kill me for that." He giggled but then watched as The Tank just walked over to the flames that circled the professor and Joff. She held a hunting blade as if trying to find a way to cut the ropes that bound them, through the flames. "Wow. You are something, lady. You can't walk through fire, can you?" Gilly smiled at Ramsay and he gave her one back. "No, young man. I'll need that bucket of water, if you please?" Ramsay giggled and shook his head. "No, I don't please. Tell you what, I'll be fair. I will put down my bow and arrow, use my blade instead. If you can kill me, you can have that water." Gilly gave a small sigh then gave Ramsay a rather disappointed kind of smile. "Are you sure you want to take on me, Ramsay? You lose every time you do." Sucking in an outraged breath, Ramsay narrowed his eyes and lost his own smile. Giving her a flash of sharp teeth, flipping his blade easily, Ramsay started towards her, leaving his bow and arrow on the ground. "Yeah, I think I want to take you on."

Stannis had seen Ramsay go behind the circle of fire with his bow and arrow. Gilly and Ramsay's voices were clear but he couldn't see them past Tyrion and Joff. He couldn't turn and go around to look because Harold had a gun to his head. "Drop every weapon on you, Stannis. Do it now or I will kill you." A stern frown upon his face, Stannis carefully dropped his gun, blades and a small bottle of acid to the ground. "This doesn't matter, Harold. Even if you kill me, I am only one of many. I only comply because I truly wish to proceed with my words and presentation to Kevan before I die. After that and perhaps after I murder Jeyne if she can remember things, then I will be perfectly content to die if I must." Harold was trying not to be distracted by hearing Gilly and Ramsay challenge each other to a knife fight of all things! What was Gilly thinking? Harold didn't know he actually yelled that out loud while holding a gun to Stannis's head. Stannis winced as the shout was very loud next to his ear. Harold figured out that he said it out loud when Ramsay laughed and Gilly hollered back. "Well, should I challenge him to a corn shucking then? We are rather limited here, Harold."

Ramsay circled Gilly once, waited until she messed up, because surely she will. He could see the way she held the knife, Gilly knew how to use it, yes, but he could tell that knife fights were not something she has engaged in before. A wicked grin growing upon his face, he moved in almost a sexually charged predatory manner. Gilly seemed slightly nervous and that is when she made the mistake he was hoping for. The woman positioned herself in front of the fire and he rushed in, hoping to shove her into the fire while slashing her throat. Ramsay launched and Gilly made a sort of wildly beautiful whirl and kick. The flaming pieces of wood hit Ramsay everywhere and he screeched as he dropped and rolled. Gilly quickly slapped out the flames on her legs, ignoring the blistering flesh glowing from charred cloth bits. She ran past the rolling boy and grabbed the bucket of water. Just as Gilly was about to toss the bucket of water upon the fire, Ramsay shoved her hard.

Landing in the dirt, body parts yelling in protest, Gilly watched the water dissipate into the dirt before the fire. "Bitch. I'm going to make this hurt a real lot." He was almost on her when Gilly pulled out her handgun, rolling over, aiming carefully from on her back. "I am not the best shot. But my father loved hunting, it was another one of his hobbies. He took us with him sometimes. I have taken down rabbits and once a deer. A sociopath boy will be harder to stuff and mount on a wall, but I am sure Harold would do his best. Put down that blade and step back, please." Ramsay snarled, "You don't fight fair." Gilly smiled. "You don't either, young man. I am only trying to reach you on your own level. I assure you I get no pleasure from this. Put down the blade or I am shooting you." Ramsay was pissed but he dropped his blade and raised both arms, stepping back. Gilly began to slowly sit up, not quite daring to stand, seeing the way Ramsay's eyes looked for that little chance to attack or flee.

Harold was ordering Stannis to turn around so he could tie his arms up when the shot came. At first Harold thought Gilly had shot Ramsay and turned to look but it was his shoulder that suddenly felt on fire. The impact knocked him backwards and he fell on his ass before trying to use his good arm to grab his dropped gun. Stannis snatched up the gun as well as his own dropped weapons, muttering indignantly about the loss of his time, the project's time. "Please don't make me shoot your other shoulder, brother. I'd rather not take you out piece by piece." Harold staggered to his feet so he could face Bob. Kevan was tossed down to his knees, hands tied behind his back, his clothes dirty and disheveled. Harold looked at Bob and gave a frown of disapproval. "Did you have to humiliate Kevan before you destroyed him? Do I go out quick and painless like Varys? Is that your mercy to your family or just your backhanded apology for betraying your own blood?"

When the sound of a gun firing exploded in her ears, Gilly was halfway to her feet and it made her jerk in reaction. The very second the gun moved off Ramsay, he reacted by darting off into the corn rows and Gilly stomped her foot. She heard Bob speaking with Harold, who was clearly sounding only injured. Gilly couldn't see and didn't feel it was safe to try, Bob wouldn't hesitate to blow her head off. Gilly wasn't up to a gun fight with Bob and decided she had no choice but to try and sneak around to get a shot at the back of Bob's head. Then Harold's voice came from the other side of the burning circle. The boy and professor have now set to only begging and coughing, the flames are still not touching them but the smoke is billowing about them. Gilly still had no way of getting water to put the fire out. Harold's voice seemed to almost come from the smoke itself. "Gilly! Do not! Run right now, away not towards us! I am still above you, work wise and YOUR work hours don't end for another twenty damned minutes! So obey me, Gilly, get out of the cornfield now."

"I hate your logic, Sir." However, Gilly took off into the corn, opposite of where Ramsay had gone. Bob wasn't about to kill Harold or Kevan, not yet. Gilly could see that they all had gone through far too much trouble. No, they wanted to give a show of it, get all their gloating in and Gilly knew she had time to try and get reinforcements. Flying towards the clinic, Gilly looked up and saw Myranda hanging out a window near the top of the house. Pointing towards the clinic, Myranda yelled down, "Something is going on in there! Screams and howls!" Gilly gave the girl a cheery thumbs up and ran with more haste but also with more care. Gilly was almost there and now could hear the commotion from within. A moment later the front door exploded outward and Sansa ran out, Damon behind her, blocking the doorway as the redhead staggered away. Gilly could see the white bandages covering Sansa's left eye, the snarl on the girl's bee stung lips, the claws that were slick with blood.

"Run, go, I can't-" Damon was suddenly in the air, almost landing upon Sansa. The boy lay there stunned, gasping for air, eyes bulging up at the sky, as an enraged Gregor filled the doorway. Sansa ran fast, right past Gilly even as she raised the gun. "Stop or I'll shoot you!" With a lovely cultured laugh, Sansa hollered back, "You would have done it already, Tank." The girl flew into the cornfield and Gregor went after her, jumping over Damon's squirming body. Gilly walked over to Damon and knelt down cautiously, her gun pointed at him. "Are you all right, young man? Would you like help back into the clinic?" Gilly looked up as she heard a low growl just next to her. Jeyne hovered over Gilly, her eyes just as wild as Damon's, her glare shifting between Gilly and the gun pointed at Damon. "I only want to help, Jeyne." Moving the gun away from Damon, Gilly slowly stood and backed away.

Jeyne started to circle her brother as he caught his breath and sat up. Arya flew out the door and joined her pack. Gilly watched as Arya helped Damon stand and then Jeyne ran off, the other two following, yelling after her to stop. Jeyne didn't follow the pathway of Sansa and Gregor, choosing a different area of corn to thunder into, howling the whole way. After the long corded whip that Damon had wrapped around his shoulder faded into the yellow rows, Gilly ran into the clinic. Pain hit her like an explosion as Polliver ran through her. Cursing, Polliver tried to help Gilly back to her feet. She spoke fast before Polliver ran off. "Bob and Stannis! They have Harold and Kevan in the cornfield! They are burning Tyrion and Joff alive! I almost had Ramsay but he ran off, Harold sent me for help! So help!" The alarms sounded high and clear for a moment from every staff cell phone.

Polliver and Gilly both looked at each other then at their phones. "Back gate door is opened. Looks like Lancel and your sisters are here. We. Are. Fucked." Gilly agreed with that sentiment but couldn't give in to it. "If we can get the cook and save Harold, it can be an immense help in the fight. If we can get Gregor to stop chasing Sansa, I imagine he can easily smash a few of my deranged sisters here and there. Too many if's." Polliver agreed with that sentiment too.

Ramsay heard crashing coming towards him, it sounded like someone being chased by a pissed off rhinoceros. Bracing himself, his blade at the ready, he ran towards the lighter steps and saw flashes of bright red. Only one person had that hair and he felt his heart cramp, for one moment he thought he was dying. Propelling himself forth, Ramsay hollered, "Sansa! Here!" She threw herself sideways and Ramsay grabbed her arm, running as he has never run before. In spite of his burning lungs, he was wildly laughing and tears poured out of his eyes. Sansa was laughing with him but he heard the pain in her voice, someone has hurt her. But Ramsay could not turn to look at her, he might trip, he might see something bad and try to take on Gregor. "Gregor wants to kill me! I stabbed Unella's babies, had to! Bob, Ramsay, it's Bob!" Gasping as they took another crazy turn, Ramsay replied, "Yes, Bob! He has Kevan, Stannis ready, boys burning and we are missing it! Do you care?"

Sansa gave a harsh laugh. "Oh fuck no. Let's go, we need to lose the fucking giant and get out!" Ramsay felt his heart swell and he finally took a quick look at his love. He stopped and snarled, "Who did that?" Trying to pull him to run again, Sansa grinned. "The whore. I insulted her cheap wedding ring, I didn't know Bob was the leader. The cunt dug the damned ring into my eye. We can figure out my eye later, baby. We have to run now." Gregor appeared only feet from them, he was brandishing a steel bat with spikes nailed into it and he cheerily announced, "Nanny Gregor has decided tough love isn't working, children. Time to go hard core." Sansa and Ramsay both gave him the finger and ran, ran as fast as their feet and their insane love could carry them. Gregor was fast but heavy and couldn't keep up, they were going to make it.

Ramsay laughed and joked about her being half scalped and with one eye. Sansa grinned, "I'll wear a patch and properly shave half my head, bring back pirate fashion." Ramsay chuckled and Sansa blinked as a blur slammed into him and took her love away. Screaming, Sansa started to dive into the corn after them only to be knocked down by Arya on her back. "No. It's Jeyne and you'll only get ripped apart between them." Damon jumped over them to try and go stop the battle but Gregor burst into the row, his bat at the ready. He snarled at the jumble and grabbed Arya by the back of her neck and tossed her off Sansa. "Take heads? Is that what you had said to me, Missy? I was lucky you didn't take Unella's head and my babies heads and have your prick boyfriend feed them to me? You should never taunt an enemy unless you are sure of winning."

Damon rushed to stand in front of Sansa. "No! I won't let you hurt her! Just let her go! She was cornered, hurt and desperate, she didn't mean it!" Gregor roared at Damon to get the fuck out of the way. "Don't make me hurt you, stupid boy." Sansa scurried to her feet, looking to see if Arya was offering anymore assistance. The steel eyes told Sansa that Arya was only sticking to the deal they had made in the clinic and that was all. Ramsay screamed as did Jeyne and Sansa rushed off into the corn. Gregor swore and swung, knocking Damon down with one solid blow to his stomach. Leaping over the boy, flying past Arya, Gregor went to kill Sansa and Ramsay, if Jeyne didn't.

Stannis looked very disappointed at the lack of audience for his presentation. He has even lost Ramsay now. The only ones to see it were Harold and Kevan. Bob was getting impatient with Stannis and he spoke sharply. "It's only Kevan that you truly need to see it, correct? Isn't that why you chose this route to use? Because Kevan never ignores tradition and the showing to the director of the calendar is a tradition. So here is your calendar project and here is Kevan. Our captives cannot scream any longer, in fact I think Tyrion might already be dead from smoke inhalation. Light them up and get on with it, Stannis. Lancel is here and things are going to light up fast. I can hear the screams and howls in the corn, I think slaughter is taking favor over your project." Stannis heard a howling laugh and knew the voice. "Dammit! Jeyne, young lady stop fighting and come here right now!" Stannis made his voice as authoritarian as he could.

Bob shook his head and smiled at Harold and Kevan, both on their knees, hands cuffed behind them. "I'm sorry for this delay. You know what a perfectionist Stannis is. He really wanted to burn Jeyne first. After he dissolved her face with acid. Talk about holding a grudge, right?" Kevan looked up at Bob. "You are blaming me for your rotted head. Fine. But why destroy everyone else? For what I did?" Bob smiled brightly and leaned down, his glasses reflecting Kevan's sloppy, defeated look in them. "It will hurt you. It will get rid of the last of the creatures you've created. The last tainted children of you and of the Order. It all ends today and with your son's help, with Stannis' help, with Ramsay, Sansa and Walda's help, this entire place will be razed and Kings Landing will be ours to control. Our clubs, our power and it will shine. You can't blame anyone but yourself for what we've all become, Kevan. And it's because of you all here will be burnt or slaughtered, adults and children."

Harold laughed softly and Bob tilted his head, looking over at his brother. "That's such a load of bullshit, brother. What drugs are you taking? Whatever it is, it's way stronger than what Arya was taking." Bob stood straight calmly then began to kick Harold until the laughing man was bloody and curled on the ground, spitting a tooth out. Harold's sunglasses had fallen off and Bob deliberately stomped them into tiny shards. Then he fixed his outfit and hair, took off his own sunglasses long enough to wipe any dirt off them and smiled again. "Harold, I gave you and Varys every chance to show your loyalty, to join with me. I gave you both every chance to try and change my mind and my course of action, in case I was truly wrong. But I'm not wrong, I am done being buried and poisoned by this hellish place, by Kevan's hellish presence. I see ghosts of those who suffered or caused suffering everywhere in this cursed place! I see a smirking fucking monster dressed as an elegant gentleman deliberately closing his eyes to cruelty, some of it ordered by himself! Do you think he ran away free, Harold? Can you still believe that he wasn't with the Order all along? He signed a contract in order to escape here!" 

Harold nodded tiredly as he struggled back to his knees. "Oh, I believe it. I just don't give a fuck, Bob." Kevan sniffed and ignored both his traitorous, disloyal men and stared steadily at Stannis. "Go on with your cursed project for me, man. Just get this over with." Stannis narrowed his eyes at Kevan then gave a shrug. "At least the main person is here to see it."

Jeyne had hit Ramsay with all her strength and they rolled further away, scattering gold flaxen threads, green leaves and startled chiggers everywhere. Ramsay laid flat for a moment with Jeyne on top of him when they finally settled. Jeyne felt the same impact he had and Ramsay smiled as he pulled his extra blade from his pocket. "Dog sister! Glad to see you too!" Her teeth came out of nowhere and his knife came down, hitting flesh, causing Jeyne to screech. The next thing he knew they were in another furious roll, this time they seemed to be trying to rip each other apart with just their bodies. Ramsay fought as if his life depended on it and Jeyne fought as if her life depended on ending his. He saw a flash of red hair then Jeyne was leaning away from him, Sansa had pulled a ribbon off her dress and was pulling it tight across Jeyne's throat.

Dodging Jeyne's claws, Sansa looked so fucked up, her pretty face half swollen, the other half snarling straining to kill, half scalped, bloody, sticky. Ramsay thought she never looked more hot than she did right now. Damon's howl came clearly, almost heralding the thunder of the giant coming. "Please, Ramsay, Jeyne! Don't kill each other!" Ramsay cursed at Damon's howled plea and at the coming of Gregor and his fucking bat. He shoved hard so Sansa lost her grip on Jeyne. He leaned over the gasping feral and spat the words at her. "It's over, Jeyne. I am letting you live, you let me live. Good bye, dog sister." Ramsay grabbed Sansa and they started to run just as Gregor broke into the destroyed corn. Gregor looked at the half passed out girl with a blade sticking out of her arm then continued after the couple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bob/Harold & Ramsay/Jeyne & Sansa/Arya: I Can't Decide by Scissor Sisters  
> Ramsay & Sansa: Partners in Crime by Set It Off, Ash Costello  
> Stannis: Sarcasm by Get Scared  
> Gilly: Take On Me by Ah Ha  
> Sansa & Gregor: Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs


	180. The Last Culinary Stand

The flesh ball had rolled across the tiny room and Gregor cursed unable to reach Sansa. He ran around to smash through the back door and to the destroyed room. Looking over confused tangle of flesh and blood, he saw his wife. Pale but determined, yelling orders at a frantic Raff, Unella was applying pressure to her stomach wounds. Gregor couldn't see how the babes could live through punctures like that. Unella looked awful and she might die with only the assistance of a minimally trained nurse. Gregor had one main job, to keep his damned family safe and he failed. He failed to keep his brother alive or safe no matter how hard he tried through the years. Maybe it was karma saying since he destroyed so many families, it was his turn to lose all family that was his to keep safe.

Gregor felt that old familiar darkness he spent years repressing come floating back up. A large smile and cheery eyes but he didn't feel like Nanny Gregor. No, this was his other life coming back. Tightening his fist on the bat, it felt so right in his hand, Gregor looked for red hair with eyes full of flat murder.

Polliver found himself pummeled, scratched and he started to punch into the ball of flesh, trying to get out of it. He found himself thrown against a wall then crushed by Damon's back. Damon's arms were wrapped tight around Jeyne, trying to keep her from murdering Sansa. The redhead was on the ground next to the squished counselor and Arya was on top of her, pressing down her knees into Sansa's thighs to keep her down. Snarling into her sister's face, Arya's features looked closer to Jeyne's feral than her own normal predator face. "Bitch! You had to kill those babies, didn't you? Couldn't fucking help yourself! Does Lancel know just what he married yet? Will you kill him with Ramsay then take out him too? I should save Gregor the trouble and rip your throat out." Sansa looked into Arya's drugged out eyes and saw her own death looking back at her.

"I love Ramsay! All I want to do is reach him and get the fuck out of here! I don't want to be with the cult! I just want to get Ramsay and go! I had no way to get away from the doctor and Raff! Arya, I know you remember everything. Remember that I loved you, remember that I tried my hardest to save you the only ways that I knew how to! The Order forces us to sacrifice and hurt each other! Please, let this end. Let me go to Ramsay and we never have to see each other again. If you kill me, if you watch Gregor kill me, it will haunt you forever. You'll never be clean again and you know it's true." Arya growled but turned a bit paler. The girl knew it was true and so did Sansa. "I will help you get past Gregor and get you to Ramsay. The pack won't help you past that. Damon might, but I won't and I can't speak for what Jeyne will do when she sees Ramsay. But I'll get you that far. We are done after that. Truce?"

Polliver watched as Arya looked at Damon and Jeyne, something changed in their behavior. It seemed to make Damon happy and Jeyne sullen. Arya looked hard at Jeyne then grinned. "Get Sansa to Ramsay and you can go after him instead." Sansa tried to protest but Jeyne nodded and then Polliver was able to breath as the pack launched into action. Looking up at Gregor, Polliver moaned and shook his head. Bat at the ready, Gregor's face sent Polliver remembering the past. Gregor was learning to be a counselor when Polliver was tossed into the school and he remembers that look. It killed a few students before Kevan got Gregor's behavior under control. It took the efforts of that creepy Qyburn, Kevan, the twins and tons of therapy for Gregor to learn how to be a counselor as opposed to a killer. Polliver sees that whatever tethered that beast has crumbled and he was afraid that Gregor might kill every person in the room. The giant was looming over the pack that stood before Sansa.

"Get the fuck out of the way, ducklings. Now. I need to crush that little cunt's head." Sansa scrambled to her feet behind the pack but her pride was feeling irked. She could only blame her stupidity of taunting the man on her pains and desperation. Arya had kicked backwards into her older sister's thigh and Sansa shut up but the damage was done. Damon and Jeyne were thrown out of the way by a sweep of Gregor's arm. Arya was facing Gregor down as Jeyne climbed the large back and Damon launched onto the arm holding the bat. With a roar of anger, Gregor tried to shake the wolves off as Arya grabbed Sansa and ran with her for the exam room door. Damon was tossed and skidded before running for the door, trying to get there before Gregor. Jeyne rode the man as he thundered after the students. Arya had literally thrown Sansa towards the door but Gregor had managed to trip Damon and he was fast upon them.

Arya started to toss chairs at the oncoming giant who was staggering due to Jeyne's distracting hits. It was clear that Jeyne didn't want to truly hurt Gregor, even in his deadly state. She slapped her hands over his eyes, Jeyne kicked into his ribs and once even bit his head. Damon flew past Arya and threw Sansa out the door, standing in the frame, yelling at her. Gregor slammed the last chair that launched at him into a wall hard enough to break it, metal legs falling to the tiles with a clatter. Jeyne was grasped by the back of her neck and tossed into Arya. Gregor grabbed Damon and threw him, his only focus was that bitch who stole his family, his second chance. Arya and Jeyne untangled themselves and tried to go after them. Polliver turned away from the door, done watching that particular fucked up show.

He turned to see Raff trying to save Unella's life, ignoring her grasping hands and barked orders. Polliver tried to grab his cell phone but lost it somewhere in the melee. "Fuck, we need to call an ambulance for her!" Unella roared as loud as Gregor. "No! That isn't what we need! Do you think that they left our phones all working anyway? Listen, Raff, open my laptop then get me into surgery prep, I can stand, I can help as much as I can. I can guide you, the notes and studies Qyburn and I did will guide you! Save my babies, at least try! We can use my research, I have done this before and it worked. Please, Raff! You want glory, right? This is going to be a miracle and you'll have created it. Help me save the babies! Please!" Raff grabbed his head then spun about to get the laptop. "What am I doing, what am I thinking? Polliver, you'll have to stay and help me, okay?"

Polliver was shaking his head, backing up. He watched Raff stare in fascination and horror at whatever was written on the screen of the laptop. "Oh gods, Unella, did you two really do this? I don't think I can, this isn't something I can do much less ever tell anyone I did!" That was all Polliver needed to hear and he left as he heard Unella ordering Raff to begin. Telling the nurse that she kept a syringe full of the drug. Raff just had to administer it into the fetal tissue after numbing her and she will tell him where to cut. Oh hells, no, he ran faster for the clinic door. He was never going to admit it, but slamming into Gilly the Tank made Polliver almost cry with joy. A sane person for him to deal with or at least as sane as one could get in this place.

Lancel stepped past the gate with a happy smile and waved his hands at his girls. "Everyone have a torch? Their weapons? Excellent! Now, my shining stars, tonight is our final step in our succession! We are prepared, ready and hungry, aren't we? Gilly is to have her judgement by her sisters and Kevan will have his judgement from his son as is only right! But first, remember our plans. Get out of the woods, light your torches and light every building on fire, to flush them all out. Slaughter as you will, use your talents and be as creative as you wish." He watched as six females ranging from eight to thirty year old Clara all flit away like shadows, heading for the school. Lancel did wonder about his two littlest and sassy Val, would Walda fuck him over? Was it just that fat cow or did Lancel have to question his wayward Queen?

No matter, it can be dealt with later, only reaching his father mattered. Destroying his father's life work, being the one to murder the old man, that was his only real focus. The girls lit their torches the second they cleared the tree lines, all of them in their own direction. Each of the cabins crackled and smoldered as the girls giggled, lighting fires. Some of them were skipping and giggling, hoping to find someone to test a bit of wet work on.

Hot Pie watched the cabins go up in flames and bit at his nails. Jumping a mile, he heard banging at the back door and he ran towards it with his gun. "Hot Pie! Its Polly and Gilly, let us in!" With a sigh of relief, he unlocked the door and let them squeeze in. "I don't think this is going to be a great last stand, after all. The girls are burning every building, I rigged this one up, it's going to explode, hopefully taking girls with it." Sighing, Polliver smacked Hot Pie's head. "So what you are saying is you are sitting in the middle of a bomb? And invited us in. That's pretty smart. Can you see any faults in this, Gilly?" Gilly didn't have time to taunt and frowned at Polliver. "Stop being a bully and be helpful. Get whatever we can use. We don't even have time to save others first now, we are going to have to fight. My sisters will never let me get away alive. They would chase me to the ends of the earth if they have to. I have to stand and end it myself."

Polliver and Hot Pie looked in horror at Gilly's request. "Tell my sisters I am in here, they might even let you both go in order to be the first ones to reach me. Whatever girls decide to stay and fight you, kill them, don't hesitate because they won't. But most of them are going to come here to kill me and I'll blow them all to hell. If I can get out in time, I will. Harold will understand. Trust me. There really isn't any other way that I can see. Get going, gentlemen." Polliver and Hot Pie tried to change Gilly's mind but without any success. There was little time to do so since they could all see the girls swarming forth towards the dorm house, lighting it up. The cook and counselor ran out towards the girls as they started to turn towards the cafeteria. The girls were thrilled to see them, it was clear that they were disappointed no one was running screaming from the burning cabins. Polliver still had his exciting discovery in the clinic shed and was excited to finally use it.

It was three of Lancel's youngest, the eight year old with blades dancing in her small chubby hands and a set of ten or eleven year olds. Hot Pie moaned out as he readied his gun, "They are just little girls, Polliver. Just kids, little, really little ones, man. How do I kill grade school kids?" With an enchanting laugh, one of the oldest, not older than eleven, stepped forward and flourished her swinging chains entwined with tiny razors. "You don't kill us, Sir. We are going to kill you." Polliver let out a startled laugh himself and said to Hot Pie, "Yep. Definitely Gilly's sisters. I hear the resemblance."  The youngest skipped forward and asked sweetly, "Have you seen our older sister? We would really like to see her! Tell you what, we will let you run away if you give Gilly to us. Our other sisters can kill you instead, you can try and run from them. Have you seen her, our Gilly?"

Hot Pie nodded. "I'll take you to her. Just let my friend Polliver go, then let me go after I bring you to her, alright?" Polliver gave a scathing look to Hot Pie. "What the hell are you doing? They get you in there, you'll never come back out. You know that, asshole!" Hot Pie grinned and nodded as he let the gun in his hand fall to the ground, whispering to his mentor and friend. "I know. But I think I can get the Tank out first. No choices left, Polliver, you have to go. You gave me a chance at a real life, now I can return that favor. So go on, asshole, do something good or really bad but name it for me, okay?" Polliver cursed and ran while black shiny button eyed children surrounded Hot Pie. Polliver refused to turn around and refused to acknowledge the tears in his eyes. He saw Hellhouse go up in flame and then saw that the clinic would be next. Where Raff was trying to save Unella and the babies! Polliver revved up the huge electric saw and went to defend the clinic.

The cook was scared but at the same time, calm and picturing his plan in his head. "Gilly is hiding here in the kitchen and cafeteria, she was really scared. There's some weapons in there, lots of cooking stuff that can be used as weapons too." He kept up nervous chatter which seemed to amuse the three girls. Hot Pie was nervous, these girls were way scarier than anyone here, including the twins and Jeyne at her worst. They had such empty eyes, full of terrible sweet sadistic humor and nothing more. Small hands kept touching him, pulling, caressing, petting, pushing him gently into the kitchen that he has had domain over for a short glorious time. As soon as they all entered the kitchen, Hot Pie was pushed against the wall. The door was gently shut and locked. Calling out happily, the girls began to search for Gilly. The smallest one gave Hot Pie a cute smile that was missing two front teeth. "If you lied about Gilly, we are gonna cook you."

"Oh, he isn't lying, I am right here, sisters." All three girls headed into the eerily dim cafeteria, singsonging to their sister, who remained hidden. "Gilly, where are you? We want to see you, hug and kiss you. We miss you!" Hot Pie waited until they were only focused on their target before moving. He slid quietly, crawling behind the counters, slipped past the small backs and readied his trap. Frantically, Hot Pie texted Gilly who he knew had her phone on her. It only worked within the school, he had already attempted to call emergency services and got no service beyond school contacts. "Don't let them see you. When they turn to the sound, get out. I will be right behind you." Praying that Gilly got the text, hoping she obeyed it, Hot Pie took a brief second to steel himself. I have never done anything truly useful, I have never liked myself, I need a redemption and everyone here deserves one too. I can give them time, I can give them a chance.

Hot Pie grabbed a skillet and threw it hard. It landed with a clatter into a stack of trays. It was close to where Gilly's voice had come from and the girls ran forward with delight. Gilly must have read the text because Hot Pie watched her fly. He grinned as Gilly ran out to the kitchen and he heard the small sound of the locks clicking open. Hot Pie turned the switch hard on his homemade bomb that he stole from Arya. The timer was a very short one, the ovens were already open and set, the microwave was next. The girls saw the ruse and came for the cook who was slamming the door to the kitchen and holding it against the three girls. He watched the open door he can't reach and shut his eyes as the girls managed to push the door just enough to get hands with blades, jabbing him. Hot Pie screeched in pain but stayed firm. He thought of his favorite video game and when the huge boom came, Hot Pie was already ripping the world up like a gangster in GTA5.    

Myranda got tired of running from room to room, watching the war below her. And yet, every time Myranda went towards the escape door that Sansa had used, she paused. Shivering, she thought of Bob and backed away. Even worse, she noticed whenever she tried and spooked herself, she ran back to Bob's room, to his closets. Fear of Bob, the safety of Bob, the pleasure, pain and danger has leaked into her, he has infected her, taken her over and Myranda resents it. Afraid and restless, Myranda roamed the rooms and something caught her eye. Panting hard, staring at the small gleam of silver, she thinks of the cornfield. Where Bob and the others are. Sniffing smoke, she ran to the window and saw the girls coming, setting fire to everything. Well, fuck. There is her way into the clearing and she texted Bob fast. "Sir, girls are setting fire to every building. Please, what do I do?" After a moment, Myranda received a response that made her grin. "Come to me in the cornfield."

Swiping the silver bit of hope, Myranda ran into Bob's clothing closet and grabbed her luggage from the top shelf. Spilling it open, trying not to make a mess, just in case Bob did see this room before it was reduced to ash, she searched. There was a night when Polliver had the flu and was unable of taking Hot Pie on his special movie and dinner night. Bob had offered to do it since he knew Myranda was looking forward to joining her friend for the monthly night out. Bob bought her the dress and told her he paid for it himself. She found it and pulled it out, it was not something she would have picked for herself. She was ordered to only wear it when with Bob and she never did wear the thing again after that night. Hindsight let Myranda see how Bob had treated her as a date, as a lover, that night. In fact, Hot Pie had both joked and complained of that very thing that night.

Lifting the dress out of the luggage, Myranda grimaced at it. The dress was white lace with peach trimming and was eighties style of over dramatic frilly sacks. Myranda was sure there was a dead girl out there that used to wear this dress. A tiny rip, two barely there faded blood spots makes her skin crawl but Myranda puts the dress on and smooths it down. Grabbing the peach flats, Myranda shoved them on her bare feet and swiped up the stupid hair combs. As fast as she could, Myranda fixed her hair, sweeping the sides of her long purple hair upon her head, peach rhinestones sparkling from butterflies peeking from the combs. A few seconds to fix up the make up on her face from a little case in the suitcase, she was ready. Myranda slipped out of house through the escape route. The dress had some cobwebs and dust when she left the house.

Moving fast, Myranda headed for the clearing of the cornfield, no whirlygig man to guide her, just billowing smoke and the screams of Joff. In spite of what he did and what he would have done to her, Myranda couldn't help but feel pity. First the boy screamed for Stannis and Bob to help, to end what they were doing. Then he started to yell in a voice that indicated the flames have finally reached him. Kevan bellowed, pleaded but his voice wasn't as loud as Joff's. Myranda's awful guide to the clearing begged first for his friend Ramsay, then the boy screamed for his mother. Screams, howls, roars from another section of the cornfield and she ignored it. Focus, focus, she walked like a bride to her awful groom. Myranda kept her eyes off the dying, no longer screaming boy, off the prisoners, not even glancing at the stern professor. No, Myranda kept her eyes only on Bob and when he saw her, he smiled, holding out his hand.

Myranda lowered her eyes in fearful submission and took his hand, moving to press against his chest. "Good girl. You even changed into my special dress for you. I am so glad you even remembered it." Stannis insisted that Bob allow him to get on with the damned project. Sighing, Bob kissed the top of Myranda's head and said, "Just stay here, my sweet girl." Bob turned to give an elaborate gesture to Stannis. "Fine, please forgive the interruption. At this point, I think you only have time for the actual pictures and a quick lecture before Lancel gets here. We aren't the only ones burning things now." The professor frowned but quickly turned on the projector. Bob turned to face the screen then waved Myranda over to him. "You can stand here with me, love. I want to be able to keep an eye for whomever makes it to our little circle next."

Nodding, Myranda walked over to Bob. On her way there, Myranda stumbled, luckily it was at the same time as the clinic explosion. Bob and Stannis both had startled, looking in the direction of the kitchen. It made her stumble look real and gave Myranda time to toss the silver key to the handcuffs to Harold. His knee landed over them fast and he knew enough not to even look at the girl, instead he hollered, "Great work, Bob! Keep exploding and burning shit up, how long before a fire engine shows? The authorities will come eventually once the smoke is seen." Bob laughed and slung an arm over Myranda as she stepped up to him. "Kings Landing is burning too. They will deal with that first. Don't worry, brother. By the time they do show, it will all be over."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unella/Raff: Weird Science by Oingo Boingo  
> Myranda: Lying Is The Most Fun A Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off by Panic! At The Disco  
> RIP Hot Pie: Man or Muppet by Jason Segal  
> Gregor: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing by Set It Off  
> Lancel/Craster Girls: Glory and Gore by Lorde


	181. A Calender Project

Stannis's eyes bored into Kevan's as his hand caressed the trigger then pressed hard. The click was loud as the rather unique movie appeared on the large screen. The professor's frown turned into a smile, it was even grimmer than his frown. His eyes bloomed with satisfaction to see Kevan pale and shake his head as he looked away. "Shut that filth off! How dare you? Where did you get that? Shut it off, you sick bastard, shut that off!" Bob grinned at Harold who turned his own eyes away. Myranda was the only one to keep looking at the screen, her eyes full of the unspoken terror and rage of every child ever to grace this type of horrid movie.

Stannis thundered, "NO! YOU DO NOT GET TO LOOK AWAY! KEVAN, I WILL CUT OFF YOUR EYELIDS AND HOLD YOUR HEAD WHILE YOU WATCH IF I MUST! IT IS MY TURN TO SPEAK, TO BE SEEN, TO BE HEARD! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG I HAVE WAITED FOR THIS? LOOK, LOOK OR I SWEAR I'LL DO IT!"

Keeping his eyes averted, Kevan struggled through his own agony and humiliation to stammer out, "If I watch willingly, will you leave Jeyne alone? Promise me that you won't kill or disfigure her with your damned acid and I'll look." The professor seemed to think upon this for a moment as he stared at the paused movie. He gave a reluctant nod. "This is more important than revenge upon Jeyne. After all, it wasn't the feral's fault, in all honesty, I can see that. I can see past my anger and torment to know the girl was made to do what she did. It's the fault of so many, but not the little bitch, really. Fine. You watch and I swear to leave Jeyne alone. After all, everyone else involved is dead now. But you. I wanted you to be last, I wanted to make sure you KNEW why." Kevan turned to stare at Stannis with the coldest glare. "Get on with it."

Bob smirked at Harold's challenging eyes and tilted his head towards the screen. "Let's watch, brother."

The screen came to life again and Stannis spoke. "It wasn't very hard, Kevan, to get this filth. Olenna and Doran made a tidy profit selling their exploits. Petyr was the one to procure the original films for us and they were buried here in your rotten school. For years they festered with me like a wound, I watched them once and never again. I couldn't even form them into a proper calendar, I couldn't splice them, couldn't touch them. Lancel taught Loras, Sansa and Ramsay how to splice, edit and more before sending them your way. Sansa and Loras took care of the work, the bulk of it, without Tyrion ever seeing their calendar project. That's how incompetent that man was! When Ramsay took over the project, I had no choice but to come forth and assist the poor boy. I had to see and the only thing that got me through it was knowing how much worse it would be for you to see it."

"This first bit of film was made in a particular June. Kevan, was this the first time you and Tywin were filmed? Tywin doesn't seem to mind the whip, maybe it's because he was so drunk? Terrible thing, to see such a young boy drunk like that. Reminds me of how Arya is now, do you see the ghosts yet, Kevan? Look at yourself, how you cried, letting Oberyn and Olenna do anything they wanted to, begging them to release Tywin from his torment. Now the funny thing is, Tywin is yelling to his own tormentor, he is taking this pain so YOU will not be hurt, only fucked. Do you see it, the cycle you created? The cycle they caught you in and you caved in to but pretended you didn't? DO YOU SEE IT YET, DO YOU SEE YOUR OWN CRUELTY BEING BORN ON SCREEN?" Kevan was dry heaving and tears rolled down suddenly sagging cheeks, as if he were aging before them. "You weren't even chosen! Not ever! You don't understand or know beyond what you are seeing on that screen! Stannis, you are blinder than I am! I had no choice, I did the best that I could!"

Bob laughed along with Stannis. The professor watched the film heading for its next change and spoke.

"No, you didn't. Let's look at the next bit, oh, here we go, it's switching. This was a July that Lancel will never forget." Kevan took a deep breath, bracing himself but he couldn't prepare enough. He gave out a cry and shut his eyes fast. "Open your eyes, see what you let happen to your own son. You pretended that your son was going to spend some time with Tywin and his little cousins. As if it wasn't the summer traditions. You kissed that child, that small son goodbye and willingly sent him to this. LOOK! You sent him to this, you betrayed Lancel in the worst way and sent him to the worst hell. The least you could do is look." Kevan forced himself to see his own blood with tears, a golden toy for the elite and he knew how damned he was. He could feel his wife reaching for him with skeletal hands that were no longer loving. "I had to! It was only a short time, very short and I scrubbed his head, made him forget. I had no control over the Order, when Olenna came here, I knew what she would do but there wasn't anything I could do! Just whipping that bitch and kicking her out of here cost me! I killed her! It took me a long time but I did slay that monster!"

Stannis thundered, pointing at Kevan. "YOU KILLED HER AFTER THE BITCH WAS TOO OLD TO MOLEST ANYONE ANYMORE! NOT TO AVENGE YOUR SON, NOT TO GIVE JUSTICE TO BOB AND CERTAINLY NOT TO HONOR LORAS, WHO WAS FUCKED BY THAT MONSTER ALL HIS LIFE!"

Calming himself, Stannis took a deep breath and continued. "You murdered Olenna because you didn't want her causing problems for the school. You murdered her because she was finally old and defenseless enough for you to do so. A cowards way. Your way. Now, here is a wonderful August! Take a look, Kevan. See my Selyse? She prayed and screamed, begged but they all had a fun time with her, didn't they? You can see they get crueler to those of faith or courage of any kind. See if she holds up in her prayers if we fuck her, if we let dogs fuck her, if we brand and whip her! Watch, Kevan! She never breaks, she keeps praying, see! If you had only left her alone, she might have healed. But you were going to SAVE her! Right? When her parents decided she was too broken and filthy from the summers, they sent her to you. They wanted you to fix her, to help their child, even if they didn't like her, they tried to SAVE her!" Stannis found himself ignoring the film, running over to Kevan and grabbing the man's hair.

"I WANT YOU TO WATCH VERY FUCKING CAREFULLY, SIR!"

The screen flickered and it was no longer child porn. Now it was the school cameras, black and white, grainy but still clear enough. " It was a September that Selyse was sent to your school. How many times was Selyse beaten by you or Olenna? How many times did Qyburn fry her poor little mind? But this was your worst offense, wasn't it?" They all watched as flames grew around the half passed out teenage girl, her religious journal still half in her hand as Meryn grabbed her leg and yanked her towards him.

"He not only raped her, shoved a fist into every available orifice until he ripped things, but the sick creature ate through most of her face. Never mind that he managed to devour her clitoris and labia before you managed to show up and stop him. What was the solution? Easy, just give the monster a quick brain scrub and a tracker, force him to live in your woods. To be used as a sickening way to keep the students following rules. You had Qyburn give my wife a scarred, bitter body, fixed face and a new mind. You drove her crazy. DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU DROVE MY WIFE INSANE! I LOVED HER SINCE WE WERE LITTLE CHILDREN! I HAD TO WATCH HER LEAVE ALONG WITH MY BROTHER ROBERT ONE SUMMER AND I NEVER GOT EITHER OF THEM BACK! MY BROTHER DRANK, WHORED AND FOUGHT, HE LEFT ME BEHIND! SELYSE WENT FROM GIVING ME NOTES WITH HEARTS ON THEM TO PRAYING AND PREACHING, LEAVING ME BEHIND! BECAUSE OF YOU AND ALL YOUR SICK KIND!"

Stannis stood back up as Kevan continued to watch the screen with dull eyes, his hair was left wild, falling over his face. Each month brought another sin to land upon the only one left to hold the stinking sin. So many children, Cersei and Jaime were clearly taught to have sex, they were manipulated into closer feelings for each other out of sheer survival. Kevan began to moan when he saw the very first clip of that first day Tyrion was brought into the circle. What they did to Roose was enough to make Bob wince and Harold shuddered at the things done to Petyr. Myranda gasped loudly and clapped her hands on her mouth at the next clip. Bob chuckled and patted her pretty hair. "Did you think the staff wasn't all from the Order, sweet girl?" Sandor as a whipping boy, Gregor not being abused but made to abuse others. He ruthlessly beat a small child to death after raping her. Stannis's voice was scathing. "This is what you hired to counsel the traumatized children."

A clip of a college age Unella treating injured children. "This is what you hired to care for your students and teach others under her medical expertise." Another clip showing Unella wrestling Varys down so Qyburn can perform medical torture upon him for an eager crowd. Harold screamed in outrage and Bob growled. "What the fuck is this? Stannis, why didn't you show me this, tell me of this!" Stannis shrugged. "Perhaps I felt you and your brother should understand why I needed Kevan to see ALL his sins. Clearly." Bob seemed to wrestle with himself, before pulling himself together. Myranda had froze, not even breathing until she felt the tension ease in Bob. The professor's face was nearly glowing in it's desperate need to share the pain, to pass around the razor. "Keep watching." Kevan was in tears by the time they watched Raff scream, Polliver bleed and Myranda sobbed at the sight of a small boy on his knees like a common unpaid whore. A boy that became a young man that loves to bake and game. Bob squeezed his sweet girl and found himself turned on by her grief.

Myranda was so glad that Hot Pie was not seeing this, hoping he was safe somewhere. Just as she recovered from that it changed to something even worse. Bob nearly took Myranda into a corn row to fuck her hard when she saw Jeyne. The tiny thing that was barely human, fighting dogs, eating live rats and chickens while men laughed cruelly. Men whipping her, having the feral girl hurt other children. It was almost a relief for Myranda when it switched to Ramsay and Damon. Kevan was fully, glassy eyed staring at the stream of children. Sansa, Arya, Theon, Loras, he only made a sound when he saw Joff. He groaned when Petyr, Roose, Cat and Cersei all appeared at different points. "This is our last clip coming. Month of May, a month I died, the month you killed my family. I needed that business venture, my wife needed specialized care, you all knew that. No one warned me that it was an Order run business, not even my brother. My wife and I begged you to take in Shireen. In spite of the horror you had done to Selyse, we were desperate. If you had just hidden her here, I could have fixed things, found a way out of it. Selyse might have not been kind to our daughter but she loved her, she was cold to her FOR THE VERY REASON-"

Stannis seemed to be in such a rage, he paused the film to throw himself in front of Kevan. "BECAUSE SHE KNEW THE DAY WOULD COME WHEN THE ORDER WOULD RIP HER CHILD AWAY! I WAS THE IDIOT, I WAS THE ONE WHO ALLOWED MYSELF TO BELIEVE SHIREEN WOULD BE SAFE! I LOVED HER, SO MUCH, I BEGGED YOU ON MY KNEES! I WAS WILLING TO LET YOU TORTURE MY DAUGHTER RATHER THAN SEE HER GO TO THE ORDER!"

Kevan was chalk white, his eyes wide as it seemed to hit him. "They got her? You let them take her? Oh gods, is that what really happened, they took her? Did they kill her? You never told me the truth about your family, I never knew! I only took in children that had been abused that way! She wasn't, you can't blame me! Selyse knew my rules, she understood and I didn't even know you! You could have moved away, taken your family and never looked back!" Stannis kicked Kevan in the stomach. "You know how things work. What money did I have to take away a crazed wife and I daughter I kept locked away because I was terrified for her? But for your information I did deny them. I told them I wouldn't do it and they kidnapped Shireen right from school. Cersei got her for them and I was told to bring my wife to the circle. Watch, you bastard, look!" Kevan watched as Shireen ran, chased by Jeyne, Arya and Damon. The children had cold, hungry eyes, Damon laughed as he whipped the screaming girl. Stannis and Selyse being held as they struggled watching their daughter hunted down by killer children. Kevan winced as Arya smiled when each arrow found a painful spot in flesh. Jeyne came flying in then there was so much blood.

Stannis grabbed Kevan by his throat and screamed into his face.

"QYBURN COULDN'T DO MUCH FOR MY POOR GIRL'S FACE BECAUSE THAT WAS PART OF OUR PUNISHMENT! BUT HE SCRUBBED SHIREEN'S MIND, SO SHE ONLY HAD NIGHTMARES, PULLED OUT HER HAIR BUT LUCKILY DIDN'T KNOW WHY! WASN'T THAT HELPFUL? MY WIFE TRIED TO HELP HER FUCKING PRIESTESS BURN MY DAUGHTER ALIVE! THE SAME PRIESTESS I HAD STARTED FUCKING BECAUSE I COULDN'T LIVE WITH IT EITHER! SO I KNEW, I LET THE BURNING HAPPEN! I KNEW WHEN MY WIFE HUNG HERSELF, I WALKED INTO THE ROOM JUST AS SHE BEGAN TO SWING." Stannis released Kevan just as Bob started to move forward. "I wanted to die with them. But someone, someone had to end this first. I needed to see it end. No matter how long it took and most of all, I wanted you to see your part in it all. For the first time, I want to see you know what you've done, how many you've hurt. How many you truly could have saved. There, I have had my say. Burn in hell, Kevan. I want to see your heart break when Lancel kills you, the same pain I have suffered. That my Selyse and Shireen suffered." Stannis stepped back from the fallen director and ran his hands through his sparse hair in great relief.

Ramsay and Sansa couldn't shake Gregor and found themselves bursting out into the clearing. With a startled laugh Ramsay said, "Oh fucknuts! Took a wrong turn. Guess we can improvise." Sansa snickered then shrieked as she ran into a white sheeting. Ramsay saw Sansa rip through the screen like a movie monster and the small group all looked startled by it. Enough that he actually found himself pausing to laugh. The bat came whistling and he barely ducked in time. Trying to leap past the burning men, Ramsay decided to use Gilly's idea. He yelled as the flames licked at his skin but his kick was even stronger then Gilly's. Gregor roared as he tried to bat the flaming wood away but found himself having to drop to smother some flames. Ramsay ran to grab Sansa's hand and keep running. The blow came like a surprise, Ramsay thought Gregor would be down longer. He fell to the ground and tried to crawl, wondering if his ribs were broken.

Bob raised his gun and shot Gregor twice to take the giant down. Harold used this distraction to launch himself at Bob. Sansa used this distraction to drive a blade into Stannis's throat. Ramsay used this distraction to grab her hand and try to hobble away. Kevan used this distraction to use the key that Harold had left him. Ramsay rolled his eyes when Sansa stopped running when she saw Myranda. "No, we don't have time, Sansa. Honey, let the whore be, please! Come on, sexy pirate, I'll let you kill a thousand whores in her name." Myranda stood tall and as proud as Sansa herself. "It would take too long to break you down before killing you, whore." Myranda smirked. "Not for me, honey. I know enough to smash down a wasp, not play with the fucking thing." Sansa laughed and nodded. "Yes. That is what we are. You are a cockroach and I am a wasp. We simply don't belong on the same level. I am going to fly high while men step on you. Have a nice life, whore."

The couple ran off into the corn, Ramsay gasping they have to head for the back gate that Lancel used to get in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kevan: Monster by Imagine Dragons  
> RIP Stannis: White Rabbit by Egypt Central


	182. Riding The Night

Damon came bursting out of the cornfield to see Polliver wielding a medical jacked up bone saw at two ladies and one teenager his own age. They all looked kind of like Gilly but had empty eyes and shark smiles. Howling to alert the rest of his pack he has found prey, Damon bounded forth. One of them wielded a bo staff. Another had a katana and the third had nun-chucks. Polliver had cuts in spite of wielding the deadly weapon. One of the girls had a deep cut on her back from it but they all managed to dance around him, laughing like it was a ballet rehearsal rather than a dance of death. Jeyne and Arya burst out of the corn, howled in joy and ran for the girls along with Damon, ready for blood. Polliver saw them running and grinned at the strange and creepy harpies that made Gilly the Tank seem nearly normal. He said nothing and cheered hard at the collision as the girls all turned as one just to be leaped upon.

Polliver ran inside the clinic and threw down the useless but impressive looking saw. He yelled, "Raff! I need one of the sedation guns or something! These girls are fucking way better at hand to hand than I am. Arya, Jeyne and Damon are on them but I don't know if they can actually take these bitches!" The cracking sounds accompanied by rough laughter and screams outside made Polliver cringe a bit. A sudden crash and Polliver saw one of the woman coming in after him. She spoke with a bright polite tone, this woman that was almost Unella's age. "The problem with your pack is they are very disorganized. They are all chasing poor Nikki, all three of them. My sister Belinda is coming in too. Through a window." Polliver didn't catch on to what the woman meant until he felt the bo staff whack his back. Spinning around, he saw they had trapped him in the damned hallway! "Raff! I need some fucking reinforcements here! Two harpies here to kill us all! Just a little help, yeah?"

Unbelievably, Polliver heard Raff call back, "I'm so sorry, I can't help you! I can't leave this room, I am...I am delivering two babies! I think that's what they still are, at least." The girls both seemed intrigued, shiny eyes and sweetly one said to the other, "Clara, did you hear that? Babies, we could take them, have our own babies back in a way. We never had a chance to be better mothers, please, can we?" Shrugging, Clara responded, "Belinda, I do like the idea but let's hope Lancel won't mind. I would hate to see them die, I hate seeing babies die." Polliver shuddered and hit Belinda hard with a chair, hoping to knock her down. Sadly, he was unable to stop Clara's charge with her katana and she sliced him on his ass, legs and arms playfully, before he could shield himself with another chair. Polliver tried to fend both women off and went through three chairs before any relief came.

"Sisters! What a lovely surprise! You really should have called first, I would have made you some tea. Please, leave poor Polly alone, he has suffered a loss. Our lovely Hot Pie just sacrificed himself in an explosion to save me from my three little sisters. They all died in there, all burned to ash. Next time, perhaps you'll wait for an invitation before rudely invading." Polliver felt a terrible pain in his body that had nothing to do with his injuries. "Ah gods, Hot Pie. Why did you play the fucking hero? Didn't anyone ever tell you the bullshit in games isn't real?" Tears filled his eyes and fell as he watched the girls ignore him, heading for Gilly. The Tank stood calmly, if slightly scorched, smiling brightly with a hard glint in her eyes, her hands folded before her. Was Gilly planning to let them kill her? Gilly gave a quick glance at Polliver and spoke smoothly. "Thank you for your help, Sir. Why don't you go assist Raff and Unella? It's getting rather smoky in here, cannot be healthy for newborns."

Clara and Belinda gave small girlish giggles at Gilly while Polliver hesitated then turned and ran further into the clinic. "Harold! Isn't that the name of your paramour? We heard about your romance from secret star reports. Lancel would read them to us. Do you think its fair that you get to have true love? Were you planning a lovely wedding and some children of your own, sweet sister?" Gilly smiled at Clara and tilted her head. "Well, the romance is quite wonderful and the wedding will happen someday, maybe. Children? No. At least not any babies. Harold had himself sterilized. But I do want to raise and care for children, not sure if we might foster or adopt. We shall must see where the wind takes our relationship." Belinda stepped forward and spoke with a soft loving tone. "Sister, I would dearly love to bring Harold before you and decapitate him while you watch. I want you to die crying and begging and in terrible emotional pain. I don't suppose you would be up for a walk?" Gilly nodded and headed out of the clinic. She didn't turn once to see if her sisters would attack her or follow.

Gilly walked up the path towards the cornfield with her sisters behind her. "The cornfield is where Stannis and Bob are holding Harold and Kevan hostage. Oh, and they are burning a professor and a child before watching some movie. Ramsay sort of came and went. I think he went to find his lover, I must say, if you think my romance is wonderful, you should see Ramsay and Sansa." Both sisters stopped dead and Gilly turned to smile at them innocent smile, her eyes full of merriment. "Oh yes, anyone at the school will tell you about their dazzling crazy hot romance. That is why Sansa was banished from the school. Because pictures were found of Sansa having sex with Ramsay before and after her wedding. Kevan didn't take well to that. And to think, they never stopped loving each other, never lost faith even in their distance. Now they are together again and ready to run away and have their criminal and very sexy killing spree. Isn't that even better than my romance?" Both girls shook their heads but their eyes told Gilly she had them.

"Didn't you know? Did you truly buy all that bullshit about Sansa being in love with Lancel? A good faithful obedient Princess for his castle? No, you didn't really believe that, did you? Everyone here knew how Sansa really felt. It was clear how Ramsay felt and it was clear that Lancel didn't really care. As long as Sansa could act the part he needed. Except I think Sansa and Ramsay are done acting. They are leaving and enjoying their lives free of your fantasies and destruction. How about you, ladies? What fantasy story did Lancel create for your future?" Clara snarled at Gilly. "None of your concern. This is all about you, dear. All about making you pay for killing our babies. Are you haunted by what you did? Have nightmares of babies crying out for their mothers?" Belinda and Clara were honestly shocked when Gilly shook her head. Her eyes clear of conscience, Gilly spoke a sad, dark truth.

"No. Not once did I have nightmares of the babes I killed. I have only had nightmares of what our father made us do. I have never been sorry, never felt sorry for killing the babies. I regret it was needed, I feel sorrow that I had to do it but I do not feel sorry and I won't apologize for it. I wanted to save, to protect them the best I could. It was my only thought at the time when I did it. If father hadn't stopped me, I wouldn't have stopped with the smallest ones. I would have killed all of you, then father and then myself. That was the original plan. Luckily, it was the only time I ever felt suicidal or homicidal feelings." Belinda sucked in hot, outraged breath and tears pricked her eyes. "You demon, you bitch! I'm going to kill you slow." Gilly the Tank gave a smile that was a billion watts and nearly whispered, "Come at me, sis." With a scream of rage, Belinda raised her bo staff and came in for the kill. With one quick cool movement, Gilly revealed her handgun and fired a bullet through Belinda's forehead. Clara stared at her dropped sister then stared at Gilly. Who was staring sadly at the empty gun. Shrugging, Gilly dropped it and crouched as Clara and her katana closed in. 

Arya, Damon and Jeyne were lost to pack instinct, lost to the past, lost to sanity. They chased the girl and her nun chucks were no match for Damon's whip, Arya's urge to punch, kick and stab. Jeyne howled, gibbered and kept slamming into the girl, throwing her into trees to stun her. Damon would begin to whip with his cord and drawling in a near sexual tone for her to dance for him. Arya laughed when the girl started to cry, to beg. The girl attempted to try and grab at the whip, snarling, allowing it to cut into her hands and she yanked hard. Arya started to beat the living shit out of the girl and then Jeyne started to bite. Damon got his braided cord back and kept whipping, they drove the bloodied girl on her hands and knees right up the pathway to hellhouse. The house was burning slowly but the smoke billowed and became thicker. The girl tried to use the smoke as a cover, to escape, getting back to her aching feet and began to run. 

Howling, the pack chased her, surrounding her and they took her down hard. After a little while, Arya and Jeyne backed off from the ruin of a girl and Damon landed on her. Arya and Jeyne heard the girl scream for them not to let him. Don't let her die raped, please, not after her father did that for so many years to her. With hard cold eyes, Arya leaned over the girl. "Do you think we didn't suffer too? All three of us almost died just the same way yesterday. And tonight, if you caught us, you and your fucked up sisters? What would you have done to us? To poor Polliver or Damon? I bet it was way worse, you think I don't know they are burning people? I could HEAR Joff and Tyrion screaming in the flames, can't you smell a bit of flesh, like cooked pork? So fuck you." Jeyne and Arya left, leaving the girl to scream under Damon. His eyes were full of a terrible heat and he gave in to his worst impulses. Wrapping the whip tight around the girl's neck, Damon raped and strangled her to death.

Polliver had stopped briefly to look in the surgery room and nearly fainted, not sure if it was from what he saw or from loss of blood. Unella was on the surgery table, cuddling two small blankets, her eyes closed, breathing shallow as Raff tried to stitch her up fast. Her voice was barely heard. "Please, hurry it up. They need vitamin shots immediately and-" Raff cursed as Unella fainted and Polliver didn't think, he just reacted. Running in, he grabbed the sliding bundles as Unella went limp. "Gods, they are so tiny, they can't be ready to be out, they'll die!" Polliver held the tiny things carefully and stared at them. "They are way too pale, shouldn't they be red or purple? They are so pale white and like, white hair. Gods. Oh gods, what did you do?" The babies opened their eyes and Polliver stared into their mismatched eyes. Each had one eye exactly like the creepster twins and the other eye was brown like Gregor's. Raff pressed his lips together and hurried to add a few staples. "I need to give Unella some blood. Then I can care for the infants. Don't ask what we did, just know that if they live, they are a fucking miracle. Like a dark terrible one that we won't ever talk about, okay?"

Polliver nodded and carefully carried them over to a chair and sat down, tapping his foot nervously. "They will be mutant murderers like Gregor or insane doctors like Unella. They are the most adorable and fucked up little ducklings I've ever met. I'll kill anyone who touches them before they are old enough to kill on their own. Hurry, Raff! I need to go help the others and these kids are scaring me!" A baby started to grasp and suck upon Polliver's elbow and he shuddered. "Hurry! Damn it! They are already trying to cannibalize me! What are they? Girls, boys?" Raff rushed over after making sure Unella had what she needed, praying she won't give in to shock and die on them. He plucked the babies out of Polliver's arms. "I heard the explosion, who was it?" Polliver looked up at Raff and watched his best friend sigh. "Fucking Hot Pie?" Polliver nodded sadly. "He rigged the kitchen to explode and got Gilly out. I have to go find out who is left, help them." He rushed out, leaving Raff with the strange children. Raff called after him, "Its one of each, boy and girl."

Polliver paused and asked, "Did Unella name them yet?" Raff yelled no as one of the infants wailed as he uncovered chubby white thighs to inject vitamins. Polliver shuddered and commented back, "How about Legion and Madness?" Raff laughed, the babes yelled in outrage and Polliver ran out of the clinic, taking the stupid but impressive looking saw. He got as far as the pathway before Polliver noticed smoke flowing from the back of the clinic, the padded room was on fire. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He ran back in to see Raff coughing, Unella struggling to sit up and see her children. "Oh gods, get them out! Go, get out, take them! Please! Save them, I have to save them, they have to be the babies I can save! Take them out of here and protect them!" Raff grabbed what he could for them and ran out the door with the babies. Polliver tried to see if he could get Unella out and she shooed him away. "No. See that needle over there? Yes, it's full of morphine. Give it to me, no, just hand it to me. Listen, I'm done, okay? Those babies deserve better than me, than Gregor. Raise them or find someone good who can. Protect them." Polliver might have attempted to argue more but he heard shots ringing out front.

Unella waited until Polliver ran out the door before ripping the I.V. out of her arm. It took a few minutes of coughing and fighting pain to find the right position. Taking a deep breath, Unella tried to stab down the needle but dropped it. She was too weak and started to cry instead. A shadow, a huge one appeared, staggering in. "Gregor, the needle, on the floor. Please? I can't get it into my heart." The large man came closer, staggering and Unella saw the blood, dark upon him. He has been gut shot and Unella tried to hide her relief. They won't die alone and more importantly, they will never be monsters raising children. "There is another needle, more morphine if you want it?" Gregor shook his head and grunted with effort as he dragged a chair over to sit next to Unella. He managed to get the syringe off the floor after a few tries. Unella smiled and he returned it. "Till death do us part, after all." Gregor laughed and winced, blood bubbling over his lips. "Did they live, the babies?" Unella nodded. "Yes, Raff took them. I made Polliver promise to find them a good home, to protect them." Nodding, Gregor thrust the needle into Unella's heart, she cried out then slowly relaxed.

Gregor sat back in the chair and held her hand. She managed to swat his hand away but then a moment later grabbed it again. Together they slowly slid away.

Jeyne and Arya were searching for another victim, heard Gilly's voice and other voices, grinning they headed for more blood. To Jeyne's horror they heard a sound nearby, Arya gasped and grabbed Jeyne's arm. "Did you hear, do you hear that?" The gunshots were clear enough, no explanation needed, someone was dead but it was the screams of babies that brought Jeyne spinning to head towards the sounds of distress. Jeyne saw handsome Lancel standing over a dead man, bleeding out on the dirt pathway. Long blonde hair mixed with red, a twitching limp hand and two bundles of screaming flesh next to it. "RAFF!" Lancel turned at the pain filled scream just to see a deadly feral launching to kill him. He raised his gun and fired, causing the girl to fall to the ground, crawling forward, bleeding, still wanting to kill. Laughing at her, Lancel made sure Jeyne watched as he slowly lifted his foot above one of the babies heads. "I'm going to crush their foul little skulls in front of you, Jeyne. You failed, girl. Did a savage, dumb dog like you really think you'd win?"

Lancel found himself laughing in true cruel amusement as the girl shook her fist, enraged, a howl forming. The girl fought herself and words came out, causing him to laugh so hard, he had to put his foot back on the ground next to the tiny crying heads. Jeyne's words were rough from howling, they were harsh from grief. "Oh! Oh! You, you, you dirty duckling! You, you, piece of shit! I loved him! Raff was, he was SHINY! He was MINE and oh! I HATE YOU!" Lancel bent over, holding his stomach, laughing at the grotesque dog girl trying to shake both fists at him now. "He was shiny? Oh gods, please, stop, I'm going to die by you, by laughter. Oh gods, did he know your pathetic little crush on him? Ah, ha, can't stop laughing. Gonna try and bite my ankle for killing your princely nurse?" Lancel tried to stop laughing to aim the gun at the girl. She was nearly frothing at the mouth, squirming forward to curl around the babies, biting at Lancel's boot. "Get away! Terrible, horrible Person!" He giggled as he moved his boot out of the way. "Good thinking, wouldn't want to get your blood on my boots. Bad enough you just got your dog slobber all over them. Ick."   

A sound, almost purring then roaring came forth, accompanied by a wild howl. Turning, Lancel widened his eyes. "Oh dear." Lancel found himself running from Arya's dirt bike as the smiling teen tried her damnedest to mow him down.

Jeyne whined and curled even closer to the babies. "I'll save you. Gonna help you. Shh, hush." Wiping tears for her first crush from her eyes, Jeyne left her grief for Raff behind, ignoring her bloody wound, she scooped the babies into her arms. It took a few tries but Jeyne managed to lope away, her arm tight around the two babies. She made it about five feet before Jeyne couldn't limp anymore. She found herself curled around the babies near hellhouse, coughing. A strong hand came to lift her to cleaner air. "Hold those babies tight, kiddo, I have you." Jeyne nodded, keeping a firm grip on the twins as Polliver lifted her up and ran with her. Polliver nearly tripped over Damon and kicked him to his feet. "Up, up, killer boy. Let's go! I'm collecting ducklings and ducks, then we are getting the fuck out of here! Hurry up, Jeyne and the babies need to get help soon!" Damon staggered over and peered into Polliver's arms. "Jeyne, when did you have babies?" Jeyne giggled and Polliver groaned as he started to get them out of the smoke.

Damon laughed when he saw Polliver lead them to the large bus. "Stop laughing, moron! Find me the first aid kit! Hurry, hurry!" Polliver got Jeyne and the babies settled in the largest seat near the back of the bus. He snapped at Damon to then get the flare gun and the concealed emergency rifle, giving him the key to open the case. "Remember those lessons Sandor gave you guys, you went hunting for rabbits? I hope to hell you did well because since you can't drive this behemoth, you have to shoot if needed." Damon smiled. "I did good. I was taught a long time ago by Roose and Ramsay."  Polliver worked as fast as he could to patch Jeyne and himself before jumping in the driver's seat. "Okay, kiddies! Going on a field trip from hell! Jeyne, keep those babies safe and steady, Damon, be ready to shoot out the window like in an action movie if we get attacked or I say to shoot, okay? Here we go!" Damon and Jeyne howled and the babes seemed to echo it. Polliver grinned fierce and gave a whoop of his own. This was going to be do or die for all of them and he figured he might as well join in the crazy howling. With a roar, the bus came to life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damon: Whip It by Devo  
> Jeyne and Arya: Very Good Bad Thing by Mother Mother  
> Gilly/Belinda/Clara: I'm Gonna Win by Rob Cantor  
> RIP Gregor and Unella: Maybe You're Not The Worst Thing Ever by Galavant  
> RIP Raff: Miss Murder by AFI (this seems to reflect jeyne's feelings upon him at least)  
> Polliver: Crazy Train by Ozzy Osbourne


	183. Going Old School

Kevan rubbed his wrists and launched to his feet, staggering for balance, his knees rebelling. Finally he moved forward, he could see Bob and Harold literally trying to kill each other with their bare hands. Stannis was on the ground, giving no attempt at staunching the flow of the fatal wound, he looked peacefully up at the sky until he saw nothing. Oh fuck that, Kevan thought, he wasn't ready to lay down and die, no, sir! Standing up and pulling his tattered suit around him, he walked over to Myranda, who was watching the fighting. Touching her arm, Kevan was about to give some form of authoritarian reassurance but he was stunned by the girl's reaction. Giving a look of revulsion to a man she has never shown anything but submissive respect to, Myranda hissed, "Don't touch me! I saw that film. And I know firsthand about your cruelties, don't I? You are not my glorified pimp anymore, you aren't the lofty rich director who holds my life in your hands."

He hit her before he even thought to do it. Myranda's head snapped to the side and the palm imprint nearly glowed upon her face. Sneering at him, Myranda spit directly into Kevan's face before running. Kevan wiped his face and moved as if to chase her but saw she only ran to stand closer to the deadly duo. If Kevan attacked the little upstart bitch it might cause Bob to stop fighting Harold and come for him. He wasn't sure that Harold would stop Bob from killing him and wasn't willing to test the theory. His son, Lancel was here, the whole time seduced and recruited by Bob and Stannis, no different than the Order, no different than the school. Kevan wanted to make sure that Lancel saw he was as much a hypocrite as his father. With a numb calmness, Kevan took Stannis's gun and tried to figure out what direction to go. The gun had three bullets in it but Kevan only needed two. One for him and one for his son. The third will be for whomever gets in his way.

 Ramsay and Sansa ran into the clearing just before the woods, ignoring everything but their goal. They paid no attention to smoke, fires, screaming, howling, engines whining and roaring, nothing but getting into the woods. Getting through the woods, out the gate, up the road, across the boulders to the road and to Walda's car. They certainly paid no real attention to Lancel as he ran past them, his head suddenly turning to stare at them. Which meant that they paid no attention to the bike speeding at them. Arya cursed, Sansa screamed, Lancel laughed while pointing and Ramsay yanked himself and Sansa out of the way. Well, almost out of the way, Ramsay screamed as the bike wheel tried to remove his right heel and Arya gave him the finger just before wiping out. Sansa stomped her foot and hollered, "Dammit, Arya!" Ramsay wheezed, holding one hand on his bleeding heel, the back of his boot gone and most of the flesh as well, his other hand pressed against his broken ribs.

Sansa tried to help Ramsay stand up but he wasn't up for it yet. "I really hate your family, Sansa. Like, even more than I hate my own." Sansa smiled back at Ramsay, "I know you do, honey. I'm sorry, can't choose family." Lancel narrowed his eyes as if trying to study something as he came closer, his gun pointing at both of them. "You aren't trying to leave, are you? Dearest wife, I know you lied to me about the eldest girls. They willingly cut off their fingers to prove their loyalty to me, their love and worship. Sara, Val and Mari never returned to me and here you are, loving wife, running off with my most devoted disciple. What should I make of that?" Arya climbed to her feet, wincing at the bruised, scratched patches on her legs and arms. She started to walk away, ignoring three sets of eyes tracking her. Lancel cleared his throat and Sansa called out, "You aren't even going to try and help us out? I'm your sister!"

Arya snorted. "I did my part for you, remember? Go on, kill each other, I don't give a fuck. Have to go see who else survived this shit show. See ya." She didn't get far and sighed when two young girls appeared before her with bows and arrows notched. Lancel smirked and chirped, "I have a great idea!" Ramsay sighed and Sansa said sadly, "I'm sure you do. Is this a bad time to ask for a divorce?"

Gilly evaded Clara's first two strikes but nearly lost her head before she swept her sister's leg out. Clara stumbled only enough for Gilly to start running, dodging, hoping to see a weapon lying about. She ran and could actually hear the growing whine of the blade then a very strange roar and thump. A wheezing sound, a plume of smoke, different from the burning wood and flesh smoke. Turning, Gilly stared quizzically under the huge bus wheels at Clara's feet. "Just like the wicked witch. Oh my." Polliver opened the bus door and yelled, "Tank meet Bus. Get the fuck on board! Help Jeyne with the babies or make sure Damon doesn't shoot the wrong targets!" Gilly rushed onto the bus. "Babies? Unella and Gregor's babies?" Polliver noticed with delight that there was a tape in the old deck on the bus. He checked it and laughed, loving Sandor's taste. "Yeah, let's get this party rolling! Hang on!"

Polliver blasted the music and just as Gilly turned to yell at him that it would be too loud for the babies, she noticed the calm strange eyes light up, tiny fists waved and both gurgled with delight. Jeyne and Damon started to head bang as Polliver tore up the damned school with the bus. Kevan was the first to hear the dreadful cacophony and see a huge beast thunder through clouds of smoke. He ran out of the way and watched the bus go thundering by. "TURN THAT SHIT OFF!" Kevan clapped his hand to his mouth as he realized what he said but he heard the laughter on the bus. Damon stuck his head out of a window and gave the metal horns at him. For a brief moment, Kevan lost his shit, screeching and pointing his gun at the bus as it thundered onward. Gritting his teeth, Kevan stormed off to find a better home for his bullets. Kevan soothed himself by humming Cat's In The Cradle to himself as he searched for his son.

Myranda stood there, unable to tell who was winning, who was losing. Sansa was right, she was a whore, she was a cockroach and felt that boot heavy over her head right now. The instinct to run, to flee and hide, or find Jeyne then scuttle away, it was so strong. There was the other half of her, another shattered half that screamed, no, no, too risky, too dangerous. Bob wouldn't like to see her running, not at all. He would stop attacking Harold and come for her, she was sure of it. No, she has pleased Bob so far, he will keep her safe from everything, well, except from himself, of course. Frozen, hating herself and Bob, Myranda watched to see who would win. If Harold won, Myranda was running off to find Jeyne. If Bob won, Myranda will congratulate him then beg to be allowed to see if Jeyne has survived. There, that was a plan, right? Myranda told herself to bugger off. She told herself to at least find a weapon and nodding, decided that was a great idea. So move, then. Bugger off.

Harold and Bob were unable to speak beyond curses, mostly it was growling. They attacked each other like animals, as if they were going to rip each other to shreds, eat the steaming insides. Myranda saw the problem just as they did. Both were evenly matched, too evenly matched. It was going to be the death of both of them, there could be no winner. Already the blood sprayed, a pair of sunglasses and several teeth were scattered near Myranda's feet. Bob would be on top, slamming Harold's head into the earth, a moment later Harold was strangling Bob with his legs. Another blink later and it's Harold on top, still strangling Bob until Myranda winces, seeing a sharp knee ram between Harold's legs. Another roll and on it went. That's when Myranda felt the shaking like an earthquake. Backing up, Myranda tried to understand what was coming. The twins felt it too and paused in their death match.

Harold blinked and Bob stared at him, asking blandly, "Is that Twisted Sister?" Harold nodded and both rolled at the same time, taking each other out of the way of the thundering heavy metal bus.

Ramsay was on his knees, hands clasped behind his back, with Lancel's gun pressing into his temple and he still grinned. "Hey, Lancel? Don't you think this is a bit dramatic? I mean, we did everything we swore to do. Hell, Sansa even fulfilled Stannis's wish to die right after his project! All we want is to be done, to leave and go our own merry way." Lancel gave Ramsay a little toss of the head. "Oh no, I think this will be better, really. I like my games, you know that. I like my shows and this is a great one for my girls. A good example of what happens when a star is dimmed by disloyalty. Now, whichever girl lives, you are going to marry. So if Sansa wins, I'll let her have the divorce, let you two lovebirds marry, then let Sansa watch while my girls kill you. If Arya wins, she is already a widow and I'm going to make you marry her. You will both live under my thumb and you will live together as a couple. I will expect at least three children from you. I find that amusing, don't you, Ramsay?"

"Hell, no!" Frowning, Ramsay eyed Arya who stared back at him in disgust. Sansa sighed and raised her eyebrows at Lancel. "This is wasting time, isn't it? Don't you have a father to go kill?" Lancel smiled gently at his bitch of a wife and responded, "Yes, but once married, a husband must be dedicated to his wife before his father. I am very dedicated to you, my love. Begin or my girls fill both of you with arrows."  Arya and Sansa circled each other, without any weapons, trying to see any good way to win or lose. So they resorted to what they always did when the girls had no other choices they could see. Lancel sighed and Ramsay rolled his eyes as the girls began to bicker over who's fault this was. They each got in a few good slugs while cursing each other's existence, causing the two Craster girls to giggle. Sansa tried to choke Arya when her nose got punched and Arya called her a high class slut. This made both girls laugh even harder and Lancel was grinning now.

Breaking from each other, the sisters circled each other carefully before launching, screaming insults at each other. Ramsay burst out laughing when Arya and Sansa's fists sailed past each other to crash into a Craster girl's face. Lancel swore and Ramsay was on his arm, biting deep. Just then a terrible roar. "LANCEL!" Turning, he let Ramsay go in order to slip away into the smoke and shadows. Lancel began to try and find a way to get behind his father and stalk him from behind. Ramsay ran over to the all female melee and debated on whether he dared to leap in. He waited until Sansa was stabbing one girl with an arrow in the eyes while Arya was using her fists to pound the other girl into ground meat. Ramsay grabbed Sansa from behind and tried prying her away from her grisly work. "Hey, let's go! Lancel or Bob or maybe Harold will be coming for us. Or another couple of Crasters. We need to leave now, honey!" 

Arya and Sansa looked at each other and gave each other curt nods. "You two want to hug or exchange poetry or anything?" Ramsay got glares from both girls for that and he backed up. Sansa stood up and grabbed his hand. "Let's go. Bye, little sister, let's be strangers." Arya grinned and stuck up two bloody middle fingers. "Happy trials, court ones! Don't call me for bail!" Sansa grinned back, sniping, "I'll be sure to lose your wedding invite! I hate you, love you!" Then ran for her life, dragging the injured Ramsay into the woods. Pausing for a second, the girl muttered back, "Yeah, same back." Arya finished off the two girls and started to limp away. She followed the distant strains of pounding rock music towards the cornfields. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sansa/Arya: Keeps Gettin' Better by Christina Aquilera  
> RIP All Craster Girls: Come Little Children by Erutan  
> Lancel: Not A Common Man by Matt Smith  
> Polliver's Metal Bus: We're Not Going To Take It by Twisted Sister  
> Harold/Bob: Cold by Crossfade  
> Kevan: You're The Only Hell Your Mama Ever Raised by Warrant


	184. School Is Dismissed

Lancel smirked as he gracefully approached his father's back. Kevan stiffened and spun but not before a bullet took out his right knee. Crying out, he spun as he fell and fired, catching his son in the shoulder. Cursing then giggling, Lancel aimed again and spoke. "Hi, Daddy. Did you have a nice calendar presentation with Professor Stannis? Did you have a heart to heart with your most faithful twin?" Kevan grimaced as he tried to stand back up, keeping his gun on his son. "Yes. Stannis is dead, your wife killed him before she ran off with Ramsay. Bob and Harold are fighting and there is a bus full of students driven by Polliver, wrecking anything left of my school that isn't burning. Are you satisfied now, son? You took away everything from me, burnt my school down, you destroyed the Order, taken apart Kings Landing, is it enough yet?"

Lancel gave his father a twinkling smile and shook his head. "No, Sir. Most of my girls are dead, if not all of them. Sansa and Ramsay betrayed me and got away with it. But that doesn't really bother me all that much. The girls served their purpose and so did my unfaithful disciples. That brings me great joy and seeing this place burn up is pure ambrosia to me. But I want just a bit more, Daddy. Just a little more, remember I would ask that as a child? Just another story before bed, just another treat, one more show, just one last glass of water. You always gave me what I wanted if you could. Always. But it was out of guilt. Out of regret, not out of love." Lancel's face seemed to change, a sad little boy.

"You promised mom you were out of the Order, she served time as a MARTEL, can you imagine how bad it was for her, daddy? Olenna told me that you swore to mother that you weren't going to sign any contracts that would let them have me. You lied to mommy, you let her party and fuck anyone she wanted, you encouraged it! You put drugs in her wine so she wouldn't notice the summer visits I took with my uncle and cousins. You lied to her and let them have me. You lied to me, told me it was just a fun visit and let them take me to HELL! When I came home and tried to look at you, hoping I could have your help, I saw what they said was true. You gave me a bath, scrubbed me clean and told me not to tell mom. I didn't, daddy. I never told her. But that night, my heart and head sort of well, went DING! I saw that love wasn't real, safety was an illusion and I stopped feeling petty emotions. I learned how to heal myself by revenge, by gaining my own pleasures. It was my pleasure to break your heart too. That is why I killed mommy. I wanted to break your heart too."

Kevan nearly whispered, "Oh gods, Lancel. You killed her just to hurt me? That's how much you hate me?" Lancel's face turned into a bestial rage as he leaned forward to scream, "THAT'S HOW MUCH I HAD LOVED YOU BEFORE YOU LET THEM TAKE ME!" Trying not to fall apart, Kevan spoke in a hoarse voice. "I'm sorry. I am so sorry that I let it happen. I'm sorry I turned you into this, son. But this has to end." Lancel laughed and his face was back to a terrifying blank cheeriness. "I don't want to hear your apologies or any excuses, please. Dreadfully boring and too dramatic without a good flair." Kevan started to cry and he just said, "I love you so much, son. I love you."

He fired but Lancel giggled and threw himself behind a tree, heading into the woods, aiming and firing back. Kevan felt the bullet just fly past him as he started to head towards where Lancel was hiding. "We'll go together, son. Let's go talk to your mother together." Lancel clapped as he moved about in the shadows of the trees. "Oh good! Let's play a final game of hide and seek, Daddy. The winner gets to live." Kevan nodded tiredly as he headed into the woods. "Yes, son. A final game together but I don't plan on letting you win, honey." Lancel giggled and darted about, hoping to bait his father into running out of bullets firing at shadows. Kevan peered into the dim foliage as he staggered, his limp leg dragging painfully into the dirt.

The metal shuddered to a halt and both Harold and Bob heard the click. They looked up to see Damon half out of the bus, aiming a rather large rifle at Bob. An explosion and Harold cried out as Bob was flung backwards by the impact. Bob lay back and gasped out, grabbing Harold's hand tightly. "I tried to save Varys. I called him, confessed everything and told him to get the fuck out of there. I texted him an hour before I found out that Lancel's girls were targeting him. Lancel lied, he told me he would leave our brother alone. I wasn't going to kill you." Harold pressed his hands hard against the bloody hole in Bob's chest, as if it would help. "I love you, brother. I forgive you, I know you would never kill me or Varys on purpose." Bob smirked up at Harold. "You're crying, pussy. I love you too. I'm sorry. Will you take care of Myranda for me? I was going to marry her, you would have been my best man."

Harold smiled and pretended that Bob wasn't crying too. "Yeah, we could have had a double wedding. We can do that, okay?" Bob nodded and blood leaked from his mouth as he let Harold lay next to him. "Yeah, let's do that. I can have Myranda, you can have Gilly. We can marry and be free and have domesticated shit. Like normal people do." Harold held Bob's hand as he felt the life leak away from his other half. "Just like we used to do, stare at the moon, side by side and talk about our futures. Do you remember that, Bob?" His voice was faint and thick as if he were drowning. "Yes. Varys, me and you." Harold tried to speak through his sobbing. "Uh huh. If he were here, he'd make fun of us for wanting to marry and be so boring." Bob coughed, gurgled then wheezed. "Varys is here. He's with us and laughing at us." Harold held Bob until he felt him die and then he curled around his half he wasn't sure he could live without.

Myranda stared mutely at the bus and at Polliver who opened the door, sitting in his driver's seat like it's a throne. "Hey there, would you like to take a field trip? Hop on the Freedom Express, kiddo!" Jeyne's head popped into the window and gave a silly grin to her friend. "I have babies! Unella and Gregor's babies! Come see them!" Grinning back at Jeyne, she took a step towards the bus. Myranda heard the gun shot and suddenly she grabbed her hair and screamed and couldn't stop. She couldn't understand the pain, the fear, what was suddenly wrenching open inside her, it was too much and it was killing her. That was fine, screaming, Myranda tried to will herself to die to escape her emotions. Suddenly, there was a wall of warmth around her. Jeyne had thrown herself tightly around Myranda, Gilly hugging them both.

Large hands moved her own hands from her head and gently lifted her face. Polliver's look was different, even through Myranda's blurred eyes. It was as if for the first time he saw her as a real person, just a girl and that made her cry harder. "Hey, kiddo. Damon shot Bob, he's dead. It's over, Myranda. It's time to go, honey. He can't hurt you anymore, no one here can hurt you anymore. Time to find a new life for all of us." Myranda nodded then burst out, "Why am I crying for him? Why does it hurt that Bob is dead, that its all over?" Gilly smiled at Myranda and smoothed down her hair. "Because it's all you had. All you knew. Now we have to all learn new things, we have to find out what else we can be. It's going to be hard and scary, but we are all going to do it together." Myranda let Jeyne and Polliver lead her onto the bus.

Gilly walked over to Harold and knelt next to him. She held him as he held his limp brother and whispered, "Bob loved you and he knew you always loved him. It's an ending you can live with, it was something he could die with." It took the sounds of wailing babies and Myranda yelling, "They are wet! Ugh! Oh gods, are they dying or something? What do we do?" Harold blinked, looking at the bus then at Gilly. "Babies?" Gilly smiled. "Unella and Gregor are gone but the babies were saved. We need to go, find a place to buy baby items, we have nothing." Harold shakily got to his feet with Gilly's help. "Ouch." Gilly laughed at his grimace. "Yes, you look like hell. Everyone does. Jeyne is shot and she will scream holy hell when we dig that bullet out of her leg." Harold groaned as Gilly led him towards the bus. He could hear the group of them arguing over how to change the baby.

Pausing, Harold blinked in the pale light and shielded his eyes against the coming morning. "Maybe we should leave them all to Polliver. We could make a run for it?" Gilly giggled. "We are making a run for it before authorities show up. But we are making the run as a huge crazy family." Harold stared at her in horror as she pulled him into the crazy metal chaos. "You want me to marry you and adopt all of them including Polliver? Never mind. I don't love you anymore. I hate ice cream and musicals." Gilly smiled as she pushed him into a seat on the bus.

Kevan and Lancel circled, dodged and it was almost like when they were so much younger. Except, Lancel kept giving his father wounds that have him nearly crawling now. Kevan had one bullet left and didn't dare to waste it. He waited until he could get a true shot before firing. It only took letting his son take him apart, taking speeding small leads of hate into everything but his heart or head. Kevan fell down and found it harder to get up. He slumped and tried to center himself, hearing that giggle, it sounded like his young golden little boy sneaking forward to tag his dad.

The click let him know Lancel was close enough and Kevan reacted fast. Lancel screeched in rage as Kevan shot the gun out of his hand. "Not fair!" Lancel ran forward and kicked his father in the face. Kevan grabbed a leg and brought his son down to his level, in the dirt. "I love you, son, I love you, I forgive you and I love you." He wrapped his hands around his son's neck and squeezed hard, so hard, whispering over and over to Lancel's bulging eyes. "So sorry, honey, I love you, I forgive you, please, I love you so much." Kevan's whisper turned into a grunt as the blade plunged into his back. Another hit, it felt like a numb kind of punch, another and Kevan let go of Lancel's neck.

He lay on Lancel's body feeling Lancel reach for every breath, coughing, wheezing. Kevan felt cold, he felt distant and he knew that Lancel's blade hit vital things. He let Lancel shove him off, Kevan lay dully in the dirt, watching his own blood leak away. Lancel stood up, using a tree to hang onto, he was sobbing, heaving and trying to talk all at once. "Fuck you, fuck your love and forgiveness. I hate you. Die alone." Lancel began to try and run, Kevan didn't even bother to watch. Kevan decided to just shut his eyes and go to sleep, wait for his wife to shove him far from here, down to hellish fires where he belongs.

A sudden crack, snap then a small explosion. Kevan opened his eyes, he heard his son scream in agony. Numb limbs began to flare in stretching, burning nerves as Kevan forced himself to crawl. "Lancel! Daddy's coming!" Kevan's fingers dug hard into roots and earth, pulling himself, using one good knee to launch forth. He felt as if it were a mountain he was climbing rather than a rotted woods and Kevan couldn't stand hearing Lancel cry out in pain. "DADDY! DADDY, PLEASE! GODS, HELP ME, DADDY, HELP ME, IT HURTS, DADDY PLEASE, IT HURTS, SAVE ME DADDY!" Kevan roared and gained just enough will to get to his feet. He took to a shambling hop and there was his baby boy, he had run directly into one of Arya's hidden traps.

Kevan started to sob as his son reached for him with half an arm and a body mostly burnt. Throwing himself down, Kevan pulled his ruined boy tight against him, rocking them gently. "Daddy's here, Lancel." Twitching, Lancel strained to see anything, he tried to move and it was so much fire, he couldn't stop the burning, he was burning alive. "Daddy! I love you! I am sorry, please, don't leave me! Don't make me burn, please, fix it, save me, just one more time, you have to!" Kevan sobbed and nodded as he pulled out a last pen. "Okay, honey. Daddy loves you and forgives you. I hope you forgive me too, it was all my fault, not yours. Daddy's going to save you, always."

Kevan thrust with one hard strike and fixed Lancel for that last time. He curled around his son and Kevan didn't fight the pull of the darkness.

Arya started to wonder if she was left alone when she heard it. Running towards the sounds of Twisted Sister, she saw the bus backing slowly towards her. Damon was hanging out of the back exit doors, holding out his hand. "Hurry the fuck up, would ya? We have two babies that really need diapers! Let's go! Time to make like a tree and get the hell out of here!" Arya laughed, calling Damon a moron and grabbed the offered hand, swinging up into the bus. Damon shut the doors and Polliver drove like a madman until they hit clear road. Then he drove faster.

Sansa helped Ramsay over the boulders. "I hate my sister, but I let her live. That should be enough. You are asking too much of me, lover." Laughing, Sansa nudged him. "No, I mean it. Walda is pregnant and I already fulfilled my wish of stabbing a pregnant stomach. We keep our deal with her. I want to let those babies have a chance." Sighing, Ramsay snarled out, "Fine. It's not fair. I didn't get to kill my father, my brother or my sister and now I can't even murder my step mother. Is this the kind of relationship we are going to have? Where I always have to give in and never get to decide who I kill?" Sansa pressed him against a rock and kissed him hard. "We are each others limits now. We are free and no one tells us what to do. So we have to watch out for each other."

Walda woke up when Ramsay slumped against the backseat. They drove into the early morning fog, leaving behind the smoldering school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bob/Harold: The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand  
> Kevan/Lancel: Wrecking Ball by Fall Out Boy (cover)  
> Ramsay/Sansa/Walda: Roam by B52's  
> Jeyne, Myranda, Damon, Arya, Harold, Gilly, Polliver: Can You Picture That by Muppet Movie


	185. The Road Goes On Forever

Ramsay managed to keep his promise for one full year. When Sansa yelled at him and hit him over and over, he stammered it was partly her fault too! If they had ditched Walda and just stolen her car and money like he suggested a year ago, this wouldn't have happened. Who knows where Walda would have gone? If Ramsay had no access to her it wouldn't have happened! Sansa didn't take his excuses lightly and Ramsay ended up at a free clinic getting treated for a rather unique issue. As the perplexed medical staff tried to pry the birthday hat out of Ramsay's puncture wound, he simply explained, "I ruined the twins first birthday party."

They had stayed with Walda because she had the car and cash. Not only that, her father's money and Roose's were all left to Walda. While Sansa and Ramsay waited in the shadows with worry, Walda publicly came forth for her husband's funeral. Once it was confirmed that Walda was alive and the money could be hers, she sank into the shadows along with her two new friends. Walda had spoken with some rather shady lawyers that her family had used in the past and managed to put it all into a private account. It took time for Sansa and Ramsay to convince Walda to trust them but she did eventually. They shared a great adventure, went on a cruise, went gambling in fancy hotels and got tan on exotic beaches. It was fun but Ramsay and Sansa were restless.

Walda became too big to continue the adventures and she bought her little farmhouse. It was big enough but it bored Ramsay to tears. He and Sansa didn't hang around much after the babies were born. Sansa made sure that Walda hired both a night nurse and a nanny for during the day whenever they were gone. Just in case. Even as the babies turned six months old, with Walda a most dedicated mother, Sansa still counted to make sure they always had four cats. Never any less or more, never new ones. They never told Walda what they did when they went away, but she knew. The day the news reported the first dead teenage prostitute, Walda glanced sharply at her step son, who was nursing a hangover. Raising an eyebrow, Ramsay silently dared her to say something but Walda never did.

The day that Walda made her new will leaving everything to the twins, it was the day her fate was sealed. Ramsay watched Sansa promise Walda that they would be happy to care for the twins if anything ever happened to her. Ramsay waited until Sansa had taken pictures of the children eating their first taste of cake before he acted. Following his stepmother out onto the porch to bring in the antique rocking horse they found at a yard sale, Ramsay helped fulfill Sansa's promise. Ramsay was still strangling the fat bitch with pink and blue ribbons ripped from the rocking horse when Sansa peeked out to see what was taking them so long. Walda was already dead by the time the redhead pummeled Ramsay off her.

Sansa wiped out the accounts, packed the toddlers and picked up Ramsay from the clinic. They were on the run again, leaving behind a burning farmhouse. A string of motel rooms came next, it turned out caring for the children wasn't easy as Ramsay thought it might be. It was hard to go on a killing spree with two small children but that is what happened. Walda's body had been found and one young prostitute that survived the savage couple was a great witness. Eight underage prostitute deaths, one heiress death, never mind several shops and bars they shot up and robbed, kidnapping of two toddlers, they had no chance and knew it. Sansa saw a clip on the news of herself and Ramsay, exploding a gas station but what bothered her was each of them was wearing a pack with a toddler against their backs. It made Sansa swallow her pride and without telling Ramsay, she made some inquiries with a private detective.

Ramsay came home and found the twins gone. He raged, pounded the walls and ripped the cheap bedding off the motel mattress. "I'm sorry, I loved them too. But we are going to get them killed. They had to be safe somewhere else." Ramsay glared at Sansa and muttered, "We always kept them safe, not once did they get hurt!" Sansa sat on the bed and took Ramsay's hand. "It was only a matter of time, you know that. We are criminals and even changing our disguises isn't getting us far anymore. If we had the babies with us, we would have to give up if the police caught us, for the babies to not get shot up! Then we wait for a long time to receive the death penalty and what happens to the twins then? Listen to me, baby, I love you and if we die, I want it to be a blazing out together." Ramsay asked where she sent them. Sansa smirked as she told him. He laughed long and hard before taking out his emotions upon Sansa's willing flesh.

It took another year and a half before the police managed to catch up with the notorious couple. They took out three officers before Ramsay lost control of the car. Smashing into the side of a building, both were dead upon impact. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sansa: Necessary Evil by Nikki Yanofsky  
> Ramsay: Any Way You Want It by Journey  
> Ramsay/Sansa: Dreamline by Rush  
> RIP Walda: Life Is A Highway by Rascal Flatts


	186. How To Build A Dysfunctional Family

Harold entered the war zone formerly known as a kitchen and ducked as another water bottle sailed across the room. "Heads up!" The warning from Gilly came just as the bag of pretzels hit Harold in the head. Polliver laughed but Gilly patted Harold's hair back in place and kissed his cheek. "Sorry, dear. Just trying to finish loading up the car. Polly, why don't you gather up the children while I get the last of this out the door?" Polliver grabbed the cooler and one of the two large cloth bags. Harold sighed and despaired. "Guys, we aren't on the run, do we always have to pack so much? I mean, I understood when they were younger. At six can't the four of them just sit calmly for a few hours in the car?"

Gilly and Polliver rolled their eyes at the very familiar complaint Harold has offered for years. Harold grabbed his keys, cell phone and wallet. "See? There! Ready!"

Polliver grinned and left Gilly to deal with the grouch while he rounded up the children. Gilly winced when she heard him bellow, "Legion! Madness! Sparkles! HeadSpace! Round up!" With a small sigh, Gilly muttered, "I really wish he wouldn't call them by those awful nicknames. Sadly, they all seem to like them. Every time I try and put a halt to it the children whine." Harold took off his glasses and wiped them down carefully with a tissue. "Today is our sixth wedding anniversary. We won't get to celebrate it alone. Yet again." Gilly gave a rather wicked smile to her husband and quipped, "I thought that's what we did when we stayed locked in our room for an extra hour this morning?"

Harold yanked lightly on Gilly's ponytail before giving her a nibble upon her ear.

"That isn't what I meant and you know it." Gilly spun out of his grip and loaded his arms with more items to bring out to the van. "We can ask Polliver or the other large bodies that wander through here anytime to let us go out, you know that. I don't need it to be on any particular time, I love you even off holidays." Gilly grinned as Harold frowned at her, dumping some of his load into her arms. "Our first wedding anniversary, I spent it checking Arya into a detox center after I spent hours with Damon and Myranda searching every crack house in Braavos. While you spent it with Polliver and Jeyne, trying to deal with our twins and a whole new set."

Gilly smiled brighter and shoved the load back at Harold then added four comic books to the mountain. "Poor Arya, it was too much for her. She was clean until those shady lawyers and that hard eyed social worker that was clearly not on the up and up came and found us. Arya suddenly became a heiress, Sansa left all her inheritance her little sister, plus two twins that held the Frey and Bolton inheritance. Even knowing you and I would adopt them as we did our first twins, it was just too emotional for her. And she did get clean again, I'll remind you! She has given us and the others most of her fortune. Arya graduated high school and has been training quite hard with Jaqen."

Harold harrumphed. "Arya got her G.E.D. after two more relapses. She was our last teenager to finally graduate. Even Damon and Jeyne graduated before her! Jaqen is an excellent assassin and I am aware that she does well. You know I don't approve. I wanted her to find a real career that had nothing to do with the darkness she lived with." Gilly sighed and added two stress balls to Harold's pile as she strained past it all to kiss his nose. "I know, sweetheart, but we cannot choose what they dream, want or do in the end. We can only guide and support." Harold frowned deeper as he tried to push the load back onto Gilly.

"Our second anniversary was spent trying to bail Damon out of jail and commit him into a hospital for three months. He stole MY car, Polliver's first credit card and ran off with a girl from YOUR idea of a special needs school that ARYA paid for!" Gilly played with some of the gray strands threading Harold's full head of hair and pushed back so the load stayed in his hands. "Oh, the passions of youth and mental illness! Don't you remember us, Harold? Remember how you were with me before we communicated? And now imagine that but with teenage emotions? The program was fine, it could have been anywhere that they met. They were delusional and in love. Damon was in need of that hospital, look how much good it did him! New doctors and new medications. He went back to the school and graduated! Right along side his sister!"

Harold twitched his lips then dropped his hands. All the carefully loaded items were now held by their bodies pressing against it. Gilly playfully raised up both hands and Harold gently put his hands on both sides of her face. He nipped at her nose as he defended his point. "Damon graduated, got hired and fired by seven low level jobs. He made up and broke up with that crazy girl at least twenty times, now they are engaged as if that could end well! Damon is a security guard, Kyra works at a vape shop, they think they can afford living together by next year somehow!" Gilly put her hands on Harold's, moving them from her face and guided them back to the load between them.

He sighed and began to move towards the door with the load as Gilly followed with a few more last things. Stopping just at the porch door, Harold announced, "Third anniversary was spent together. With the entire family as a group. We had pestilence, plague, vampirism and leprosy running amok through the house!" Gilly pushed Harold forward and propelled him down the steps to the driveway.

"I think you have the terms wrong, dear. We all had ringworm, a stomach virus, lice and a rash. The pediatrician had explained these things would happen when the little ones started park visits, playdates and daycare, just not usually all at once." Harold waited while Gilly opened the back of the van for him to dump the stuff in. "The little germ sponges brought home every disease known to man. They brought home everything but syphilis and diphtheria. And if they had brought those home, I would not have been surprised. Do you remember how Polliver shaved everyone's head that he could get when he saw that first louse?"

Gilly sorted the items out where they could be reached or not by the small hands that will be reaching for things soon. "Yes, I remember how badly both of you overreacted. You bought a flamethrower and burnt half our possessions!" Taking off his glasses and cleaning them, Harold squinted in the morning sun. "Our fourth anniversary was spent trying to keep Jeyne from destroying the entire house during her worst episodes."

Gilly shrugged. "It was rough for her that year. Polliver was taking night classes and starting to gain friends, dating for the first time in his life. During the day he had the four young ones plus our older ones, he didn't have as much personal time for her. Damon was spending time with Kyra and Myranda was very busy with her goals. Arya was running amok and Jeyne was feeling alone, left out. She had a bit of regression but worked through it." Gilly shut the back of the van and hugged Harold. He scoffed at her. "A bit? Didn't you cry all over me along with Myranda? Didn't I have to pretend that Damon and Polliver weren't sobbing all over me when Jeyne stopped talking and walking for five months?"

Squeezing her when Gilly's narrowed eyes landed on him, Harold put his face in her long mane of chestnut hair and muttered, "Fifth anniversary. We were with everyone all day and we all slept as a group in a motel room that had broken air conditioning." Gilly pulled back to give a Harold a chastening look. "Oh, don't you even try! You wouldn't have missed that day for anything. You were so proud of that girl I thought you would burst!" Harold struggled to not smile. "I would like to think that even Bob would have been so proud of her! That all of them would have been impressed by what that kid could really do once given a true chance to prove it." Gilly gave a flick to Harold's ear.

"Myranda was our first high school graduate and the only one to graduate a four year college and as the valedictorian of her class! No one was more surprised than Myranda herself, I think. You and Polliver made fools of yourselves, trying to intimidate every mother in your camera's way, trying to terrify every drooling male that congratulated her. Working as a therapist for children that have suffered through human trafficking has fulfilled her and saved so many others." Harold frowned. "Myranda works too hard, lives too far away from us, the others still live at home, why can't she?" Gilly laughed softly as she spun him towards the car doors. "The girl takes her work very seriously but she visits us all the time. She has a lovely apartment in the city, only a half hour away from us."

Harold started to frown at Gilly. "I shouldn't have to spend my entire sixth wedding anniversary in a crazy van while being eaten alive by worry. What if this is a disaster? What if she isn't ready for this? It's so much and I really don't like that she wouldn't let us help at all." Gilly began to hum If I Was A Bell and took Harold's hand as she swayed, her eyes twinkling. Harold snorted then smiled, giving in. "Okay, I worry too much. I am grumpy and getting too old to chase all these little demons around." Gilly laughed as Harold began to dance her across the lawn then kiss her. A voice boomed from nearby, "Get a room like respectable couples! Want the children to see that and poke their own eyes out?"

Arya and Damon laughed when Harold responded to her holler by giving her the middle finger while continuing to kiss his wife. Gilly broke the kiss to give a stern eye to the two heading for their motorcycles. Arya bought them for herself and Damon a few months back, causing Harold to go beserk on the girl for wasting her money instead of putting it away responsibly. Gilly called over to the pair. "You will not be wearing leather chaps and those jackets with rattling chains and buckles after you arrive at our destination. You aren't going to a biker convention or a rock concert, you will change at our last rest stop." Damon grinned and held up a duffel bag. "We brought clothes to change into. I even have a tie. I even got this hair cut special just for it!"

Harold was dubiously eyeing the thick hair that was sneaking towards Damon's collar but it did look freshly trimmed. Though it was Arya's look that Harold didn't care for. Dyed black hair that was ruthlessly forced into a Mohawk with blue tips at the end of it. The blue matched her lipstick and her nails. The sun twinkled off the piercings in Arya's left eyebrow and her bottom lip, causing Harold to twitch slightly. "I cannot imagine how Jaqen tolerates such a blatant, noticeable look on his apprentice." Arya smirked at him as she swung her leg over the bike. "This is just my fun kick ass look when I am on my bike. You know how many other looks I have."

Gilly called lightly, "As long as you have a supportive sister look for later on. Please be careful and obey the traffic laws, you both have more than enough speeding violations." Harold groaned but then his wife swung him about, leading the Havana dance, humming. Damon and Arya groaned even louder and took off in a hurry. "Come on, Damon! We shouldn't be exposed to such clear crazed romance. Myranda said if we came early it might help Jeyne calm down a bit."

Polliver stood over the four children and tapped his foot. He stared hard at the shoe box that contained yet another small animal that has died. A tiny girl with a long lace veil over her face, wearing a black velvet dress that fell to her shiny tap shoes stood next to a boy wearing a black suit. Both of them gave sad mismatched eyes to Polliver. "Uncle Polly, Captain Thunder didn't make it." Polliver sighed and looked down at the dead turtle.

"A rabbit, a squirrel, a duck, three sparrows, a snake, countless fish and now the turtle. No more pets for a little while, kids. I'm onto you, don't think I'm not! I saw the four of you playing football with that poor hermit crab during our last trip to the beach. I will be letting Gilly and Harold know that I have banned pets. No caging wild creatures, no pet shelter shopping. Tomorrow before classes, we are going to a greenhouse. Each of you will buy a plant and when each of you can keep your plants alive for six months, we can talk about pets again." Surveying the children, he shook his head. "Children, we are going to a special event." 

He stared hard at Sky and Sarah, slowly leaning down as if to examine them. In spite of the mismatched eyes, the identical twins had their mother's dark blonde hair and features. "Madness, I like the tight braids and even the black ribbons. Keep them, they look nice. Legion, I appreciate that you've actually managed a bow tie. But we are not going to a funeral. So get your shiitake mushrooms in order and get your asteroids upstairs to change!"  With a subdued "Yes, Uncle Polly" the twins ran into the house. Polliver frowned down at the other set of twins.

Two sets of Bolton eyes peered up at him with shining innocence. "Sparkles, I won't ask why you are wearing a unicorn costume to a funeral. Change it to real clothes. That doesn't mean a different kind of costume. That goes for you too, Headspace. Was Uncle Polly supposed to not notice you are dressed as a knight from one of your computer games? Special event, that means only your boring normal human costumes today." Hunter smiled at Polliver as he grabbed his sister's hand. "Hallie packed up real clothes and gave the bag to mother, Polliver. We can change later on, please?"

Polliver smiled gently down at the adorable girl with auburn hair that always seemed to grow out of control. "Good thinking, Sparkles. Glad you are keeping track of things so well. Too bad you can't keep track of live pets. I want you both changed now or it's going to be a very long boring trip for you. No movies, no music, not even a crayon and notepad. One, two..." Polliver watched in satisfaction as the two ran off to change. He narrowed his eyes at their oversized tree house and made a mental note to toss it in the next few days.

Jeyne stood and walked as tall as a short Person could on the small stage. Her first published book was on a stand next to her. The cover was a watercolor made by Damon of a whirlygig man dancing into sky with a small girl reaching up towards it. The book was titled in bold letters, hand written then copied onto the covers. FINDING MY VOICE.

It had made it to the top ten bestsellers list and this was Jeyne's first televised interview. She was wearing a simple summer dress, bold orange with a blue whirlygig man dancing across the whole thing. Brown leather sandals with orange rhinestone studs, hair in a simple pixie cut.  Myranda sat on the interview couch with her, looking every inch the professional, intelligent therapist and mature best friend that she was. Jeyne spoke slow and clear, if she got overwhelmed or stuck then Myranda spoke for her until Jeyne could talk again.

The family sat in the first row of the talk show audience, the four youngest passing tissues to their embarrassing older brother, sister, uncle and parents. Polliver had sobbed like a baby when he received his own copy and saw the dedications to Unella, Gregor, Raff and Hot Pie. When Jeyne spoke about trying to find the Person within her and how she accepts that it's always going to be tough but nothing can stop her climb but her own self, Arya cried. Gilly and Harold sobbed when Jeyne said they saved her, became the parents she never had. Damon fell apart when Jeyne talked about how she might not have survived without her supportive pack.

Jeyne said the school had found a Feral, the staff found a Person, her family helped fill the inside of the Person. But it was Jeyne herself that had to make the climb and had to create the strength to find her voice.  

 

                                                                                                                                                     THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harold/Gilly: The Time Of My Life by Bill Medley  
> Polliver: Brave by Sara Bareillies  
> Arya: Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys  
> Jeyne: Climb by Miley Cyrus  
> Damon: Roll The Bones by Rush  
> Myranda: Roar by Katy Perry
> 
> If you enjoyed this story, please check out my new tale!  
>  The Shriek Of Seagulls https://archiveofourown.org/works/14634363/chapters/33823548

**Author's Note:**

> In this story one character is classified as feral. This is loosely based upon a real case history of a feral girl. The link below contains her tragic real story. 
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genie_(feral_child)


End file.
